Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70445 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70445 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
“I’m sorry it’s like this, Renee,” I say quietly and squeeze her hand. She squeezes back, looking sad and tired.
“Not your fault, honey, not at all. I just wanted to say, I never blamed you for leaving, you know. I remember how things were back then. I remember what happened.”
My throat swells and I look away. “Thanks for saying that. Sometimes I feel like I’m crazy.”
“You’re not. You weren’t then and you’re not now. What your daddy said, the way they treated you—” Renee only grunts and shakes her head.
I hug her again, unable to help myself, and I force the tears away. This isn’t how I wanted this reunion to go—I wanted fewer tears and more laughter. And there will be time for that, since I’m staying for the week, but I can’t let myself waste all the time I have left.
Because once I’m done with this visit, I’m done with Leader Ranch for good. No more coming home.
We start walking again, but Renee slows and gazes over toward the house. “Well, now, who’s that?” she asks, and I spot War walking toward us.
“That’s the man that Father sent to fetch me.” I stand with my hands on my hips. “He’s sticking around for the week.”
Renee’s eyebrows lift and she whistles. “Not a bad specimen to have around.”
“God, Renee, please don’t.”
“I’m just saying, honey, he’s not bad to look at.”
“I’m so embarrassed I could explode right about now. Please don’t get any ideas.”
“Ah, hon, I’m seventy years old, my ideas are long gone. But you’re still young.”
I feel heat rise into my cheeks as War raises a hand in greeting and leans up against the fence. He looks good in jeans and a button-down, his hair slightly messy, his eyes bright and fresh.
Renee introduces herself. “Melody has nice things to say about you,” she says with a teasing little smirk.
War laughs. “I bet she does.” His grin boils my blood.
“Renee’s been working here since I was a girl,” I say quickly before the old woman starts asking him if he’s single and if he’d like to date me. I bet she’d gladly give him a calendar of my ovulation schedule if it meant pumping out some Leader heirs and settling down on the farm.
“Speaking of which, I was just heading back to the office to get some stuff done,” Renee says with a wave. “I’ll see you two folks later on. Dinner tonight, Melody?”
“Gladly.” I wave as she walks back and War leans closer.
“She seems nice. You two were close?”
“Very close,” I admit and glance at him. “What are you smiling about?”
“You look happy.”
“I do not.” I force myself to stop grinning. “This is miserable for me. Remember?”
“Right, sure, I almost forgot. You hate the world, woe is you, all that.”
“Don’t start with me.”
“I’m just happy you found one person you still care about around here.” He looks past me into the distance and his face tightens. I follow his gaze and two ATVs are coming toward us, one with my cousin Evan on the left, and the other with my cousin Bruno.
Evan’s rangy, lanky, tall and narrow, with squinty eyes and an easy smile. Bruno’s got that same height, but he’s stockier, all shoulders and neck. They park nearby and kill their engines, looking like they’re out for a hunt and finally caught a herd of grazing deer.
“Look at this,” Evan says. “Little cousin Melody’s back from the dead.”
“She didn’t die, just ran off,” Bruno says and slaps the handlebar of his ATV. “When did you get here? Nobody told us you showed your face.”
“Yesterday,” I say, glaring at the boys. These two are harmless, but they’ve never been nice to me. The third brother, Dean, was nicer to me, since we’re the same age, but these two are total pricks as far as I’m concerned.
“Did Daisy tell you to fuck off yet?” Evan ask, eyes sparkling like he’d love to see it.
“Yes, pretty much,” I admit. “Has she been like that all this time?”
“Ever since she practically took over,” Bruno admits. Evan nudges his brother with an elbow and Bruno grins sheepishly. “I mean, she’s been, uh, great.”
War laughs and leans toward them. “You two are your cousin’s lackeys or what?”
“We have our own agenda,” Evan says and narrows his eyes. “And who the fuck are you?”
“This is Warren,” I say, gesturing. “That’s all you need to know.”
“Nothing’s changed with you, huh, Melody,” Evan says, sneering now. “Still miserable as always. You used to stomp around here looking at everyone like you were so much better than us just because you did all the work your daddy told you to do while we actually had a little fun. You still got that look now.”
“Maybe because she is better than you,” War says before I can reply, and the venom in his tone surprises me. “Maybe it’d be smart to watch the way you speak to Melody.”