Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 133849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
“How many siblings?” Olivia held a hand up, gesturing to the waitstaff.
How did she get out of this? She’d kind of planned on talking to Tally and then sneaking up to the room Olivia seemed to think was terrible so she could take a nap. It could be hard to sleep at the motel. Between the drug deals and the sex workers, nighttime could get loud.
“I have a couple of half sisters,” she murmured. “I should go and find Tally to see if she needs me tonight.”
A tall guy with a The Barn T-shirt on walked up, placing a couple of napkins in front of them. “Hey, Livie. New Girl. Tally’s not in tonight. Are you Nicole?”
She nodded.
He winced. “I’m sorry. I was supposed to call to let you know everyone came in tonight.”
Damn it. She’d come all the way for nothing. Now she would actually be in the hole.
“Sorry. I got caught up in the rush. She told me not to expect you until around midnight and you’re early,” he said. “How about some fries? On the house.”
Olivia groaned. “We can do better than that. Nicole here is my brothers’ latest crush, so I thought I would get to know her. We’re going to need a pitcher of margaritas and some nachos.”
Wait. What? “Your brother?”
“Brothers,” Olivia corrected. “There are two of them, though you should know one is more of a found-family brother meaning my dad found him hiding out in one of the dorms because he got kicked out of his house.”
The waiter huffed. “Best fucking day of Grim’s life. I think about it a lot. That boy went from a nasty cult movie set to the nicest family in the county. And he got to have Abigail Barnes as his new momma. She could be my momma any day.”
“Eww,” Olivia protested with a frown. “She’s my actual momma, you know, Ed.”
Ed winked her way. “And you look it, Liv. I’ll get those nachos in.”
“I’m sorry. I’m confused. I haven’t met your brothers.”
Olivia shrugged. “Yeah, sometimes you don’t need to. But they’re great guys, and I think they would like to get to know you. And the nachos and margs are totally on me. Unless you want to head back to the rattrap and spend the evening counting the meth deals. That could be fun, too. Or you could let me ply you with liquor and we could dance, and at some point my brothers will show up because they totally saw you walking in here. It’s why I hustled you away. If they got to you first, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to get to know you. So, half siblings. Were they evil?”
Nicole sat there for a moment. The smart move would be to walk away because this woman confused her, and she wasn’t sure she could trust the whole big sis/best friend vibe she was giving off.
Would it hurt to sit here and have a margarita and talk to someone interesting? She wasn’t even considering the whole gorgeous cowboys had a crush on her thing. Again, she wasn’t about to come between two brothers. But it might be fun to dance and pretend like she wasn’t in a Lifetime movie for a night. She could pretend she was in another movie. A comedy.
“We don’t have to talk about your family, if you don’t want to.” Olivia’s voice had gone softer, like she was trying to coax a scared puppy. “We could talk about something else. I have a lot of crazy stories about my brothers.”
“They were kind of evil.” No one had asked about her in forever. She’d become invisible, and it felt good for a moment to be seen. And she didn’t want to count the meth deals. “Like from birth, I think. You know most babies are sweet and cute, but my stepsisters were crazy demanding, and that did not stop as they grew up. They can throw a fit, if you know what I mean, and I’m talking about as teens. I was in college by then. I had to work full time, too. My dad used my college fund as a down payment on an SUV. Because he knew I wouldn’t mind. I minded.”
“That’s awful. I have to admit, despite the fact that I complain about the amount of my parents’ public displays of affection, they are awesome,” Olivia said as Ed placed a pitcher of margaritas in front of them.
“Jack and Sam and Abby are all kinds of awesome. Don’t let the pearl clutchers of the town tell you otherwise,” Ed said with a nod as he started pouring a drink for Nicole. “I have no idea where this town would be without the Barnes-Fleetwood family.”
So they probably did a ton of charity work. It already sounded like they’d taken in a kid who needed a home. But she was confused. “Your dad’s name is Jackson Sam? That’s unusual.”