Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
“What was that for?” she asked, a donut held between her fingers and cinnamon-sugar on her lips. I bent and kissed her again, tasting the sweetness on her mouth.
“For being you.”
She smiled at me. “Carry on, then.”
“I love you,” I murmured. “You make me so happy.”
“I love you too.”
“You ready to go home?”
She put her lips close to my ear. “You gonna sex me up when we get there?”
I turned my head, meeting her beautiful eyes. “Definitely.”
“Let’s go.”
I hopped off the table, holding out my hand. “We’re off.”
Stefano stood. “We’re parked in the field too. We’ll walk with you.”
Maxx looked over at Charly, slinging his arm around her shoulder. “Come on, Red. Let’s walk the kids to their car.”
We laughed, strolling toward the vehicles, acting like goofballs. The girls laughed as we played tag, using them to shield us as we tried to avoid being “it.” The game was silly and juvenile and fun. Maxx stopped walking as we got close to the spot my truck was parked, staring ahead. “You park on a hill, Chase?”
I frowned. “No, I don’t think so.”
Stefano tilted his head. “The angle is odd. You must have.”
We drew closer, and my stomach twisted as Hannah gasped. “Did a tree branch break?”
Across the hood was a big branch, broken and twisted. My windshield was cracked, a large dent in the metal and the paint destroyed.
“Fuck,” Maxx muttered.
“Holy shit,” Stefano added, walking closer. “Your tires are blown out. That’s why the angle is off.”
I stared at the truck and walked around it. Nothing else was damaged. It appeared the huge tree limb snapped off and fell on my hood by accident.
But when I lifted my phone, using the flashlight to inspect the tree limb, I had my doubts. Stefano stood beside me. “Would a tree limb falling really blow out the tires?” I asked quietly.
“Highly doubtful.”
“Does some of the end of the tree look as though it was cut?” I wondered out loud. “Deliberately?”
“Hard to tell in this light, but I would say yes.”
Maxx joined us. “I phoned the tow truck company and called in a favor. They’ll be here shortly.”
Stefano spoke up. “You head home, Maxx. Hannah and Chase can catch a ride with us.” He kept his voice low. “We’re taking the damn tree limb with us.”
Hannah came over. “Chase, I’m so sorry!”
I didn’t want to worry her. I pulled her close. “I’m glad we weren’t in it when it happened. We’ll get it towed and go home with Stefano and Gabby.”
Charly joined us, staring at the vehicle. “Aren’t those new tires?”
“Yes.”
She looked up. “The tree looks pretty healthy to me.”
I nodded grimly.
Hannah frowned. “You mean this wasn’t an accident?”
“We don’t know that,” I assured her.
“But how? Why?” she said, then covered her mouth. “No.”
I sighed. “Let’s not jump to conclusions.”
“But it’s what you think. That Dan did this. That he is responsible. How would he even know we were here?”
I shrugged. “He could have seen us. Overheard you talking at work. Been here himself. Or followed us. I have no idea. We don’t know for sure if it was on purpose or just a freak accident.”
I looked at the truck.
“But I’m going to find out.”
Maxx and Stefano were already bent over the truck when I got there on Sunday morning. I left an exhausted Hannah asleep in our bed. She’d had nightmares all night, even with me holding her. At one point, she’d confessed she was afraid I was going to leave her because of what Dan was doing, and that was playing on her psyche.
“I’m not worth it,” she sobbed. “If he did that, if he keeps doing things, you’ll get tired of it.”
I held her close, murmuring comforting words into her ear. “No, Cinnamon. He is not going to win. I will never let you go.”
She’d finally fallen asleep, and I’d slipped out of bed, leaving her a note, and headed to the garage.
In the light, the damage was even more than I had thought the night before. The windshield was a given, but the hood was dented and damaged to the point I knew I would have to replace it. Luckily, nothing mechanical was impaired.
I hunched down, looking at the heavy limb we’d brought back to the garage. I ran my fingers over the edges. “I don’t see saw marks.”
“No,” Stefano agreed, tracing his finger along the torn limb. “It has a split here and here.” He ran his hand over the trunk. “These depressions bother me.”
Another truck pulled up, and Dom swung out of the driver’s seat, frowning. He joined us, rubbing his chin. “Wow.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Hannah called her mom. I just dropped her off at your place. I came to see what I could do to help.”
“Were you there last night?”
“Yeah, we were.” He looked at me. “So was your friend.”