Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 71843 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71843 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
“Next weekend?” Harper asked.
Kola grunted.
He nodded, glancing at me and forcing a smile.
“I might be able to knock the gazebo out early,” Jake informed Hannah, “so you should save me a spot on your team.”
“Always,” she assured him.
His smile was huge.
“It depends on how many people are going to the cabin,” Harper told Kola, leaning into him, resting his chin on his shoulder. “I might not go.”
“Well, if you don’t,” Kola said, shrugging him off and then turning to grin at him, “then you’ll be with me, of course.”
“Of course,” Harper murmured.
Uh-huh. God, I needed my husband home so I could talk to him about these weird new developments, or ask if I was just reading too much into things.
The Monopoly board came out with the special bag of Jake’s weird metal slides and bridges that went over three properties at a time, and the ferry that went from one side of the board to the other. I didn’t even mess with it, I just went to start binge-watching Sherlock from the first season. Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman were a helpful diversion.
By the time they finished the game, it was late and they all came and joined me, Kola on my left, and Harper next to him, and Hannah on my right with Jake stretched out on the other side of her, barely keeping his eyes open. They all passed out before two, and a little after three when Sam came in, I was the only one up, so I got to give him the full-body hug and the kiss that was only for mature audiences.
“I think we’re about to see some changes with our kids,” I told him, breathlessly.
“Change is good, baby, and they always have us to anchor them.”
“‘Always’ means you’ll never leave me.”
“Never ever,” he promised, and I kissed him again.
And that’s a wrap for September. I’ll see you all in October. Happy Mabon, enjoy the fruits of your labors, and stay safe.
OCTOBER 2020
Hello, all, and welcome to He Said, he said for October 2020. I’m Jory Harcourt, here to tell you that things have been a little odd around the Kage-Harcourt household lately. The weekend after we saw Kay’s family, when Hannah was making her Mabon candles, Harper and Jake were supposed to be out of town. They both ended up at our house instead, so we had four boys over instead of just two. Feeding four teenage boys is a lot of food, but it was nice that everyone got along…except Jake and Kay. Little bit of tension there. Hannah had been oblivious, more into the game than anything else. But the real news was Jeremy and Harper. The two boys had really hit it off, and by the end of the night, had made arrangements to hang out at Harper’s the following day. They had been inseparable since then.
“Kola?” I asked my son, the first Wednesday in October. “I haven’t seen much of Harper lately. Are he and Jeremy still hanging out?”
“Yeah,” he said, making himself a roast beef sandwich, which started with slicing tomatoes.
“And you don’t miss him?”
He turned to look at me, squinting. “Miss him?”
“Well, yeah, I mean, he and Jake usually haunt the house with you.”
He shrugged. “He’s into Jeremy, and Jeremy seems like a good guy, so me gettin’ in the middle of that––” He sighed. “––is not a good idea.”
“Is it weird not to have Harper around?”
“I mean, we all have school online, so our time was getting more limited anyway, but I could never be selfish and demand that Harper not see his new boyfriend and hang with me and Jake instead. That’s not cool.”
“So it’s official? Jeremy is Harper’s boyfriend?”
Kola nodded, and I was impressed with how thin the tomatoes were and how every piece of romaine lettuce was uniform.
I cleared my throat. “Does that bother you?”
He grunted.
“Kola?”
“Not like—” he began and then stopped.
“Finish your thought.”
“Harper and Jake, both of them, they want to get married and have kids. And Jake wants a wife, and Harper wants a husband, at least right now, and that’s fine, but it’s just not…me.”
“Okay.”
He looked pained. “Now you think I’m broken, right?”
“What? No. Why would you say that?”
“Because you have always said that you will love whoever Hannah and I bring home, no questions asked, as long as they truly love us, no matter their race, gender, whatever.”
“Yes. What’s wrong with that?”
His gaze met mine. “What if I never bring anyone home?”
I shook my head. “Oh, honey, you will, just––”
“But what if I don’t? What if it’s only friends for the rest of my life?”
“What are you trying to ask me?”
“Are you going to be disappointed if I never find anyone?”
“You realize you’re eighteen, right?”
“Yeah, but when I’m older, if I want to come home to a house with no one in it and sit in my chair and have, I dunno, a cup of tea…is that so bad?”