Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45202 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45202 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Before I say something I can’t take back, I walk out of the house, letting the door slam shut behind me. Dom meets me at the front of his truck and puts his hands on my shoulders. “Hey, hey, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”
I push past him. “Yes, can we go, please?”
He walks around me, opens the door to his truck, and carefully helps me in. I buckle my seatbelt as he walks around and gets into the driver’s side. He grips the steering wheel and lets out a breath. “Honey, I’m sorry. I should have known me picking you up was going to cause problems for you.” He turns in his seat and looks at me. “Look, what do you need from me? I want to help you and to be here for you, but not if it’s going to cause you to be unhappy or ruin your relationship with your mom.”
I sniffle, holding back the tears. Why does this man have to be so nice? I’ve held so much hate for him for so long, and I’m starting to realize that maybe I shouldn’t have. I reach over, but instead of reaching for him, I put my hand on the empty console. “I never thought I’d say this, but I need you, Dom. To be my friend… I don’t know. All I know is that you’re the only one I feel like I can talk to since I got home, and I don’t want to lose that.”
He smiles at me. “Okay… I can do that. Anything you need or want from me, just ask. I’d give you anything, Lucky. I want you to know that.”
I nod and think about what my mom told me. “Yeah, I think I’m figuring that out.”
He starts his truck and backs out of the driveway. I can see my mom standing in the doorway, watching us, and even from here, I can feel the disapproval coming off her.
We get almost to the edge of town when Dom fills the silence. “You ready for this?”
I blow out a breath. “As ready as I’m going to be.”
He just laughs. “You’re going to be awesome. You got this, Lucky.”
As we pull into the parking lot for the rehabilitation center, I look out at the building and the gardens surrounding it and realize that the pictures on the website don’t do it justice. I’ll definitely add that to the list.
We don’t have to wait long at all. As soon as we get to Walker’s office, we’re led inside where he’s waiting for us. I’ve seen him one time before when I was in town for a brief time, visiting my parents. He stands up, walks around the desk, and comes toward me with his hand out. “Luciana Raven. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
I put my hand in his. “Walker, it’s so nice to finally meet you.”
He then moves to Dom and shakes his hand with a squeeze of the shoulder too. “Dom, good to see you, man.”
“You too, brother.”
Walker releases Dom and walks back around to his chair. “Have a seat. Thanks for coming so soon, Luciana. I’ve been meaning to update the website, but it keeps getting put on the back burner.”
I wave my hand in front of me as I sit down. “Oh, it’s my pleasure. Thanks for meeting with me.” I reach into my briefcase to pull out my notepad. “So I looked at your online presence, and I have quite a few ideas on updating the website.”
When I raise back up, Walker holds his hands up. “I want to hire you.”
My mouth falls open, and I look over at Dom, who’s just openly smiling at me. Walker continues. “I’ve seen your work. I look into anyone that I’m thinking about hiring. You’re innovative, creative, loyal, and a hard worker. Your websites have been known to increase productivity, social attention, and the bottom line.” He reaches for a piece of paper and hands it over to me. “Everything is on there. Your duties, what would be expected of you and your pay, holidays, insurance, etc.”
I look at the large amount, and my mouth falls open. “But…”
“Give it a day to think about it. I know you didn’t plan on moving back to Whiskey Run, and even though you can work in an office here or at home or anywhere in town, I would like to have you close because we do have fundraisers that will need coverage for social media.” He gestures to the paper. “But any of this is negotiable. Take a look at it and let me know if you have any questions. My personal number is at the bottom. Just give me a call with your questions and when you make your decision.”
I just stare at him wide-eyed before I pull myself together. “Thank you for this. I’ll look everything over and let you know.”