Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 97053 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97053 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
“Iris?” Karen asks from the other end of the phone.
“Yes?” I ask hopefully.
“I just found one of the invoices in our system. It’s been stuck waiting approval. I just need to check we received the order and my boss is happy. I can’t find the other one, though. Can you send it again? I can give you my direct email.”
“Sure,” I say. I guess it’s progress, but there’s no certainty we’re going to get payment on either invoice. Dad is really counting on getting payment on these so he can get the cherry pickers. “I’m going to follow up in a couple of days.”
“No problem,” Karen says. “Thank you for your patience.”
Patience.
That’s what I need. If I can just ride this deep sense of disappointment, things will get better. Or back to normal at least. I’ll stop thinking about Jack. About New York. About a different life.
Bray tries to get to his feet but is fumbling for his crutches. I go over and help him, pulling him to his feet.
“I’ll drop you off before I head to Grizzly’s, so you don’t have to wait for Dad,” I say.
“Thanks, Iris,” he says. “I’m sorry you had to cut your trip short for me.”
I sigh and pull my mouth into a small smile. “Thanks.”
Our home is adjacent to the farm, so it doesn’t take long before I’ve helped Bray into the house and gotten him some snacks to keep him from withering away until Dad gets home.
“Who you meeting at Grizzly’s?” he asks. “Your school friend? She still in town?” He raises his eyebrows, almost like he’s daring me to say yes. “Oh no, you didn’t go to Vegas with her in the end, did you?”
“If you’ve got something to say, just say it. Otherwise, eat another chip and I’ll be on my way.”
“You messing around with some married man or something?”
“What?” I yell. “Why on earth would you think I’m messing around with a married man? I would never.”
“You’re hiding something. You could never tell a lie. I’ll bet you’ve never been to Vegas. I just don’t know where you disappear off to every year.”
“Well, you have a think about that. I’m going to get myself some chicken wings.”
“Awww, bring us back some,” he calls as I head out.
“I might,” I say over my shoulder, and I push through the front door.
I’m not sure I’m even going to Grizzly’s. I could grab a pizza at Pizza Meet Ya. I’ve never been to either place on my own. When I go to New York, I quite enjoy eating at a restaurant by myself, but here, in Star Falls, I’m pretty sure people would think I’d lost my mind if I asked for a table for one.
All the same, I pull into Grizzly’s parking lot. I can’t be on my own with my thoughts tonight. I need to be around people. Just not the people I gave up everything for. Tonight, I need space from Bray and Dad. I need to forget about everything.
I need to forget about Jack.
EIGHT
Jack
I’ve been summoned.
Greg reached out this morning and informed me that my mother would like me to join her for lunch.
Why my mother couldn’t send me a text, like a normal person, I don’t know. She claims she doesn’t know how to text. Sometimes I think she’s deliberately trying to hurtle back to the nineteenth century.
“Good afternoon, sir,” Cooper, our house manager, says when he opens the door.
“Hi, Cooper. How are you?”
“Can’t complain, sir. Your mother is in the morning room.”
I really wish he wouldn’t call me sir. I’ve given up asking him to call me Jack. Ever since I turned eighteen, it’s been sir.
I take the stairs to the second floor, where the morning room and the dining room are. My mother even has Cooper set up the dining room when she’s alone. I have no idea why she doesn’t just eat at the kitchen counter.
As I approach the double doors to the morning room, I realize my mother isn’t alone. And she’s not talking to staff. There’s a different tone she uses with them.
I open the door to find my mother, Frieda Campbell, and her daughter, Gabriella, sitting and chatting.
It feels like I’ve walked into an ambush.
“Oh, Jack, so lovely that you could join us,” my mother says.
I plaster on a smile and go to kiss my mother on the cheek. “Mother. How are you?” Of course, I would never want anyone to feel uncomfortable, so I don’t mention that I was expecting this lunch to be just the two of us, and that Frieda and Gabriella were the last people I was expecting to see.
“I think I mentioned to you that Gabriella was back from Harvard finally.”
I then work my way around the room, kissing Frieda and Gabriella on the cheeks. “How lovely to see you both.”