Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 112762 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112762 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Mrs. Hutchinson teamed me up with Frannie, an older but jolly woman who started working on the estate when it first opened to members. She liked to gossip about what we found in the rooms, and she made me laugh. The days moved quicker with her, and I relaxed more and more with each one that passed.
For those first few days, I’d caught sight of Walker in the castle halls. He never looked my way, but I had the strangest feeling he was watching over me. Brodan had shown up to give me the bad news that my car was beyond repair, but that he was covering the rental costs of my new Hyundai (confirming the car was not Walker’s), and he didn’t want any arguments. It stung to take his charity, but I couldn’t afford a new car. I needed to drive Callie to school, and I needed transportation for work at the estate and delivering baking orders.
I reluctantly kept the car but promised Brodan I’d get my own as soon as possible. He’d brushed me off, but I meant to keep my vow. I just didn’t have a timeline for it. And I made the choice to find joy in my gratitude.
That it was Brodan, however, who’d delivered this news bothered me. I wanted to text Walker, but it was clear if he was sending Brodan in his place that he didn’t want me getting any ideas about him being in our lives.
That hurt more than it should. Walker made me feel safe. I couldn’t remember the last time anyone had made me feel safe.
The Saturday after my first week back at work, Callie and I took a trip to the library. When I was younger, I devoured all the words, but there had been little time for reading since Callie came along. However, I was determined to make sure she had access to all the books she wanted. The library at Ardnoch wasn’t the best, but we could request books from other branches, and Callie’s small order from a few weeks ago had come in. We collected those, as well as a few others, and then went food shopping.
I listened to my daughter chatter about Lewis, about her other friends, about tae kwon do, and about the writing assignment she’d had at school that week. One of her and Lewis’s friends was having a birthday party that afternoon, and on top of all the baking I’d dropped off at Flora’s at the crack of dawn, I’d made cupcakes for the party. It was a full day, and we were hurrying home from the grocery shopping so Callie could get changed.
I pulled the car up outside the cottage so we could drop off the shopping. As soon as Callie and I got out of the car, we heard the yelling.
A loud, screechy female voice echoed all the way down Castle Street from Morag’s deli. Frowning, I turned that way and halted at the sight of Walker. He was standing in the middle of the sidewalk being yelled at by a woman.
Realization dawned as I picked up bits of what she was shouting. Monroe had mentioned that Walker was having a hard time with a woman he’d slept with. Apparently, he’d told her up front that what they had was just a casual thing, he didn’t want to do it anymore, and he’d blocked her when she got abusive. She’d since used a different phone number to contact him, and when she couldn’t get him, she even called the estate.
I’d known it wasn’t my business, and a stalkerish woman was the consequences of Walker treating females like they were disposable. But harassment was harassment. And I understood too well how stressful that was.
Plus … I owed him.
“Callie.” I rounded the hood and held out my keys. “Go inside.”
She scowled in Walker’s direction. “Who’s that lady hassling Walker?”
“Just go inside, please,” I insisted with a tone.
My daughter frowned at me but took the keys and let herself into the cottage. I knew she’d have her face pressed up to the window, but I couldn’t think about that.
Instead, I hurried down the street, adrenaline already pumping as I heard the woman shouting the same stuff over and over and using foul language that any kid in the vicinity could hear. I also heard Walker say her name. Chloe.
As I got closer, I noted that Walker certainly had a type with his women. I’d seen him a few times with one of his casual things and while hair and eye color changed, their tall voluptuousness did not. While I definitely had boobs and an ass, it was nothing on the women I’d seen him with. Walker liked curves for days, apparently.
Ignoring my dismay at that realization, I forced my face into a thunderous scowl, and Walker caught sight of me in his peripheral. He looked as taken aback as Walker could look—either from the sight of me or my expression.