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)
This year, Hannah’s birthday fell on the Friday after Thanksgiving, and even though I wanted to take her out for a lavish birthday, it was the big twenty-one after all, my girl could not have been less interested. All she wanted to do was have a great Thanksgiving and eat leftovers all weekend long and watch TV and just basically be a vegetable. My husband thought this was the best idea she’d ever had, so we planned on our normal Thanksgiving open house, because at eighty-one, Regina was not about spending the day cooking anymore. She loved to help and supervise, but she was also very keen on sitting at the kitchen table, sipping wine and talking to Aja and Dylan, who she preferred to both of her daughters. I scolded her about that, but she just waved a dismissive hand at me.
Now for the news you’ve all been waiting for: Michael was not cheating on Sandra.
“He wasn’t?” Dylan asked midafternoon on Thanksgiving, sitting across from me, sucking on the straw of her drink.
“Are you sure?” Aja did not sound convinced as she stirred with her pink plastic straw, wanting to get the whipped cream down into the middle of the frothy concoction.
“This is exactly what I asked him,” Regina chimed in before sucking on her own red glitter straw. Everyone got a different color. “I mean, I know he’s my child, and I love him, but he does not have a good track record with women.”
“Not at all,” Aja stated.
“And I asked him this time, I said, Michael, this seems fast to me. Why are you rushing? It’s only been a month.”
“I didn’t realize it was that fast,” Aja commented.
“What’d Michael say to that?” Dylan asked Regina.
“He said when you know, you know.”
“Well, that’s true,” Aja said, slurping her drink that she’d already had three of.
“What was the name of the girl who was named after a flower?” Regina questioned me.
“Why are you bringing her up?”
“Just for my clarification.”
“Petunia?” Dylan offered. “Poppy? Pansy?”
“Periwinkle?” Aja threw out.
I groaned. “It was Posey.”
“Oh yes,” Regina said, patting my hand. “Now, that one he dated longer than Sandra.”
“But they both knew it was right,” I reminded her. “And you like Sandra. You said she was lovely.”
“She is lovely, but she’s also particular about things. And when I cook, sometimes she eats and sometimes she doesn’t.”
Aja turned to me. “I noticed that as well. Like, last time she loved my mac ’n’ cheese, and then the next time, she said she didn’t want any and it was too rich for her.”
“She just changed her mind. People can do that.”
“Can they?” Dylan asked, squinting at me.
“Yes,” I insisted. “Why’re you being like this? You liked her when you met her. And aren’t we all particular about certain things?”
“Are we?”
“You’re trying to make me insane,” I told her.
“Not me. I’m not particular about anything,” Regina announced imperiously.
I turned to her. “You will change into a pillar of salt or something for lying.”
“I think you’re getting your Bible stories mixed up,” Regina said, and then after a moment, she smiled. “But your point is well taken.”
I leaned into her, and she kissed my forehead before putting an arm around me.
“Fine, we will all be less judgmental and cut her some slack,” Aja granted. “But if Michael wasn’t cheating, what was with all the crying on the plane back that Aaron reported?”
I sighed deeply. “Apparently, another partner from his work was over consulting with a decorator on Michael’s behalf.”
“He was having a colleague from work help him talk to his decorator?”
“Yep.”
“I told Jory, I would be annoyed as well,” Regina stated. “But I wouldn’t have cried. I would have thanked his colleague for being there and then sent her packing right then and there.”
“Same,” Aja seconded.
Dylan was scowling.
“What?”
“I mean, let’s face it, none of our husbands would be stupid enough to go work in another city. People only do the long-distance relationship if they’re forced to do so.”
“Quite true,” Regina agreed. “But apparently, Sandra was absolutely humiliated, and hurt, by Michael not asking her to decorate for him, and the whole thing is a mess now.”
“Is Michael coming home for Thanksgiving?” Aja asked Regina.
“Yes, but Sandra’s not sure if she wants to see him,” she answered with a sigh.
“Did you invite both of them over here today?” Dylan asked me.
“I did, but you know she’s not crazy about the way I do my Thanksgiving open house,” I pointed out.
“Why not?” Dylan asked. “It’s awesome. You get to come, leave, come back, drink, sit, visit, it’s the best.”
“Thank you,” I said, grinning at her.
“And whatever the hell these are that Hannah’s making,” she said, slurping up the bottom of the frothy pink concoction that my daughter had given her when she walked in the door, “everyone should be drinking these.”