Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 95273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
That has us all pausing.
“She’s working late. She had some people quit, and she’s just busy with the business. So, I’m taking Daisy out on a date. Why were the girls idiots? Abbi didn’t say anything.”
Rem, Chase, and Ryan all shuffle their feet and look down, and I know that something’s up.
“What happened?” Dad asks, also scowling.
“I have a big-ass mouth,” Millie mutters and presses the heels of her hands to her eyes. “They didn’t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings.”
Now I’m getting pissed off, and I narrow my eyes at my sister. “What. Happened?”
“Girls are dumb,” she whispers. “They were saying that the Wild brothers are all hot.” She makes a gagging noise. “And someone—I think it was Robin Healer, that girl who owns the travel agency downtown—said that they were hoping that it would be a local girl who snagged Brady, and then people laughed and made stupid comments, and we could tell that it made Abbi feel bad. So, after everyone left, we gave her the pep talk of all pep talks and made sure that she knew that you adore her, and we all love the shit out of her, and she needs to let it all roll off her back.”
“Take a breath,” Chase advises. “And yeah, people can just be thoughtless.”
“She seemed fine when I got home,” I reply, but I hate that anyone made my girl feel inferior for even one second. I’ll make sure she knows that there’s no one else in the world for me, no matter what anyone else says.
“Thanks for letting me know. I really do have to go get Daisy.”
“You’re welcome to bring her out here,” Rem says. “Come have dinner with us.”
“I appreciate it, but I thought she’d like to go out to a restaurant for a treat. I’d like some time with her before I head to Wyoming in a couple of days.”
“Makes sense to me,” Ryan says, clapping me on the back. “Have fun. I’ll email you the contact info for the architects.”
“And I have the info for the utilities,” Chase adds. “I had to do the same not long ago. Oh, and the guys who laid the driveway.”
“Right.” I nod, already a little overwhelmed. “I guess we’ll need that. Thanks, guys.”
I climb into the 4Runner and make my way into town, looking forward to some one-on-one time with Daisy. I feel like I’ve hardly seen her since the season started back up again. By the time I get home after a ride, she’s already in bed, and then I’m off before she wakes up, out to the ranch.
I park in the driveway of the townhouse and walk next door to Merilee’s place. She’s the nice older lady who keeps Daisy whenever Abbi needs a sitter, and I’ve met her several times. Daisy adores her, and I can tell that the feeling is completely mutual.
Of course, what’s not to love when it comes to that little girl?
When I knock on the door, I can hear the two of them laughing inside, and when Merilee opens the door, they’re both covered in what looks like…flour?
“Hello, ladies. Do I need to call an ambulance?”
Merilee laughs again and shakes her head. “We were baking cookies, and someone dropped the whole bag of flour.”
“It was heavy,” Daisy says with a giggle. “And then we sneezed and sneezed so much!”
“I bet you did. Can I help clean up?”
“No, I’ve got this,” Merilee says. “But little miss here might need to be tidied up before…well, before anything else.”
Date night with me is a surprise, so I wink at Merilee and nod.
“We can make that happen. Come on, Princess. Say thank you.”
“Thank you,” Daisy says and wraps her arms around Merilee’s middle, hugging her tight. “See you after school tomorrow.”
“Have a good day,” the older woman says, and then Daisy and I walk over toward the other townhouse.
“We have to get you cleaned up,” I tell her. “Because I have a surprise for you tonight.”
“What is it?”
“A surprise.” I boop her on the nose. “And it’s a good one. Let’s brush as much of this flour as we can out of your hair and dust you off while we’re outside.”
Before we go through the front door, I brush Daisy’s clothes off and shake out her hair, making her laugh.
“Okay, let’s go in and change. Those clothes go right into the washer.”
It only takes me about fifteen minutes to get her ready to go.
“Your mom has to work late,” I inform the little girl as she puts her pink sandals on. “So, you and I are going to do something fun together. How would you like to go out for dinner? On a date, of course.”
“Wow, yes, please.” She stands and claps her hands with excitement. “Where are we going?”
“You get to choose. Where would you like to go?”