Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 49530 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 248(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49530 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 248(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
“Hi! Thank you for asking me to come read to you. I hear you chose a special book for me to read.”
Everyone looked at Elizabeth and she realized she still had the book. “Oops. Sorry.” She passed the book to Bear.
“No sorries needed,” he assured her.
Bear looked at the cover and the title. “This book looks amazing. Let’s get started.”
Opening the cover, he read, “‘Barley? Where are you, little cub?’ roared her father.”
Bear pointed out the worried look on the big bear’s face. He had the Littles scan the picture to see if they could tell where Barley had gone.
“That bush looks funny,” Eden pointed out. “It’s divided in the middle like something walked through it.”
“Good eyes, Eden. Let’s find out if Barley went that way,” Bear suggested, turning the page.
The Littles leaned forward eagerly to see what would happen next. Elizabeth couldn’t wait to see the next picture.
“Look, there’s a bunch of bees flying around!” she said in excitement.
“Oh, no! Barley tried to raid the bee’s nest. They didn’t like that,” Bear read for them.
“I know where Barley goes next!” Remi joined in the fun. “There’s a path of trampled dandelions going that way!”
“But there’s ripples in the pond. Which way did Barley go?” Ivy asked.
Slowly, Bear led them through the dad bear’s trek to find his lost cub. On each page, they looked at all the clues and followed the path. Elizabeth was aware of several of the Littles’ Daddies stopping by to check on everyone and then standing quietly to listen to the story.
When Bear turned the last page to show Barley in her daddy’s arms, the Littles all cheered, “Hooray!”
“Look! She has twigs in her fur!” Carlee said.
“And scales on one paw,” Eden shared. “She did eat that fish.”
As they all pointed out different things they saw, Elizabeth heard Talon whisper to Gabriel, “Did you see that coming?”
“The dad bear finding his cub? Of course,” Gabriel answered in surprise.
“No. Bear skunking all of us at story reading,” Talon joked.
“He’s going to have to give us lessons,” Steele suggested.
“For God’s sake, never tell the Devil’s Jesters we’re taking story-telling lessons,” Gabriel suggested.
“You’ve got my oath,” Talon promised. Then he said a bit louder, “Watch this. How many Littles will it take to heave Bear off that cushion?”
“Smart ass,” Bear responded. “Come give me a hand.”
Gabriel and Talon walked forward to offer Bear their hands. Together, they yanked the muscular man to his feet.
“Thanks,” Bear said gruffly.
“Hey. That was a good job reading,” Gabriel complimented him.
“It was awesome,” Eden enthused, throwing her arms around Gabriel’s waist to hug him.
“I’m glad you liked it, ladybug,” Gabriel replied, rubbing her back as he hugged her.
“I loved it, too,” Elizabeth said as she joined them, taking her Daddy’s hand and squeezing it.
Motioning Talon to lean closer, she whispered, “You don’t need to take lessons.”
He rewarded her with a kiss that made her toes curl upward in happiness.
Chapter
Nineteen
Monday was a day from hell. Everything that could go wrong did—including a power outage at the courthouse that canceled everything for the afternoon. Returning to her office, Elizabeth tried to get everything rescheduled in her already packed schedule and groaned at the look of her now back-to-back appointments that would make her life even more challenging.
I’ll have to eat flavored gelatin or a smoothie for lunch. There won’t be any time to chew.
Shaking her head, she didn’t even want to think about how much her feet would hurt as she raced around trying to appear in all the courtrooms. When she’d finished everything she could do, Elizabeth grabbed her phone to text the Littles. Maybe someone could join her for a late lunch.
Eden immediately answered. “I’m starving. Can we go to The Hangout for nachos? I haven’t had them in forever.”
“That sounds amazing! See you there in twenty minutes?” Elizabeth suggested.
“Perfect.”
With the conversation in the chat, Elizabeth knew the others could read and join them if they were free. She walked to her car, scanning the area. Elizabeth hadn’t recovered yet from the Devil’s Jesters treatment of her. Even now that she knew why they’d harassed her, she didn’t let her guard down.
Passing several people headed toward the courtroom, she didn’t warn them. They’d want to check in at the desk to register their effort to be there for their cases. She reached her car and jumped in.
Traffic was light and Elizabeth arrived at The Hangout early. She thought about calling her Daddy but didn’t want him to tell her to come home early. Maybe she’d text him later and ask him to come dance.
Walking into the restaurant, she greeted the hostess. “Hi. Could I have a table for four? There’s only two of us coming but more may join us.”
“Fun! It sounds like a party brewing. How about if I put you at this table for four that has a two-person table on each side. Then you can expand it as needed.”