Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 65444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 262(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 262(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
“Go open the door, Shelby,” he commands, and my eyes narrow as I hiss back, “No.”
“Fine,” he mutters, and I start to relax back into my seat then tense when he takes a step back from the railing, puts his hands to the top, and swings his body over, landing on my deck feet first almost silently. I thought the decks between our houses were pretty close, but until then I didn’t realize just how close they were.
“I can’t believe you just did that,” I mumble, in complete shock.
“Now, let’s talk.”
“Zach.”
“Talk to me,” he demands, pulling one of the other chairs up in front of mine, and takes a seat facing forward with his elbows to his knees.
“You’re annoying.”
“Shelby.”
“Where are the kids? Shouldn’t you be home with them?”
“I’m ten feet away from where I was when I came out on my deck. If they need me, they can come out and get me. Now talk to me.”
Taking a drink from the bottle in my hand, I sit back and sigh. “Fine. When the bear broke into the house, Hunter sent pictures to Max then told him about helping you release the bear. Max flipped out and told me that he was going to take Hunter from me for putting him in danger,” I say softly, shaking my head at the ridiculousness of the whole situation.
“Do you guys have a custody agreement?” he asks, taking the bottle from my hand, putting it to his lips, and tipping it back. My stomach flips from the mere intimacy of the act, and it takes a lot of concentration to answer his question.
“N-no, we just agreed verbally that Hunter would live with me.”
“Custody wasn’t discussed during your divorce?” He frowns, and I shake my head then nod.
“It was, but the judge agreed that since we already had an agreement in place that was working for us, we didn’t need to change it.”
“Then you moved here.”
“Then I moved here,” I agree.
“My lawyer’s good. She’s out of Anchorage, but comes into town to meet with clients. I’ll see if she’s available to talk. If not, I’ll help you find someone who is.”
“Zach.” I swallow hard and close my eyes, wishing he would stop being nice. I can’t deal with him being nice to me.
“Baby, he’s not going to take Hunter from you,” he says gently, reading me wrong, and I feel his hand rest on my thigh and tears prickle the back of my eyes.
“You don’t know him. He will do everything he can to make it impossible for me to keep him. He has money and knows a lot of people.”
“Look at me, Shel,” he commands softly, and I shake my head. “Please, baby, look at me.”
Swallowing hard, I open my eyes and meet his. “Don’t give up before you’ve even started fighting.”
“I’m not giving up. I will fight until my last breath,” I whisper, holding his eyes. “I will never give up, but I know him. I know how he gets when he’s made up his mind. I know he will beat me down until I have nothing left inside of me to fight with.”
Concern and softness enter his eyes as he leans forward. “Then I guess it’s good I’m here to fight for you if that happens.”
“Don’t say that.” I sit back, dislodging his hand. “I don’t want you to fight for me.”
“I thought you’d come home.”
“What?” I frown, wondering what he’s talking about, and he moves closer, dropping his voice.
“When you left, I thought you just needed time to clear your head. I thought you’d come home. Then one month turned into two, then two into three, and you didn’t come back, didn’t answer my calls. You left me here.”
“We are not talking about that,” I breathe, panicking at the turn in conversation, the alcohol in my system wearing off far too quickly.
“I was drinking and doing drugs. Doing everything I could to kill the pain you left me with,” he confesses, and I stare at him in disbelief.
“You were fine. I think you proved that,” I hiss, and his face softens, but his eyes narrow in a way that causes me to brace.
“You’re so fucking stuck in your head that you’re blinded by the shit you’ve told yourself.”
“No, I just know you’re full of shit. You moved on, and it didn’t take long to do it either,” I remind him, but more so to remind myself.
“I never moved on. I’m still stuck in the past, trying to figure out how to get back the girl I let get away.”
“Stop.” I pull my eyes from his. I can’t do this. Not now, not while everything else around me is up in the air, not when I feel so completely vulnerable.
His hand moves to my jaw and my eyes turn toward him. “Why’d you come back?”