Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 91461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“They don’t care about you being gay, or Black, in case you were wondered about that, they only care about you not coming from a family with generational wealth.”
Harper looked over at Wick, who shrugged. “Is that what you were trying to tell me?”
“Yeah. They’re snobs. I came out to my family when I was ten, and everyone was, like, yeah, fine, whatever. You be you. They all loved my last boyfriend—Percy Quantrell Bledsoe the Third. He was from St. Simons.”
“Percy?”
“I wouldn’t start, Finnegan,” Harper snapped at him.
“Finnegan is way better’n Percy,” Kola said defensively.
“They’re snobs,” Wick told Harper. “They don’t give a crap that you’re gay.”
“Yep,” George concluded. “That’s what I got as well.”
All eyes were on him.
“Hannah said your father and brothers don’t like Kola being your choice to marry,” George said to Finn. “But they’ll come around. If I was your father, I’d worry more about the choices of his two older sons in the love department, yeah? I mean, that ain’t going so great.”
Finn groaned, and Kola smiled.
“Also, I’ve decided that tomorrow when you have your protection duty with Kip Benning, I will go along on that one, as he’s a bit of a partier.”
Finn made a noise like he was dying. “I get it. I do. And you’re my boss, but I’m off the clock, so I have to tell you that this babysitting is getting so old.”
“Hmmm,” George rumbled. “When you’re a grown-up, we call it supervision, not babysitting, and perhaps if one made good choices, on a continual basis, then one could be entrusted not to need said supervision.”
“I have learned my lesson, I swear to God.”
“Then whether I’m there or not hardly matters. You should conduct yourself in your capacity as an elite bodyguard while on the clock, without any concerns.”
“You make me nervous, and then I mess up.”
“So your argument is that if I wasn’t there, then you wouldn’t mess up?”
Finn just looked at him.
“Gimme a break,” George said with a grin that told Finn how stupid he sounded.
Finn leaned, his head in hand, and George turned to us.
“Did Hannah tell you about her and Jake?” I asked George.
“Unfortunately yes. She always feels the need to overshare.”
I nodded. “What did she say?”
“Apparently Jake informed Hannah that he will no longer be taken for granted. She makes decisions and he’s expected to go along. It’s not fair, and he’s done with it.”
“That’s pretty much exactly what he told me,” Kola imparted.
“It’s because Hannah’s a freight train,” Harper chimed in, having finished the tomatoes and starting on the jalapeños. “She never consults anyone about anything, and it’s one of my favorite things about her, because her ideas, her plans, are usually right and good. Like our condo. It’s perfect, and that was all her. And a kinder, more thoughtful, compassionate person you will not find, but she’s also––”
“A freight train,” George paraphrased, “as you said. Or perhaps a steamroller?”
Everyone was quiet then.
“Kurt makes plans,” George began, and all of us turned back to him. “When he and his friends go out, he decides where they’re going to eat, what movie they’re going to see, and even where they’re getting dessert afterwards.”
“That’s insane,” Harper commented.
George shrugged. “Apparently so, because people complained, so he stopped. I mean, c’mon, no one wants to be told they’re a steamroller, am I right?”
Crickets in answer. I said nothing, as I knew the lesson was not directed at either me or Sam. Purely for the children.
“So two weeks ago, here comes Friday, and guess what? No one made any plans. No one made reservations, checked what movies were playing or gallery openings might be attended, what band might be performing at what club, et cetera, just…nothin’,” George explained. “And I don’t care, because staying home with Kurt, alone, is my favorite thing, but by the time plans got talked through and decisions were agreed upon, the night was over.”
Already, I understood the point.
“Kurt suggested that they could try again next week and hope for a better outcome.”
Still crickets from the children.
“Of course the fix was obvious,” George said with a grin. “Flowers came, a charcuterie board was delivered—that I will tell you I thoroughly enjoyed—as well as fruit, some candy, and his friend Vince even sent over a snow globe. Now, if you don’t know, Kurt collects those things—only glass—because they encapsulate entire worlds but are fragile. I think there’s some kind of point in there.”
No one was stupid enough to offer him illumination on his rhetorical point.
“So the truth is, unless you’re blessed with an entire group of people who are all proactive at all times…then you need a coordinator. Just as a ship needs a navigator. Like, I dunno, someone to make an engagement party happen.”
Kola grunted and crossed his arms.
“Or someone to make sure people get picked up at the airport at all hours of the day and night, and a person to make lighting and décor decisions, and someone who can easily keep, and update, a weekly calendar of food prep, bills, and things like maintenance on the AC, and when, and at what time, the exterminator is expected. Because unless you want to take over tasks—so many, many mind-numbing tasks—you should probably keep your trap shut.”