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’s good at finding obstacles. But I’m good at knocking them down. That’s what I’ve got to focus on.
NINETEEN
Iris
I’m doing my best not to burst into laughter at the photograph I’m about to take. Jack is the most unlikely Star Falls tourist, I just can’t help it.
“Maybe scooch in closer,” I suggest. “Marvin likes a hug.”
“Marvin is a fiberglass moose,” Jack says. “He’s just happy his paint isn’t chipped.”
I roll my lips together, trying not to laugh. Jack said he wanted to see all the sights of Star Falls, so after a couple of weeks of dinners, coffees, and a thorough interrogation from my father, here we are on our first official day date, outside Snail Trail. We’re getting the obligatory photograph with Marvin the Moose.
“People come far and wide to have a hug with Marvin. Don’t try and minimize his emotional needs.”
Jack raises his eyebrows. “I would never. Fact is, Riley tells me she’s too old to pose with Marvin. That means I definitively am.”
“No one’s too old for a picture with Marvin.” I step toward him and slide a hand around his waist and hold my phone up for a selfie with the three of us. “Better than the top of the Empire State Building,” I say.
Jack laughs. “Well, that just tells me you’ve never been to the top of the Empire State Building.”
My mood dips slightly. He’s right. I always saw myself in New York, against a skyline that included the Empire State Building. It just didn’t happen for me. It wasn’t meant to be.
“Was I being an ass?” he asks, clearly reading my shift in mood.
I shake my head resolutely. “Not at all. But I’m a little offended you don’t appreciate Marvin.”
“I’m sure what you next have in store for me will blow me away.”
“It absolutely will,” I say. “But first, coffee. Ever read Twilight or seen the movie?”
“I saw the movie,” he says. “I’m pretty sure… the one with the vampires, right?”
“Yeah? Did you love it?”
“I only saw the first one, but actually I enjoyed it.”
“Prepare to have your mind blown.” I march us in the direction of Twilight Latte.
“How have I not been here?” he asks, gazing up around the store as we enter.
“Because you guys are obsessed with the wings at Grizzly’s.”
“Yeah, because who wouldn’t be? I’m not a monster, Iris.”
“Fair. But this place does the best coffee in America.”
“I will try not to scoff. I’ve learned my lesson after having pizza in this town.” Jack seems obsessed with the décor and keeps pointing out little details that have gone over my head. I’m used to the huge pine tree decals on the windows and the life-sized cardboard cutouts of Robert Pattinson and friends. But I’ve never noticed the graduation cap artwork behind the counter that Jack assures me is from the Cullens’ house in the movie.
“Wait, no, it couldn’t be—” He sees something on the counter and reaches for it. It’s the cup sleeves that have caught his attention. They’re covered in printed sheet music.
“What is it?”
“I’m not very good at reading music, but I think this is ‘Clair du Lune.’ You know, the music Edward plays for Bella when she goes to visit his family?”
I pause and regard him, slightly concerned. “Jack Alden, you’re just a big geek, aren’t you?”
He blushes and puts a finger over his lips. “Shhh, don’t tell anyone.”
I laugh. He’s such a fish out of water here in Star Falls. I wish I could be a fly on the wall in his life in New York. I bet he has a butler and a driver and has tailors coming to his house to fit him for expensive suits. Here I am taking him to our local pizza restaurant and making him pose in front of Marvin the Moose.
“Where do you get your coffee in Manhattan?” I ask.
“There’s a little Italian deli at the end of my block.”
I laugh again. “You make it sound very humble. I bet it supplies the White House or something.”
He shrugs. “Maybe. In New York, anything’s possible.”
We order our coffees to go and head out. Our tour of Star Falls isn’t going to take long. But we might as well take in the falls next.
“Okay,” Jack says. “I can’t believe I’ve never actually been to the place that gives Star Falls its name.”
“You spend too much time in your gilded cage, Jack. You’re about to find out that the real world can be even better.” We slide into Jack’s SUV and begin the drive out of town to the falls.
“I’ve never heard New York referred to as a gilded cage,” he says.
“Really?” I shift around in the passenger seat so I’m facing him. His profile is lit up by the sun and his features look like they’re carved from marble. “I’m sure it isn’t for most people, but for some people, most of life is a gilded cage, isn’t it? For others it’s the exact opposite.”