Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 76022 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76022 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
It was a whole thing.
I was trying to give them a little grace because I knew what it was like to try to balance work and home improvement.
Still, it was kind of rude.
On the plus side, with all the hours they were putting in, it seemed like they would be done in no time.
“The floors, I want them shining,” Irina said.
“Do you want me to polish them?”
“I don’t know the terms. But I want to see my face reflected.”
“Got it.”
She click-clacked away to shoo the last customers out the door before the brothers and she all made their way out the front door without so much as a glance back toward me.
“A good evening to you too,” I mumbled to myself as I walked around cleaning up some leftover cups and plates of snacks.
Then I put on some bluesy music to romanticize the process of sweeping, vacuuming, wiping surfaces, and mopping.
Finished with that, I inched through the back door since I’d mopped myself out of the front.
Wedging a box in the doorway, I went out into the back alley, breathing in air that didn’t stink of ‘fresh linen’ cleaner.
The air was starting to take on the slightest of chills.
I mean, this was California. The late summers and early falls weren’t going to have those crisp nights that made you pull on a hoodie to go sit around a crackling fire. But it was still a nice break from the hot, dry nights we’d been having.
Though I would miss autumn evenings, I had to say that the oppressive summer humidity of my East Coast upbringing wouldn’t be missed if I got to keep Shady Valley as my home.
And I really, really wanted that.
Above me in the alley, the motion-activated light flicked off, blanketing me in darkness.
The night pressed in around me. Too heavy. Too close.
My breathing went quick and shallow, and that old familiar edge of panic clawed up my chest.
Everything in me said to throw out my arms, to activate the light.
But I forced my arms to stay down at my sides, to not give in to that need.
I knew that giving in was only reinforcing the fear. And I knew from Saul that I could calm down; I could endure.
I didn’t exactly have the distraction Saul had provided, but I refused to believe I wasn’t capable of getting to that same level of calm by myself.
I was safe.
There was nothing scary in the darkness.
I took a slow, deep breath until my belly even expanded.
Five things I could hear.
The night bugs. The music from the pub next door. The sound of someone on a cell phone on the street. My own deep breaths.
My heartbeat was about to pound out of my chest.
No.
Nope.
That wasn’t helping.
I moved through my senses, focusing on my surroundings, the things I could hear, see, smell, and touch.
Until the darkness wasn’t so terrifying.
I unclenched my sweaty fists and took several more slow, deep breaths.
I wasn’t exactly calm.
But I didn’t feel like my skin was crawling anymore.
Considering that progress, I slowly raised an arm, watching the light illuminate the alley.
No one scary hiding in the shadows.
Just me.
And my aching muscles that didn’t want to go back inside to wax the damn floor.
But if Irina didn’t like the shine, I was just going to have to redo the whole process.
With a sigh, I made my way in through the back door.
I was leaning down to move the box I’d shoved in the doorway when I heard something in the front of the pool hall.
Startled, I lost my footing.
I stumbled backward, my belly bottoming out as I flailed, but there was no way to brace for a backward fall.
I crashed down hard.
The pain exploded up my spine, stealing my breath as tears pricked my eyes.
“Ow, ow, ow,” I whimpered. I pressed my palms to the floor, pushing to lift up off my aching butt.
I got to my knees, then all fours, breathing through the pain as I forced myself to slowly get to my feet.
I stumbled forward, pressing the back door until it clicked and locked before inching my way through the back room, grabbing the mop as I went. It wasn’t the best of weapons but it was better than nothing.
I tried to focus, to listen. But all I could hear was the blood rushing through my ears, the thud of my heartbeat, and my ragged, uneven breathing.
My footsteps were blessedly silent as I leaned through the doorway, looking for any dark, scary figures.
But there was no one.
And nothing seemed out of place.
I reached back, rubbing my sore ass, trying to tell myself that I’d been hearing things, that I was just anxious from my little panic attack.
But I couldn’t out-logic the prickle moving across my neck, the goosebumps rising up on my arms.
Something felt wrong.
My gaze scanned around again, spotting what was wrong.