Read The Davonshire Series 2: Loving Words for Free Online Page B

guessed, was here to hold him if he cried. 
I hate this shit
.  He hated this feeling of helplessness and he resented them all for being here like he was going to fall apart.  He said it out loud.  “I am a grown-ass man and I can handle this new element in my life.  Just say it.”
    Technically, he didn’t sign the contract, so maybe there was a loophole.  “What if I don’t honor the contract?  What happens then, Dad?  I won’t lose anything if I don’t add the new divisions. And technically, I didn’t sign it, so what is the big deal?”
    His father leaned forward with his forearms on his knees.  “The big deal, son, is that your brother signed it, and it was signed by a Devonshire, and a Devonshire honors his word.”  He continued by asking Rod to go over what exactly this ghostwriter was supposed to do.
    Rod began, “The ghostwriter has to be on-site no later than June first to begin the writing.  Also, the writer is obligated to stay for six months or they will not be paid.  The autobiography has to be written in its entirety by the end of the six-month period.”
    Wilfred rubbed the hairs on his chin from the overgrown beard that have taken over the bottom half of his face as he listened to Rod explain the formalities.
    “David was very specific with his instructions,” which included a prepaid card for purchasing the needed supplies to live on Green Gables Ranch, as well as a list of his dietary restrictions and schedule.  Wilfred looked at the schedule and grumbled at how strict and regimented his life had become.  “On paper, I look like a weirdo,” he said out loud.  Jaelon only coughed.
     The schedule, when written out, included horseback riding on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.  He did yoga on Tuesday and Thursday and swam on those afternoons as well.  The paper said he ate very little beef, mainly fed on chicken and fish with a whole grain diet and lots of leafy green vegetables.  “Hell, if it said I used my own shit to fertilize the veggies I wouldn’t sound as weird as I do on this piece of paper!”  He had started to break out in hives again as Rod stifled back his laughter.
    “Wilfred, when I read the schedule, I thought it was a little rigid, but being here for a few days, it’s not a bad way of life.”
    What woman would want to spend any time with him? 
I’m a nerd, a geek, and a man who hides behind loving words written in books because I never learned to use them in real lif
e.
    She
was coming to his ranch. 
    She
was going to turn his life upside down and he was going to hate her flipping guts simply because David had chosen her.
    His mother was the one to break his silence and concentration.  “Sweetie, the contract states that you have to have someone from the staff of Hughes Publishing.  There is no reason why you can’t fly to Atlanta yourself and pick your own person.  Who says you have to go with whom David has picked for you?” She told him as she handed him an allergy tab from her purse.
    Wilfred stopped scratching and sat up.  Suddenly, he felt a little better.

10

The Haystack and the Needle
    The meeting with Delphina Hughes had been set for 2 p.m., which gave Wilfred plenty of time to fly to Atlanta, sit in the lobby, and observe the passers-bys.  He wore his favorite deep gray suit with the lavender striped shirt.  Nervously, he fondled the silver cufflinks that Willie had given him for his birthday last year.  He didn’t know what in the world he was looking for and after about an hour, he felt defeated, deflated, and stupid. 
How in the world is this going to work?
  It wasn’t as if the right person would just magically come along and all of his prayers would be answered.
    In retrospect, David may have been on to something and he should just go with what his brother set up and call it a day.  He refused to believe that the Cosmos could be so cruel and not align in his moment of need so that he, like his big brother, could be