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)
I chuckled. “I think you need to take it easy there, mister.”
He grabbed me, hauled me close and took my mouth, not messing around, kissing me deeply, almost savagely, and I wrapped my arms around his neck and hung on. When he broke the kiss to breathe, I saw how clouded his eyes were.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I’m happy to have Lucy for six weeks, and c’mon, she’s much neater than Hannah.”
“I know, right?”
“It’s just sometimes, I’m reminded out of the blue, how good my life is. And while that part’s great, it’s also sad to see what the alternative could have been if I didn’t pick the right person to go on this adventure with me.”
I was silent.
“That’s you, idiot.”
“Oh! It’s me! I was wondering where that was going.”
“You’re such an ass,” he grumbled, scowling at me.
“Yes, but I’m about to feed you.”
“Well, there is that.”
I leaped at him, and he grabbed me, one hand around my waist, the other on my ass, holding me against him. “And I love being with you on this adventure, Sam Kage, and I know exactly how blessed I am.”
And I do. Without question.
Well, that’s it for February, like I said. Everyone have a happy V-Day this Friday, and I’ll see you in March!
MARCH 2020
Hello, all, I’m Jory Harcourt, and welcome to the March edition of He Said, he said. This time I’m supposed to be answering questions from young adults the same age as those members of my own family who have expressed––
Hannah: Ohmygod, Pa, you took it too far. All I was saying was, could you please not call us kids, and you went all PC police on me.
Jory: It’s very hard to know what you need me to say.
Hannah: Clearly.
Jory: Anyway, may I get back to––
Lucy: This is the coolest thing ever. You just answer questions for people? Give out advice? How awesome is that?
Hannah: Sometimes the answers are super lame.
Jory: I’m sorry?
Hannah: And my dad gets way preachy.
Lucy: …
Jory: What’s with the face there, Luce?
Lucy: I just…well…Mr. Kage is… I thought he’d be a bit more relaxed than my dad.
Jory: You thought what?
Lucy: Well, I just—Hannah, are you all right?
Jory: Oh, Luce, I think you broke her.
Kola: What’s going on? What are we doing? Why is B fetal on the floor?
Jory: Lucy broke her.
Kola: I see that now. What’s so funny?
Jory: Apparently Lucy thought that your father would be less strict than her own.
Kola: Ah.
Lucy: But my dad’s in the army.
Kola: My dad was a marine, and now he’s a federal marshal. What part of warm and cuddly and easygoing do you think that makes him?
Jory: Yes, but there are a lot of strict parents who don’t have military backgrounds.
Kola: Yeah, that’s true. Look at Uncle Dane. He’s not exactly bendable either.
Jory: There, you see?
Kola: But, Lucy, my dad has all the finite rules, as you now know.
Jory: Like what?
Kola: Lucy was invited to go to the movies with—what was his name again?
Lucy: Brian Turner.
Jory: Oh, this is excellent, because it leads into one of the questions that we’ve gotten here many times. So, here we go…
DEAR JORY:
What age should children be allowed to date? I say fourteen and my husband says fifteen. What is your thought?
Kola: Pa thinks sixteen and you have to have your cell phone with you. Also, you have to be home by eleven.
Lucy: See, I like that.
Kola: My father agrees that sixteen is okay too, but there’s a caveat.
Lucy: Oh God.
Kola: So Brian—who’s a nozzle, by the way—asked her out, and she thought because she’s sixteen, she could just go.
Jory: Which she can. Technically.
Lucy: See. It’s that technically part that I didn’t get. I mean, when Mr. Kage explained the rules of the house, he said that sixteen was when dating was allowed.
Kola: Yeah, but back to the caveat.
Hannah: Oh thank God, I can breathe again.
Jory: You laughed so hard you cried, and now you’re all stuffy.
Hannah: It was worth it. Less strict than Sam Kage…that’s good. Like that exists in nature.
Lucy: I think I missed whatever the caveat was when he was explaining.
Kola: His rule is, you have to know how to defend yourself.
Hannah: Like me.
Kola: Like her.
Lucy: Are you serious? I have to have a black belt in something before I can go on a date?
Hannah: Not a black belt. Maybe blue.
Kola: No. You don’t need a belt, but you have to be able to show him that you can handle yourself and that you could put some boy facedown in the dirt if needed.
Lucy: That seems…excessive.
Kola: Them’s the rules, kid.
Lucy: But Brian is really nice, and it would be my first date and––
Hannah: He can come over here, or I could go with you and bring somebody and it could be a double date, or we could get a lot of people and that would work too.