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)
“How’re you doing, there?” I yelled over to Sam, who gave me the dismissive wave.
“Can you breathe?” Aaron called over to Duncan.
He got a death glare over that comment before his husband had to talk to the uniformed policemen, two cars, four people total, who got out.
At this point, Mr. and Mrs. Kelly, who were driving around the neighborhood, stopped to see what was going on.
“Those are the men who were in my yard!” she shrieked, nearly falling out of her Lexus and sprinting over to Sam.
He pointed at me, and she bolted for our front gate, threw it open, and came charging up the flagstone path. It used to be cobblestone, but Kola and Jake had replaced it three weekends ago.
“Edmond is safe,” I told a distraught Mrs. Kelly, who clutched her heart with one hand and my wrist with the other. “Hannah’s bathing him as we speak.”
“Blow-drying him, actually,” Jake explained. “She said he likes it.”
“He does,” she gasped, the tears leaking from her eyes. “She knows him so well.”
I smiled at her, and she moved her hand to mine and squeezed. “Your daughter, Jory, and your son too, both of them—just jewels.”
“Thank you,” I said softly, and she rushed by me on her way to the laundry room. I could hear the squealing from where I was.
Mr. Kelly, same age as his wife, late sixties, was standing next to Sam, talking, smiling up at him. When Mr. Kelly had hurt his back a few years ago, Sam and Kola had been the ones to go over and keep the yard looking good.
“You’re really part of your community here,” Kurt mentioned, watching Sam nod, listening to Mr. Kelly, and Duncan directing the officers who were handcuffing the men on the ground and putting them into different cars.
After Edmond, returned to all his fluffy glory, was taken home, we all settled back down to finish our meal after I nuked the sauce. Harper got to skip clearing the dishes to set up Kola’s telescope, since Kola would just open it and not read any directions and Harper could be counted on to methodically go through every bit of paper in the box.
“I love the dynamic between all three boys,” Kurt commented. “I hope they remain friends forever.”
“Me too,” I agreed.
He turned to me then. “Do you ever worry, with Hannah being so warm-hearted and open, that she’ll get hurt trusting the wrong person?”
“No,” Sam chimed in, and we both turned to look at him as he began clearing the empty wineglasses off the table. “Hannah’s very capable and smart and strong enough to get herself out of most physical danger.”
“And if she’s not,” I said, smiling at Kurt, “she has her father, and if he’s not there––”
“George,” Kurt answered with a roll of his eyes. “I mean, really, who is this guy?”
“We’ll have to invite him for dinner one of these days and have you over as well,” Sam told him. “Because you’re never getting him to your house.”
“From what Hannah’s said,” Kurt said with a sigh, “I suspect that’s true.”
“Though you never know,” Sam told him with a shrug. “Stranger things have happened. I used to want to shove Aaron Sutter off something high, and that hardly ever happens anymore.”
Kurt turned to me as Sam walked back into the house. “Why would the chief deputy want to kill Aaron Sutter?”
I shrugged.
“Jory?”
What the hell. “We used to date.”
His mouth fell open, which was fun.
“Jory, don’t scare the therapist,” Aaron said from where he was, holding the directions for Harper as he assembled the telescope. “It’s very hard to find good ones.”
“I’ll keep it in mind.”
Turning back to Kurt, I grinned wide. “You should pop in for Halloween. It’s always fun, and this year Hannah’s gonna be Cher.”
Poor guy, he looked a bit overwhelmed.
That’s it for this month. Next time I’ll report back on Halloween. Hope you all have a wonderful rest of your month.
NOVEMBER 2021
Hello, all, welcome to He Said, he said for November 2021. As we gear up for Thanksgiving and other holidays, you know I’m always a month behind because of where the column falls. So you get to hear about Halloween and how that went at the Kage-Harcourt house this year.
Before I do that, though, it’s come to my attention that there are people new to our monthly shenanigans, so I wanted to do a quick intro of me and my family.
My name is Jory Harcourt. I’m married to Sam Kage, and we have two kids, Kola Kage, who just turned nineteen on the twenty-sixth of September—my boy is a Libra, which would surprise no one who knows him. The ups and downs of the scales are…but I digress. My daughter will be seventeen on the twenty-eighth of November, my Sagittarian who fights, always, for the underdog. We have Jake, one of Kola’s two best friends who he’s known since kindergarten, living with us at the moment, and Harper, who he’s known just as long, his other bestie, is often with us. I am a graphic designer, and I have my own business with two friends, and my husband, as you probably know from the name, is a federal marshal and the chief deputy of Northern Illinois. Hopefully that helps with everybody being on the same page. And so back to Halloween…