Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 27142 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27142 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
“All right then. Be safe out there.” I give Mick a mock salute before I’m out the door and on the road.
My morning drags by today. Usually the day goes by in a flash, but all I keep doing is counting down the stops until I get to Donovan’s.
Then a terrible idea comes to me. What would Donovan do if I was late? I normally see him peeking through the curtains when I’m coming down his long driveway. I picture him inside his home pacing back and forth. What’s in these boxes?
“Gracie!” my best friend Julie calls to me when I pull up next to the diner. I’m dropping a package off at Sew Be It next door. The yummy smells coming from the diner have my stomach growling. “Come have lunch with us.”
I turn to see her and her fiancé Jacks getting out of his car. She was actually the reason I’d taken the day off work yesterday. She and Jacks are finally going to say “I do,” and we tried on dresses yesterday. This has been in the making since elementary school, and I’m so happy it’s finally happening.
“Come with us. I’m buying,” Jacks adds. I know he’s only trying to butter me up in hopes that I’ll spill some details about tonight's bachelorette party. He knows I’ll fold like a cheap chair, but too bad for him Val is throwing it and has been tight-lipped.
“Okay,” I agree, checking my watch. This will make me late. Plus the diner beats the turkey sandwich I’ve got stuffed under my seat in the truck. “Let me drop this box, and I’ll be over. Get me a strawberry milkshake.”
I smile as I wonder how Donovan is going to react to me being so late. I’ll order him a piece of pie from the bakery to make up for it. Maybe today I’ll get more than a few grunts.
Chapter Two
Donovan
She’s late. I was pacing in my living room for the past twenty minutes before I decided to go outside and do it. I don’t like to be outside when she comes, but yesterday it was someone different, and now there’s no one.
I made a few calls, and I know she’s going to specifically be the only person to deliver my mail from now on. I was assured it would be taken care of. After all I’ve sacrificed for the government, they owe me. I’ve never asked for a thing from them, and if my one request is that the same person deliver my mail each day, then so be it. Maybe I should have asked for it to come at the same exact time each day too.
Glancing down at my watch, I grunt and look down the driveway. She’s still not here, and I should be able to see her coming from a long distance. My driveway is so long, you can hardly see my house from the road, but with all the packages I order, she has to come to my door.
Just as I make another pass on my porch, I see a flash of light in the distance. It’s her. Well, it better be her. Right now all I can see is the light reflecting off the mail truck as she comes down the road closer to my house. I need to go inside, but first I want to make sure it’s her.
As soon as she’s close enough for me to see the braided hair over one shoulder, I turn around and go inside. Normally she doesn’t need me to sign for things, but every now and then she makes me.
Her name tag reads Gracie, but I’ve never called her that or said her name out loud. I don’t talk much and mostly just do a lot of thinking when I’m around people. But even that’s a lie because the only people I’m around are my parents and my brother Tidas. With them I don’t have to talk much, so I wait to talk until it’s important.
Standing in my living room, I look through the window and watch her get out of her mail truck. I should probably go help her with the box, but I know it’s just paper towels so it’s light. I save all my heavy stuff for when I have to go to the next town over for my big shopping. I don’t like ordering things that are too heavy for her to carry.
Today she’s got a lavender ribbon, and I write it down on the little pad I keep by the door. I don’t know why I’m so obsessed with the ribbons, but usually on the days she’s happy she wears soft colors like this one. Why is she happy today? Does she have a boyfriend? I’ve checked for a ring several times, and she’s not married. If she were mine, I’d never let her leave the house without a ring on. What if her husband doesn’t care?