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)
“I couldn’t… He was dying. I wasn’t going to let someone die.” She teared up.
“And then you took care of his daughter until he was on his feet again,” Kim continued. “She would have gone into foster care but Nicole convinced the social worker she was the man’s girlfriend and they had applied for housing. You had to fill out forms and your picture was taken. Not smart. All I had to do was follow the good deeds. They led me to Willow Fork, and I knew I was going to find a way to fix this for you.”
“Not smart but incredibly kind,” Ben said, his eyes on Nicole. “Ms. Holloway, I apologize for the way we met. I know you might not believe me, but we weren’t going to call the police. We were taking you back to our suite to talk to you there.”
“You mean interrogate her,” Harlow corrected.
“And you were going to do what, daughter?” Chase asked, his brows rising in challenge.
“I was going to lay it all out to Josh and Grim and let them decide how to proceed because believe it or not they are grown-ass, competent men,” Harlow replied. “They know what they want and they get to decide how to handle the situations they find themselves in. You are treating them like children who need Daddy to save them. Like you treat me.”
Chase’s face flushed. “Well, I recently had to save you, so you’ll forgive me for not wanting you to nearly kill yourself again.” His eyes closed and when he opened them there was regret stamped on his face. “Harlow, sweetheart, I’m so sorry I said that.”
“No, you’re not.” She looked Nicole’s way. “I’m sorry they got involved in this. I really did intend to do nothing more than let Josh and Grim know what was going on. I never meant for this to happen. When I gave Ruby your picture, I thought she and I would be the only ones who would ever know your real name. Outside of Josh and Grim, of course. I trust Ruby. But my dads are overprotective assholes. I’m sorry, Nicole. Look, I’m going home. If you need me, you know where to find me.”
“Harlow,” Ben began.
She kept walking.
Ben stared at his brother.
Chase threw his hands up in obvious defeat. “I’ll go talk to her. I doubt she means she’s going up to her room. She’ll probably take the jet and leave us bus tickets. I taught that girl far too well.”
“Nat’s going to send your ass to the couch,” Ben grumbled, following his brother. “Mrs. Kent, you’ll take it from here? I’m afraid we’ve got some family issues to deal with.”
“I’ll take care of her,” Kim promised.
“I think we’ll handle it from here, but I do appreciate your help.” Josh stood as the Dawsons left. He turned to Case. “I think I’m going to need to talk to your brother about security around the ranch until we can get this sorted out. I’ll talk to my uncle about getting her a legal team. I hope you’ll be willing to work with us, Mrs. Kent. My uncle isn’t a criminal defense attorney, but he’ll know what the next steps are.”
Josh was taking over. It was a good thing. Grim could concentrate on taking care of Nicole, and Josh would handle the rest. He reached out, taking her hand in his. She pulled away and stood.
“What did she mean once she got the photo?” Nicole went toe to toe with Josh. “I’m careful about cameras. I always have been. Did you go through my purse? Did you take my driver’s license?”
Josh’s face went stony. “I had to know what was coming after you. I love you, Nicole. You can’t expect me to sit back and let whatever is waiting for you to show up.”
“It wouldn’t have been your license,” Kim said. “It’s well done, and the tech on it makes it useless for facial recognition.”
“So you took a picture of me without my permission and you gave it to a person who could have called the cops on me and had me hauled back to Oregon,” Nicole deduced.
"I took a picture when you didn’t realize I was doing it. One morning before we took you into the café to work. I was quick and you didn’t notice,” Josh admitted.
They were screwing this up. Grim stood by Josh, hoping to present a united front. “You can’t run all your life, Nic. We want the best for you. We love you.”
“Yeah, that’s what Micah said, too,” she whispered.
The words went straight through Grim’s heart. “That’s not fair.”
“Life isn’t fair,” she shot back. “I want to go back to my room. I understand I’m basically a prisoner.”
“You certainly are not,” Josh argued.
“Then I can get my things and go?” Nicole asked. “Alone?”