Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 127715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
“He did. But Shane had graduated from college by then and was home, putting in applications to find a job. He got some of his buddies to go with him to pay Willie a visit. They shared how they felt about Willie bugging me. Shane then found a job and went to California, but his buddies were still in town. They all played football at MP High. In other words, they were guys you didn’t mess with. And although after their visit Willie tried calling and sending flowers and gifts and stuff, eventually, he quit, and I thought it was over.”
“But he doesn’t think it’s over.”
“He said the reason I couldn’t find him to divorce him was so I couldn’t divorce him.”
“And yet he’s been married twice since?”
“That’s what I heard. But I haven’t talked to Willie personally since Shane warned him off.”
“Has he gotten in touch since Sunday?”
“No.”
Harry rolled off me and onto his back.
I turned to my side and got up on my forearm to see him rubbing his face with both hands.
“You seem more upset about this than I was,” I noted worriedly.
He stopped rubbing his face. “If any of the Zowkowers get anywhere near you, I want you to tell me immediately.”
“You’re kind of freaking me out, Harry,” I whispered.
His hand darted out, catching me at the back of my neck and pulling me close.
“That’s the point I’m making. You tell me, I worry about it, and you don’t.”
“I know the Zowkowers are bad news, but I was never a part of that.”
“I know.”
“Willie just probably heard about us, because everyone was talking, and he knows you’re the kind of guy I’d get serious about, so he got territorial, because he’s an idiot.”
“If he knew about me, he’d know about Storm, and this didn’t happen then?”
I sighed. “Harry, everyone knows what Angelica did to Stormy. So everyone knows it’s going to take a while for him to get over that and trust women again, if he ever does. With him, I fell into the trap of ‘I can fix him, I’ll show him how awesome I am, and he’ll get it.’ Needless to say, he didn’t get it.”
Harry swept his thumb out to stroke the side of my neck.
“We’re getting into a lot of deep shit tonight, baby, but unfortunately, the time picked itself.”
Oh Lord.
“What?” I asked.
“I don’t want to freak you.”
Oh Lord!
“What?” I breathed.
“I know myself,” he announced.
“Okay,” I said when he said no more.
“For me, this is a lot more than I’m into you and I want to get to know you better. I’ve processed through both of those. For me, the man I am, the woman you are, what’s happening to you, I’m your man, and you are my woman.”
I stopped breathing.
You are my woman.
Oh Lord.
“So,” he went on, sounding vaguely uncomfortable, “your ex-husband dicking with you at all would get a rise out of me. This happening right before you found out about your parents triggers something in me that’s a bit more extreme.”
“W-what’s that?” I asked.
“Remember I mentioned that nature to provide and protect?”
I nodded.
“Well, the protect part goes into overdrive.”
And…
There it was.
I knew.
I knew before.
Way before.
I mean, Harry Moran was gorgeous, but it wasn’t that.
Everyone knew he worked twice as hard when he worked for Dern, because he tried to do good in the face of bad. And everyone knew he still kept working twice as hard to prove the Dern tenure was over and people could trust the sheriff and his team.
Everyone also knew how much he’d loved his wife, even before he was forced to grieve her.
Everyone knew everything about the man who was Harry Moran.
And all of that was why I had a crush on him.
Because…
Because…
He was my dad.
Harry was his own unique version of the man Simon Rainier was.
A simple man, but that didn’t quite cover the facts that he was a good man, a smart man, a noble man, a thoughtful man, a man who had a deep capacity to love.
In other words, my dad.
And the minute I clapped eyes on Harry, just like my mom, I knew he was the man for me.
I just had to wait until he was ready.
And now he was ready.
So now, what he was saying was, like my dad was when he met my mom, Harry was mine.
I’d found it, what I was looking for.
I’d found what they had.
Oh dang.
I was going to cry again.
I shoved my face in his throat.
He wrapped both arms around me, and I felt him lift his head so he could say in my hair, “I don’t want to scare you with that. That’s just where I’m at. We’re still going to go slow.”
“I’m not scared,” I said into his skin. “I just don’t know how to deal with all I’ve lost and all I’ve gained all at the same time.”