Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 82282 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82282 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
I took the high road and didn’t reply, even though it went against every bit of my ingrained nature to throw the words at him that were sitting on the tip of my tongue.
The main one being, over my dead body.
The door behind me opened as I watched Paul back out, making me turn and watch as Viddy dragged out what looked like every single thing Hemi ever owned.
Jogging up to the door, I stopped and surveyed all the million balls that were now lining Hemi’s bed.
“That’s a lot of balls.” I observed as I scooped up the entire thing and walked back towards my police issued patrol SUV. Opening the back door, I dropped all the contents inside and slammed it shut before returning to the passenger side door.
I resisted the urge to offer Viddy help, even though it annoyed the ever-loving shit out of me to do so. It was like rubbing fur in the wrong direction, or walking with sand in my shoes. It wasn’t right, but Viddy hated the fact that she was blind. She hated it even more when someone dwelled on the fact.
“Trance?” Viddy called when she was three feet away from me.
Her face seemed to lose the determinedness to it and she held out her hand for me, making my breath ease out of my lungs.
Taking her hand, I led her around the car’s door and helped her settle in her seat.
“Where is Hemi?” She asked sadly.
In answer, I picked Hemi up from where he was laying in the grass and placed him on Viddy’s lap before closing the door softly.
Radar, who was sitting on his haunches beside Viddy’s door, came instantly when I whistled and hopped into the back door of the car before I slammed the door closed behind him.
“What’s on your agenda?” I asked her once we were on the road back to town.
“I want to take him to the water park, and then I want to get him a steak dinner from the Salt Grass Steakhouse. Then, well then, we can take him to the vet’s office.” She explained quietly.
I took my eyes off the road for a split second to regard her, and a pang of sadness poured through me as I saw the haunted look to her face.
It was pale and clammy. Her eyes were red, having still not returned the glasses that usually covered her sightless eyes.
I’d met Viddy through her sister, Adeline.
Adeline was married to a member of The Dixie Wardens MC, Kettle. One of my brothers.
Adeline and Viddy were twins. Both of them had dark hair, nearly black. Their skin was pale and creamy. However, that was where their similarities ended. Adeline was well rounded in all the right places. Well, more so now that she was eight months pregnant; but even before that, she’d always had more curves than Viddy.
Viddy was more what I liked to call...delicate. She was small, fine boned, and trim. Although she did have some meat on her, she really could stand to gain more. Her hair was always braided and out of her way, except for today.
Today, the black strands were loose and flowing around her shoulders and back.
Normally, I would never catch her in anything less than what I liked to call her combat clothes. Loose jeans, a plain monotone shirt, and a jacket of some sort or another.
Today, she was in a fitted tank, a pair of black yoga pants that said Pink across the ass, and tennis shoes. This was the most I’d ever seen of her skin, which made me aware of another difference between her and her sister.
“You don’t have any tattoos like your sister?” I asked in surprise.
Her head, which had been bowed, tipped up and regarded me. Her eyes moved over my features as if she could see.
Then her beautiful mouth tipped up into a smile. “Can you imagine what my sister would put onto my body if I took her with me? I would never really know if she put something offensive on me or not. I can see her doing it, too. She talked me into it once, but we were both drunk. I’m not even sure if it says what she says it does. Luckily, mine’s on my ribs.”
I returned my eyes to the road, trying my best not to roll my eyes. “You and your sister have the weirdest relationship. My brothers would kick my ass if I ever tried to do something like that. Although, they’ve kicked my ass for less, so it’s nothing new.
“How many brothers do you have?” She asked as she turned her attention back down to the dog in her lap.
I turned down Main Street and went to the park she’d indicated; glad it was still too early for the spray park to be open. Luckily, I knew quite a few of the city workers, one of which I’d called on the way, who’d told me the code to get in the gate.
“I have two brothers. Miller and Foster. They’re both SEALS.” I said as I pulled the car into a parking spot directly in front of the gate.
“Like the bad ass ones that have to survive being water boarded before they become SEALS?” She asked quizzically, as I shut off the car.
I rolled my eyes as I got out of the car, opened Radar’s door, and then went around to Viddy’s. She was still sitting there patiently with Hemi in her lap.
Scooping the dog up easily, I backed up until I was out of her way, and watched as she stood, unfolded her cane, and closed the door behind her.
“There aren’t any steps. Only smooth concrete once you step up on the curb that’s about six inches in front of your left foot.” I instructed her.
She followed my directions, and we walked into the splash pad, only stopping once to input the code.
I set Hemi down on his feet, walked over to the button that I’d seen Sebastian’s son hit multiple times during his last birthday party, at this very place. Sebastian’s the vice president of The Dixie Wardens. He’d rented the entire place out for his son’s fourth birthday.