Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 20795 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 104(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20795 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 104(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
“You’ll scare her. Let me talk,” I hear a woman say.
“Maybe we should come back. Trace’s truck is gone.”
“Well, I think she’s in there. You heard what Steven said. Trace has a girl in there, and I wanna see,” the woman says.
“You’ve been hanging out with Dolly too much. You’re just as nosy as she is now,” Ty laughs.
I open the door to see them both standing on the porch. They turn their heads to look at me. The woman is a little bit taller than me, with blonde hair and a baby held on her hip. A smile spreads on her face.
“I’m MJ,” the woman says instantly, “Trace’s sister-in-law, and this is Ty, my husband. And of course, we have TJ, Ty Junior, here.”
Ty and TJ both look like Trace. There is no missing they’re related. Ty nods at me.
“I’m Addison,” I tell them. MJ reaches out to shake my hand. Then she changes her mind and pulls me into a hug, her baby bump coming between us. TJ giggles.
“Sorry, I’m just excited. I love how this family is growing, and I knew if Trace had a girl in his house, it was serous. It’s serious, right?” she asks.
“Wow,” Ty says, drawing our attention. He’s looking over my head and into the house. I turn to see what he’s looking at. “This place is a mess. Well, a mess for Trace at least.”
I didn’t think it was that bad, but it did look like a box bomb went off in the living room, and the kitchen still hasn’t been cleaned from the breakfast Trace made this morning.
“Oh my God, it is! This is so serious. He can’t even be bothered to clean, and messes drive Trace crazy.” MJ says something about Trace I didn’t know. I like the idea that I make him forget something. That he’s more worried about me than cleaning up some mess.
“Do you want to come in?” I ask, and MJ beams.
“We’d love to,” she says, pushing past me and into the house. She takes a seat on the sofa.
Ty is still standing in the doorway. “Put some pants on, or my brother is going to kill me if he’s anything like me. And I have a feeling he is.” I look down at my bare legs before grabbing one of the boxes from the coffee table.
“I’ll be right back,” I tell them, dashing upstairs. I hear MJ’s laughter as I make my way to the bedroom.
“Oh, we aren't going anywhere,” she says, and I feel myself smile.
9
Trace
I stare up at the house my little doll grew up in and wonder how so much sweetness and warmth could come from a place like this. The old farmhouse looks like it was built over a hundred years ago and hasn’t been updated once in all that time.
Winston was passing his daughter off to another man. I have a feeling it was more to do with money than anything. The thought makes my stomach turn and my blood boil. How could a father do that to his little girl?
I take a calming breath, trying to get my emotions under control. I think about my sweet girl to soothe myself. The image of waking up to her this morning enters my mind and peace falls over me. I can’t walk in here and kill this man for two reasons. One, he’s my girl’s father, and two, I promised her she could trust me. I’m not breaking my word to her because it’s clear she needs to be able to put stock in it. I told her I’d be home before the sun went down, and I’m going to make sure I’m there and not in a jail cell.
The sooner I get this over with, the sooner I can go home to her. I focus as I push myself off from the side of my truck and make my way up the worn stairs. They creak and groan under my weight. Before I can make it to the door, it flies open and Winston shows himself.
He looks worse than his house, and I try to recall the last time I saw him. His hair is gray and his skin is weathered from years of being out in the sun without his hat. He looks shorter than I recall, or maybe I’m just bigger. I don’t run much into farmers anymore as I don’t really farm. I just deal with the oil and whoever they hire to work the rigs.
“You’re one of the Jennings boys,” he says, pushing the screen door open. I clench my fist at my side to stop myself from hauling off and punching him.
“Trace,” I clip and push past him, going straight for the stairs and taking them two at a time. I make my way down the hallway, pushing open each door as I do, looking for her room.