Page 103 of His Last Nerve

Here’s my number, just in case you need to call me.

D.

I smiled at the note, studying his handwriting for a moment. Denver was nothing if not straightforward. Ten minutes later, I had a cup of coffee in hand, my laptop fired up and my butt in a stool. I called my mom first, before diving into more Moonie research.

“Good morning, Mom,” I chirped.

“Morning, darling,” she said. She sounded tired today, so I checked the date. It was a chemo day.

“How are you feeling?” I asked, ignoring the regret pooling in my stomach. Here I was waking up happy and she was going to get chemo.

“I’m alright,” she sighed. “I had the weirdest dream last night.”

“About what?” I asked before taking a sip of my coffee.Damn, this was good. Liquid gold from the heavens above.

“You, darling. In a forest.”

This gave me pause.

“A forest?” My eyes drifted to the kitchen window, focusing on the lush green at the foot of the mountains beyond the barn.

“Yes, you were running through it,” she explained.

“That’s it?” I wondered, raising a brow as I clicked over to MooniePipeline.com on my laptop.

“Yeah,” she said, coughing.

I winced and listened to her struggling to breathe over a thousand miles away. Guilt washed over me. I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be here, sitting in a gorgeous kitchen, drinking amazing coffee, and smiling at a handwritten note from a cowboy who makes me see stars.

I should be home, taking care of my mom.

I owed her that much, after everything that she’d done for me. She was all that I had. My only friend. My only family.

If I lost her, what I would have? An empty house full of memories that would only bring me pain.

“I’m coming home,” I declared, ignoring my heart’s cries.

“You will do no such thing, Valerie Cross,” Mom snapped, her voice sounding stronger than before. I knew this game. She was putting up a front for me.

“You are getting chemo and I—”

“My daughter is finallyliving. After over two and a half decades, my baby girl is finally experiencing some of that life I promised her when she was in my womb.”

I felt my eyes sting and I dropped my head, inhaling an unsteady breath. “Mom,” I begged.

“You come home, I’m changing the locks,” she threatened. I tried to say something but the emotion clawing up my throat was too painful. She continued, “Its chemo day, darling. I’m always a bit weaker these days, but you know Jackie will be here. That goofy woman lifts my spirits.”

“That’s my job,” I muttered, feeling like a failure.

“Last night, you lifted my spirits, Valerie. You were laughing in the presence of that man. God, I wish I could’ve seen the way he was looking at you. The evidence was all over his handsome face when he took over the phone.”

“You think he looks at me a certain way?”

“He’d be a fool not to,” she whispered. “Now, before I go to my appointment, tell me what you’ve dug up about that vile man.”

With that, I got to work, going over my notes from yesterday with Mom until she had to leave. Jackie said hi and that I needed to find her a cowboy. I told her she was crazy.

By the time lunch rolled around, I had my legal pad out, and it was filled with notes. Tim Moonie was not a good man, by any means. The Moonie family were based out of Houston, Texas. Tim Moonie was the star sports player at his high school, bringing in multiple championship trophies. That was the shiny glitter that covered up his darkness. After digging in the local newspapers, I found an article that made my skin crawl.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com