Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 78466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
“Oh, that’s nice of her.”
“I told her she didn’t have to, but she said it was her pleasure, and besides, it was nice that we were feeding her family, especially Dane, since he likes the lechon asado and I always get it for him.”
“That’s her way of making sure it’s here.”
“Yeah, I know, but like I wouldn’t.”
We were silent a moment.
“I’m fine.”
“I’ll look at you when I get home. Just lemme stop and get the cage from Pat so I can put the groundhog in it when I get home.”
“Dobby chased it up a tree,” I said proudly. “He totally protected me.”
He grunted, clearly disbelieving, but twenty or so minutes later he came into the backyard after parking the car with a cage in one hand that was padded on one end with what looked like an old blanket, and a giant oven mitt on the other that reached down to his elbow.
“Pat has weird crap in his garage,” I called over to him.
“And aren’t you lucky he does,” he assured me.
Leave it to Sam. He went to the tree, grabbed hold of the groundhog, and put it into the cage like he did it every day of his life. He picked up Dobby, gave him a kiss on the side of the head, told him he was a good boy, and then put the groundhog by the side of the deck after telling his daughter to go get some lettuce from the refrigerator.
He then jogged back to the stairs and stepped on the one that Duncan had already fixed with the leftover wood in the garage and Sam’s nail gun.
“Nice job,” he told his friend, closing on me.
“You’re welcome.” Duncan yawned, sipping one of Sam’s beers, feet up as he soaked up the sun. It was sweet how Aaron was watching him, clearly enjoying the view.
“Lemme see what you did to yourself,” Sam grumbled, sitting down beside me, putting my ankle in his lap to check it over.
“It wasn’t my fault.”
“You tripped over the hose,” he said without looking up, checking the movement, “which you didn’t wrap up, so yeah, your fault.”
I was going to argue, but he leaned in and kissed me and I forgot what I was going to say.
“All right, so you’re going to sit out here and entertain everyone while the kids and I take care of the food. My mother will love to help when she gets here.”
She would, that was true.
“Keep it elevated.”
“This isn’t how I imagined spending Labor Day.”
“Well, I think the day is supposed to be about resting from your labors so—take a load off, all right?”
“What about you? You labor.”
“Grilling is not a chore,” he assured me before he got up, moving a chair in front of me for my foot. “I’ll bring you a pillow. Just sit there and look pretty.”
I was going to growl at him, but he was smiling, Hannah was feeding the groundhog, Aaron had moved to sit on Duncan’s lap, Kola was bringing in groceries as his two best friends helped him, Sam having picked them up during his travels, and soon everyone else would be there. It was a nice day, and I was feeling lucky to have my life.
“Okay, I’ll sit here,” I agreed, waving him down. “But gimme a kiss first.”
He didn’t have to be persuaded.
That’s it, all. I’ll talk to you in October.
OCTOBER 2018
Hello, everyone, I’m Jory Harcourt, and I’m here to talk about Halloween costumes, as it’s right around the corner. I get questions that pertain to clothes all the time, and I think it gets even more interesting as it pertains to dressing up, so here we go.
DEAR JORY:
Recently my daughter has started dating an older boy. She’s 16 and he’s 18, and while he’s very nice, he wants them to dress up as the Marquis de Sade and his girlfriend, Marie-Constance Quesnet, or as Lady Godiva to a Halloween party. What do you think I should do?
Jory: I think if you live anywhere cold, your daughter will freeze in a nude body suit as well as being barefoot. That’s my understanding of a Lady Godiva costume. It might be funny if she’s in a bodysuit with half a horse in front of her and half of it behind like she’s riding it, but I suspect that this is not the sexy look the boyfriend is going for. I will admit to thinking that dressing up like the Marquis de Sade would be one of those boring costumes where you have to explain who you are all night, unless of course he’s wearing a powder wig and carrying a whip. But even then, people might not get it. To me the whole thing sounds overly fussy.
Sam: None of what you just said answers her question.
Jory: Yes, it does. She’s asking about the costume.