Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 155775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 779(@200wpm)___ 623(@250wpm)___ 519(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 779(@200wpm)___ 623(@250wpm)___ 519(@300wpm)
But even though she and Dotty had tried to explain this to Monroe, their sister just didn’t seem to get it. They’d given up, just accepting the fact that she was terrible at jokes.
But they also didn’t want anyone else making fun of her for it.
Cash leaned into her. “I don’t get it.”
“I don’t either,” she whispered back.
“That was really good,” Greer told her. “I think you might have a talent for making up knock-knock jokes.”
Monroe’s eyes widened, and she smiled big. “Why, thank you. You’re one of the few people that appreciates a good knock-knock joke. I feel like it could be a dying art.”
Well, it probably would be if Monroe kept at it, but Addie didn’t say that.
“Right. So, Addie, do you want to write down everything that you saw for me, and then I’ll see if I can sketch it. Once I have, you can tell me if it looks correct or if anything needs changing.”
Addie nodded. “I can try and talk.”
“All right, let’s get started. Tell me what you saw.”
Ten minutes later, Addie couldn’t talk anymore. Her throat was completely dry. She wasn’t used to talking this much, although she didn’t have to do heaps of talking for Greer to pick up what she was saying and draw it out.
She rubbed at her throat, and Monroe gave her a worried look. “You need something to drink.”
Addie nodded, even though it hadn’t been a question. Monroe stood, but Cash waved her away. “I’ll get it for her. Is water best?”
“Yeah, probably,” Monroe said. “If there’s anything kind of milky, that can help too. But if she drinks too much, then she gets all phlegmy.”
Awesome. Wasn’t her sister just making her sound wonderful?
Luckily, Greer didn’t see the look Addie gave her sister.
Monroe gave her a look back, like she had no idea what it was that she’d said to make Addie upset.
“Here you are, Stowaway.” Cash put a bottle of water as well as a glass of milk in front of her that was only filled halfway.
Great. Now she really did feel like a child. Well, she wouldn’t have minded a cookie to dip into the milk.
“What, no cookies, Cash? You can’t have milk without cookies,” Greer scolded.
“Eating them probably wouldn’t be good for her throat,” Cash replied.
“Cookies are good for everything. How many times have I tried to tell you this?” Greer told him.
“Sugar isn’t good for you,” Cash told his sister.
“You take that back! There’s nothing wrong with sugar. And cookies should be their own food group.”
“Whoa, you guys are really passionate about sugar, huh? And cookies.” Monroe gave the siblings a wide-eyed look.
“I wouldn’t have minded a cookie,” Addie said, glancing up at Cash.
He sighed, “I shouldn’t get you one. You barely ate anything all day.” But he left the room, and when he returned, he held a plate filled with chocolate chip cookies.
Yum, those were her favorite. Both she and Greer reached for one, biting into the cookies with groans. Monroe eyed the cookie as though she thought it might bite her.
“You want one?” Addie whispered to his sister, hoping she’d take it.
But Monroe just shook her head and went back to her phone.
Greer did some sketching in silence while Addie slowly drank the water and the milk. Her throat still felt a bit scratchy. She’d have to give it a rest for a while, which normally wasn’t an issue.
She’d been doing far more talking lately than she had in the last probably two years.
“How is your throat feeling?” Cash asked as he came and sat next to her. He’d been standing over his sister, offering bits of unwanted advice.
How did she know it was unwanted? Because Greer kept telling him that it was.
The two of them were quite funny together. Cash didn’t seem to intimidate Greer at all, which she guessed made sense when they’d grown up together.
“It’s good,” she said, but it was clear to everyone that her voice was croakier than usual. She rubbed her throat again before taking a few sips of water.
“Do you want Hack to have a look at it?” Greer offered. “Maybe it’s red or something. Irritated? Perhaps he can give you something for it.”
She tensed, and was aware that Monroe went very still next to her.
“No thanks,” she said. “It’s fine.” She didn’t want to put Hack out. Or have to explain about how it was probably hurting because she wasn’t used to talking this much.
That she often went days without speaking at all.
She got the feeling that Greer wouldn’t judge, but she now couldn’t speak past the lump that had formed there.
She hated being like this. She hated being a mess of nerves and worries.
Why couldn’t she just be normal? She set down the rest of her cookie, unable to eat it either. Her mother hadn’t liked her eating sugar. She’d say that sugar caused most of the diseases in the world. They hadn’t had any in the house when she was growing up.