Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 105161 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105161 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
“Charlie, I’m so sorry.” Hudson’s sympathy was genuine and kind. He must have known what it was like to lose a beloved animal.
We talked a bit more about our respective childhoods, and I learned his parents lived abroad. “Were you raised by your grandparents?” I asked.
“Oh, no. Mom and Dad only moved to Singapore a few years ago. My youngest sister was almost done with high school before they felt Dad could take the promotion overseas. But even with them around… we spent much of our time with our grandfathers in the main house on the ranch. Our house was on the ranch property too, but Dad worked two hours away in Dallas and Mom was always busy with her charity projects and running the household. I don’t know how she managed to raise ten kids with my dad in the city during the week. I guess because as West and I got older, we helped as much as we could.”
“Is West the oldest?”
“No, I am. But he’s next. After that came a set of twins. MJ and Saint were a handful. Mom had four kids under four for a few months, if you can believe it. Once I started school, I remember her calling me her godsend. All her friends called me her little helper. From then on, I think I just felt it was my job to help raise the others.” He shrugged. “They’re amazing. We’re all pretty close. Everyone either lives in Dallas or Hobie now. Except my brother King. We’re not really sure what he’s up to most of the time. He sort of travels for work and flits through town whenever he’s able. Sassy is the youngest at nineteen.”
I pictured the tidy man taking on the responsibility of nine siblings to help his mother. It made me wonder if he’d taken to horse riding as a way of escaping, of getting away from the noise or the chaos of that many children around all the time.
“What made you decide to go into finance?” I asked, suddenly even more curious for some reason about what made him tick.
“My dad is in finance. He always told me I’d succeed at it and always have a solid, steady job.”
Something about the way he said it caused me to perk up.
“Do you like what you do?”
He opened his mouth to answer, but then closed it again for a moment. When he spoke, it was hesitant.
“It’s… yes. It’s a good job. I enjoy the way numbers are organized and… everything works out into clean lines. I’m not saying this right… I think it’s good to have a job where mistakes are easy to spot and you can double-check your work to make sure it’s correct.”
His face pinched and he shook his head a bit. “No, that’s not quite right either. I wouldn’t say I like it, really. It’s more that I’m happy to make a good living and prove my worth by working hard.”
Hudson’s chin tilted down as if he was nodding to himself. “Yes. I like doing my share to help the company succeed.”
It sounded bloody awful.
“I’m sure your father is proud of you,” I mumbled, unsure of what else to say.
He glanced up at me, and I caught just a hint of vulnerability in his face. “I hope so.”
We’d reached the edge of the cliffs, and I explained the history of the location a bit more before we turned to find our way back.
“What about you, Charlie? Are your parents still around?”
Well, shite. Whose idea was it to talk about people’s parents?
5
Hudson
Hudson’s Words To Live By:
When in doubt, blame the alcohol.
I could sense Charlie’s body stiffen beside me. Perhaps I shouldn’t have asked after his parents.
“Nah. My mum took off when I was twelve. Decided to move to a big city for a corporate job. We never saw her again. My dad moved abroad almost a year ago,” he said before clearing his throat. “Remarried.”
His clipped answers confirmed this topic was not a good one for a stranger to pursue.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry,” I said softly.
His hand came to rest on my arm, stopping me from taking another step down the shell path. I felt the warmth of his slight touch before he pulled it away. The varied shades of his hair caught the weak sunlight struggling through the clouds above. It looked both golden and auburn and so incredibly touchable. But his self-deprecating smile was what really set my heart tripping.
“It’s okay. You didn’t know. Not my favorite topic. I never really forgave my mum, but I’ve had loads of time to get past her leaving. My dad, on the other hand… well, let’s just say if I saw him right now, I might be thankful we’ve no safety rails at the cliffs’ edge.”
I could tell he was joking about the cliffs, but clearly the subject wasn’t a pleasant one. How had we even gone down the path of sharing personal stories in the first place? I almost never shared personal information about myself the way I had with Charlie and the woman on the plane before him. Had something happened to me? Had my breakup with Darci brought out all the feelings or unleashed some need to share my innermost thoughts with others? We needed to get away from these personal topics and back to the business at hand. I was there to do a job.