Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
There was a scream in the background right before––
“Hi,” Hannah greeted us cheerfully, “I’m fine. I’m going to the police station with Ian.”
“What’d you do to Pazzi?” Sam asked her, and I saw his very evil grin.
“I think he thought I was—I have no idea who he thought I was, but he tried to disarm me using one of the techniques you taught me, Dad, but that’s not right. He can’t just take something that isn’t his without at least questioning me first.”
Sam snorted. “Is he all right?”
“I think so, but he hasn’t gotten up yet.”
“Have Ian call me.”
“No. Here, he can use my—oh don’t be a baby,” she rushed out.
There was a bit of muffled noise and then, “Boss?”
“Is Pazzi hurt?”
“You should ask if I’m hurting, having this ridiculous flower in my ear.”
Sam chuckled. “Seriously, is he all right?”
“I’m gonna say yes, although at the moment he’s sort of…I dunno…writhing.” I covered my mouth so I wouldn’t laugh. Ian Doyle was a bit deadpan in his delivery. “She got him in the gut, the small of the back, and the back of the knee.”
“She’s fast.”
“Uh, yeah.”
“I’ll see you in a bit.” Sam hung up, then stood and walked to the base of the stairs before turning and looking back at me. “I’m gonna call the boys and have them pick up the van and drive it home.”
“Okay,” I agreed. “I hope they got something good at GameStop to cheer Jake up.”
“Me too.”
Sam came down a few minutes later in a collared shirt under a thin cashmere sweater, both tucked into chinos, and heavy hiking boots. He got his peacoat out of the hall closet and headed back to give me a kiss.
“Did you freak the boys out about Hannah?”
“Yeah,” he answered matter-of-factly, bending to kiss me. “But then I made it all better. They’ll be home shortly with the van. I told Jake to park on the street until I get home. My car goes in the garage, not his.”
“Yessir,” I said, putting my hand on his cheek as his lips met mine.
When he broke the kiss, he smiled at me. “I’ll make breakfast tomorrow for Valentine’s Day, you make dinner, and the kids can do lunch, all right? That’s a kick-ass Valentine’s Day right there.”
I made a face.
“It is. I get everybody here with me, I get you beside me on the couch, and we can watch that Mr. Darcy movie Hannah likes so much.”
I snorted, and he kissed my forehead.
“And besides, I get Valentine’s Day sex, so bonus for me.”
“You realize it’s only sex, right?”
“It’s never only sex,” he scolded me. “God. Try and be a little more romantic, willya?”
I gasped. “You did not just say that to me!”
He was laughing as he walked out the door.
That’s it. I hope you all had a wonderful, safe Valentine’s Day. I’ll see you in March. Everyone stay healthy.
MARCH 2021
Hi, all, Jory Harcourt here with He Said, he said for March 2021. I know some people have been wondering, was that us in the background on the news last Friday? Unfortunately yes. I was going to just gloss over it, but I’ve gotten a lot of phone calls, asking and checking on us, so I figured I’d clear everything up. It wasn’t really that big a deal. I was taken hostage in a bank once for a much longer time.
The whole thing started because we were trying to make Jake feel better. His mother, as you all recall, moved to California at the beginning of the month. His dad moved too, but only to Wisconsin, four or so hours in the car, and Jake can visit. Not quite as horrible. But what ended up happening was his sister got cold feet about having her baby without her mother being around—I couldn’t blame her—and she and her fiancé moved with her mother. Linda was thrilled but was concerned that Jake would feel abandoned. He did. Of course he did. And even though he tried to hide it, we all saw the sadness on him. Hannah even told him that if he moved, nothing would change, at least for her, but while he would miss his family terribly, looking at it logically—which, of course, Kola and Harper helped him do—what would he do in California? His life was in Chicago. His girl was there. His best friends were there, and truth be told, he was with us more than his family. Plus, again, Dad in Wisconsin.
“Divorce sucks,” Jake told Hannah at the table while we had breakfast together on Friday morning. “I wouldn’t recommend it for your folks.”
Darting a glance to me.
I opened my mouth to say something.
“No divorce,” Sam announced, walking through the kitchen, rinsing his coffee mug and putting it in the dishwasher. “Catholics don’t get divorced.”
“Pa’s not Catholic,” Hannah reminded her father.