Total pages in book: 168
Estimated words: 162369 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 812(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 162369 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 812(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
Running my hand through my hair, I scan the yard and street, hoping her parents—or any other capable adult—will materialize.
“Are your parents at home?” Long buried memories of my own neglect-filled childhood stir back to life as those same exact words echo in the darkest corners of my mind.
Cherry rolls over so Penny can rub her belly. “I think so,” she says.
“Do you know your address?”
She shakes her head, which heightens my growing worry. I’m not comfortable around kids and have no idea what to do with a lost one. Or an unlost one.
I look to Brianna for help and she arches a brow at me.
“You should be handling this,” I say to her.
“You can be responsible for a child, Fox. Don’t you know that? What are you afraid of?”
Frustrated, I turn back to the little girl. “Do you know how to get to your house? Could you take me there?”
Penny flashes me a big grin. “Can Cherry come with us?”
“Sure, little darlin’, she can come. We better go before it gets dark.”
She follows me out to the driveway with no hesitation. Just pure trust. My jaw grinds with anger. This innocent, adorable little girl could’ve walked up to anyone, could’ve been kidnapped, or worse. Where the hell are her parents? Shouldn’t they be looking for her?
Or maybe she’s like me. Forgotten.
“Is it close enough to walk?” I ask. I can’t stick her on the back of my bicycle, and my old pickup is parked in front of the barn with weeds growing over it. Getting behind the wheel of a car vaults me into a full-blown panic attack. PTSD is a perpetual, lurking vampire, just waiting to suck the life out of me.
Besides, I’ve had a few too many beers to drive, especially with a kid as a passenger.
Penny points down the street. “My house is that way.”
Before we go, I turn back to see Brianna standing in the doorway of the barn. The sight of her is breathtaking and borderline angelic, with the space around her seemingly glowing with warm energy. The wind blows her dark hair across her face, her dress fluttering like butterfly wings across her thighs. My heart stumbles into love with her for the millionth time.
“You coming?” I call out to her.
She shakes her head. My favorite smile lights up her face. “You two go.”
Penny smiles in Bri’s direction, then slips her tiny hand into mine and gently tugs me toward the road. When we reach the sidewalk, Cherry hesitates, looking back at the house and barn like she’s not sure she should leave. She lets out a short whimper, then wags her tail and continues to follow her new little friend.
I turn back once more, too, but Brianna is already gone.
Chapter 4
ALEX
Penny leads me to a remodeled yellow Cape one street over. The lawn is perfectly landscaped and has those cool diagonal mow stripes, not a weed in sight. I’ve always thought you can tell a lot about someone by their lawn. Cherry trots off to sniff, and I hope she doesn’t take a crap on their emerald-green grass. I also hope the white Volvo SUV in the driveway means someone is home.
“This is your house?” I ask Penny.
“Yes.” She points to a second-floor window. “That’s my room.”
From the outside, it appears to be a normal house with normal, decent, loving people inside. But my little dark demons are whispering about bad parents who leave to get groceries and never come back, so I jab the doorbell button. I’m not leaving her here until I make sure someone’s home.
“We can go inside,” Penny suggests. “You don’t have to ring the bell.”
I smile down at her. “I can’t just walk into your house, kiddo.”
“But you’re with me.”
The door swings open, and a woman with a pink towel wrapped around her head like a genie gives me a blank look.
“Mrs. Rose?”
“Yes…” Her confused gaze drops to the little girl standing beside me. “Penny… oh my God. What are you doing out here? Did you wander off again?”
“Again?” I echo, raising a brow.
“I wasn’t wandering,” Penny protests. “Wander means aimlessly, and I knew where I was going.”
The woman lets out a gust of breath that tells me even more than her lawn does. “How many times have I told you that you cannot sneak out of the house?”
Penny chews her lip and tilts her head, eyes cast to the sky as she counts silently. “I think more than twelve times,” she finally answers.
I laugh until the woman shoots me the same warning look my foster mother used to give me when I was acting up. I quickly wipe the grin off my face.
“I apologize,” the mom says with a tired smile. “It’s been a day. Thank you so much for bringing her home. One of these days, she’s going to give me a heart attack. I’m Laura Rose, by the way.”