Unhurt Read Online Free PDF Page A

brother’s bar a few days ago...I’m the guy with the tubs.”
    My brain had caught up with me halfway through his explanation.
    “Sorry, I’m waiting on a call. Of course I know who you are. What’s up?” I was tapping my fingers on the workbench, eager to get off the phone again. I realized call waiting would ensure that I didn’t miss any attempts to get through to me, but I was running low on logic.
    “I was just checking in to see if you’d be around today for me to drop off the doggy baths and furniture.” He sounded unsure of himself, hesitant. And who could blame him? I wasn’t exactly being particularly warm or pleasant.
    My eyes swept the shop. Judging from the amount of work I had, I wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
    “Sure. That’d be fine. I should warn you though, I live quite a ways outside of town. We’re talking, like, a forty minute drive.” A little something I probably should have shared with him sooner, only I’d been too excited at the prospect of getting those stupid tubs, which now seemed pretty fucking unimportant.
    “No problem at all. I could use a nice ride out into the country.” He was being sweet and I couldn’t even begin to contemplate what his motivation was. Worse, I suddenly didn’t want him to be. Like hating Travis was more powerful if I could just hate all men at once and then funnel all of that combined hatred in his direction. Maybe if I conjured up enough of it I could turn him to stone or something. It was ridiculous, but fear had robbed me of my rational mind for the time being.
    “Whatever you say. I’ll just text you the address then.” My tone was horrible and I felt a pang of guilt over it. Derek just took my attitude in stride, which almost made me wonder if it was somehow translating differently over the phone line.
    “That works. See you in about an hour then.”
    The call ended. I stared at my screen for a long while, willing myself to type out my address and hit send. I honestly had no fucking clue what my problem was. All I knew was that I wanted Derek to stay as far away from me as possible, and giving him the info he needed to come directly to me seemed more than just a little counterproductive in achieving the desired results.
    After sending the dreaded text, I double checked the volume on my ringer twice, making sure it hadn’t accidentally been turned down, or worse yet, off, and then I placed it close to me on one of the tables I had next on my to-do list.
    I had just applied the final coat of clear sealant on the bar stools when I saw Derek’s truck pull up. Wyatt heard the loud sound of his engine and quickly came running over to see who it was. I mean, he was four and a boy, so big trucks were about the most exciting thing in the world to him. Or at least they were until he spotted Hattie sitting in the front seat next to Derek.
    “Mommy! Look! A dog,” he exclaimed, shaking his little pointer finger in her direction.
    “I know.” Instinctively, I reached down and scooped him up into my arms. Hattie had been friendly and all, but I wasn’t sure if Derek was planning on letting her out of the truck and if he was, I had no interest in seeing my kid nose to nose with a dog that outweighed him by probably fifty pounds and could gobble him up in just a few bites.
    “Hey.” Derek smiled as he climbed out of the driver’s seat and came over to greet us. “What’s up little man?” He leaned in ever so slightly and lifted his hand to give Wyatt a high-five. A gesture which my kid promptly returned.
    “I’m Wyatt. What’s your name?”
    “It’s nice to meet you, Wyatt. I’m Derek.” He had yet to take his focus off my son to greet me.
    “I like your dog.” Wyatt was beaming.
    “Yeah? Well, if it’s okay with your mommy, I bet she’d like to meet you.” At last his eyes came up to greet mine, a silent question in them.
    I nodded reluctantly. “Is Hattie good with kids?”
    Derek shrugged. “Let’s find