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, you are not.”
“I see—I see a change coming into your life.”
He grunted.
“I see a ranch-style home.”
“Yeah-yeah, just shuddup and come gimme a hug.”
Like his son, there were never requests, simply orders.
Leaning over, I was pulled into a bear hug before he let me go and reached for his wife again.
“Hey, you’re pretty cute,” he said, leering at her, giving her an exaggerated wink. “Why don’t you come lie down next to me.”
She groaned loudly before she kissed him, once and then again, sighing as he cupped her face in his hands. “I don’t need any more wrinkles,” she muttered, trying to sound irritable, but the man was far too charming.
“What wrinkles?” he asked, side-eying me.
“That was smooth, old man.”
He snorted, and I walked to the door to leave them alone.
The doctor joined me quickly, hand on my bicep. “I have to let you know that first I suspected elder abuse but then realized that wasn’t the case.”
“As if Thomas Kage would let anyone abuse him,” I said with a scoff. “I’ve seen that man hold some of his nephews up off the ground, and as you can tell from looking at him, they’re all giants in that family.”
He nodded. “Yes, I was getting that.”
“Thank you for taking care of him.”
“Of course,” he said kindly. “Now may I talk to you a bit about his history so we can let them visit?”
“Absolutely,” I assured him, wanting to help and knowing that Regina needed some quiet time with her husband to know he was fine. “Just let me tell her.”
Darting back into the room, I explained to Regina that the doctor had some more questions that I knew I could answer because I was as up to date on Thomas Kage’s cholesterol as she was. Since I was the one who had a more flexible work schedule, I was the go-to guy to take him to any medical appointments. Regina filmed her TV show during the day, so I was up. Thomas had gotten used to going with me, and since I kept meticulous notes that I shared on Google Docs with everyone, I was his preferred companion.
Sitting with Dr. Evans in the staff lounge was nice. They had an espresso machine, which he found out happily that I knew how to use. I made him a mocha latte and had plain coffee with a shot of espresso myself while we talked about Thomas.
“You don’t happen to know what his blood pressure was on his last––”
“Yep. Hold on, lemme find it.” I had it all in my phone.
We went over my notes, and he updated the history, which I was fairly certain that a nurse normally did. But I liked the idea of him taking an interest in his patient, so I let it go and answered his questions.
Back in the room, Dr. Evans complimented me on how thorough I was and then sat and talked to Thomas. Regina took hold of my hand and eased me close. She was going to say something, but Rachel, her daughter, appeared then, and the explanations had to start all over again. Michael showed up an hour later with a woman I had never met before in my life.
Regina was scowling, Rachel had her arms crossed and her eyebrows lifted in surprise as Michael bent over and hugged his father.
“I know it’s April,” Rachel said, turning slowly to me. “But we’re not in miniskirt weather quite yet, are we?”
“You’d think she’d be cold,” I said, trying not to sound snide. “How old do you think she is? Twenty? Twenty-two?”
“You don’t normally see that shade of lipstick before dark,” Regina commented.
“Gwen Stefani wears that color,” Jen, Sam’s other sister, offered, coming in new to the conversation but picking it up easily.
“And yet I doubt Michael’s what—ward maybe?—has platinum records to her credit,” Rachel chimed in under her breath, coughing so she didn’t laugh.
Jen squeezed between us, leaned over and hugged and kissed her father, and then warned him that a move into a smaller house was imminent. “You’re not allowed to fall down stairs, old man. No one wants to go through this again.”
“Why isn’t it just your mother and Jory here?” he grumbled, lying there sulking, focused suddenly on Michael’s friend. “And who are you, my dear?”
He was always such a kind man.
“Carli Cardinelli,” she supplied, beaming at Thomas Kage. “It’s so lovely to finally meet you, Mr. Kage. Mikey was supposed to bring me to dinner last weekend, but we both got food poisoning from some bad shellfish.”
Only Beverly, his estranged wife—they were separated again, which had happened right after the first of the year—and now his new girlfriend, Carli, ever called Michael Kage, Mikey. I had to wonder about his life choices.
We all nodded in unison like it was choreographed. It didn’t look lame at all.