Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23116 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 116(@200wpm)___ 92(@250wpm)___ 77(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23116 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 116(@200wpm)___ 92(@250wpm)___ 77(@300wpm)
That was a whole other can of worms. Tinsel glared at me for a full sixty seconds before Jack practically dragged her back into the car and drove them off my land. Then I sat in my living room looking at all the decorations that Frostie put up and felt like my heart was breaking. She’s gone, and I’ve fucked it up.
I never drink or set an alarm. I’m usually up before the sun just because I’m used to it, but after last night, I was exhausted and fell into bed so perfectly with her. It was like we’d been doing it our whole lives, and we fit together like missing pieces of a puzzle.
Of course she had to get up and open her bakery this morning. What the fuck did I expect? After a while of sitting in my own self-loathing, I decide I’ve got to make this right with her. I can’t just let her run out of here without an explanation and then never see her again because of a misunderstanding. That’s not going to happen.
Once I’m ready, I drive into Troping, but instead of going straight to Frostie’s, I pull up in front of the sheriff’s office. When I go inside, I say hello to one of the ladies on dispatch and ask for Tinsel. She pokes her head out of her office and scowls when she sees me. Then she steps out from behind her door holding a mug that reads Details are sketchy.
“Come to confess to your crimes of kidnapping?” Before I can answer, she turns to the elderly lady outside her office. “Mabel, grab my cattle prod.”
The lady doesn’t so much as look up from her wordsearch. “I would, but you broke it when you tried using it to kill mosquitoes.”
“Damn it,” Tinsel says to herself.
“I need to talk to you,” I say and nod to her office. “In private.”
“Not without my lawyer.” Tinsel turns to Mabel again. “Call Jack.”
The older lady sighs and circles a word on her page. “He’s at the deli getting you a sandwich.”
“Double damn it,” Tinsel hisses before finally agreeing. “Fine, but just know Mabel here can do karate, so I’d think twice before coming at me.”
“Noted,” I say as I follow Tinsel into her office and we both take a seat.
“So, why did you kidnap my friend and then make her cry?”
“She cried?” My voice is louder than I mean it to be, and I start to stand up.
“Okay fine, maybe she didn’t cry, but I know Frostie, and she was upset.”
“I’m going to talk to her, but I wanted to see you first. She and I are…” I don’t know how to say I’m blackmailing her to be with me in a nice way, so I settle for a partial truth. “We’re seeing each other.”
“I did a little digging on your background.” She tries to put her feet up on her desk but misses and nearly falls over backwards in her chair. “Turns out you were in the military.” She doesn’t miss a beat in conversation as she straightens up.
“Yes, I was.”
“So you’re admitting it.” She points a finger right at me, and she might be funny if I wasn’t still so damn sad about Frostie.
“You’re her best friend,” I say, ignoring her line of inquisition.
“I see you’ve done your own homework too.” Tinsel takes a sip of what looks like hot cocoa and waits for me to finish.
I’m not used to doing anything like this, so it’s hard to open myself up in this way. But getting Frostie to come be with me again is all I care about. So I decide to sacrifice what little fear I have about talking and messing up my words so I can do this right.
“In the rush for her to leave this morning, I messed up, and I think I hurt her feelings.” Before Tinsel can start talking, I hold up my hands. “It wasn’t intentional. I just don’t always say things the right way.”
“Okay, go on.” She puts her elbows on her desk, waiting for me to finish.
“What can I do to make things right?” There it is, me laying it out and asking for help. It’s not something I’ve ever done before, but desperate times and all that.
Last night and this morning were the single greatest hours of my life, and it all came crashing down around me with the dawning of the sun. I need to get that time back and fix what I’ve screwed up.
“Well, if it were me—which I would never ever do because I’m amazing and she loves me,” Tinsel rambles to herself. “But if I was possessed by aliens and somehow fucked up, I think she would need some kind of grand gesture.”
“Oh,” I say, thinking this is probably the worst case scenario. Grand gestures aren’t in my operation manual.