Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
By the time Sam got home, the burglar was out of the tree and they were walking him down to one of their cars. One officer was taking Ed and Carla’s statement, and another was taking mine.
“What the hell happened?” Sam growled, having left his car running in the driveway to dart over to the side gate and yell at the officers.
“Ed and Carla were burglarized,” I answered before anyone else could. “Chickie treed the guy and held him there until the officers arrived.”
“That’s an amazing dog you have there, sir,” one of the officers said, giving Chickie a pat. It was hard to do, though, since Carla had been petting him and telling him what a good boy he was the whole time. Chickie was lapping up the affection.
“Are you all right?” Sam asked me.
I realized I was tired when I waved my hand at him dismissively. “I’m fine, the dog did all the work.”
Sam shook his head and went back to move his monster SUV, only to find it parked in the garage with the door closed and Hannah walking toward him with a big handle-tie bag.
“How much pie did you get?” I asked him.
“Pie?” Ed stopped the questioning to call over.
“I got Key lime, Ed. You can have a slice as soon as you’re done.”
“Thank you, Sam! You know Key lime is my favorite.”
Inside, I poured the water so the tea could steep as Hannah unpacked their goodies.
“Did you give a statement?” Sam asked me, hand in my hair, checking me over as he always did.
“Yeah, but there wasn’t much to say.”
“What did you say?” Hannah asked me.
“Let’s see, um, a screaming man came over our back fence, chased by the dog we’re watching. The man climbed up our white oak, and said dog pursued him until I made him come back down and sit and wait like a good boy.”
“No way,” Hannah said, chuckling. “Chickie can’t climb trees.”
“He can and he did, and I would ask you not to tell him to do it again because it was very scary to watch.”
“I bet that scared the hell outta the guy.”
“No, but apparently we do have some leftover Halloween decorations in the trees, specifically a spider with glow-in-the-dark eyes that made the guy pee himself.”
“That actually is scary,” Hannah agreed. “Remember the year we forgot the bats in the trees and they kept falling out at inopportune times?”
“Like when we had the HOA meeting here,” Sam said, cackling.
“I’m never getting on that board,” I told them.
“So,” Ed said, coming into our back door, having hung his coat up on one of the hooks in our laundry room. “Where’s the pie?”
“Jory, what kind of tea did you make?” Carla wanted to know as she came in, followed by Chickie, who went to greet Sam.
“Such a good boy,” Hannah said as she petted him. “Now, Dad, didn’t I tell you, everything always works out the way it’s supposed to?”
He couldn’t very well argue with her this time.
That’s it, all. Have a great rest of your March, and I’ll see you in April.
APRIL 2022
Hello, all, and welcome to He Said, he said April 2022 edition. It’s strange that it’s already April. I feel like the year is whipping by.
So right after I talked to you last, we found out that my husband had a conference in New Orleans. Because Hannah was on spring break, she decided to come with us. The boys had packed up and gone to Lake Geneva with a bunch of friends for their spring break, which sounded nice. Sam had insisted on seeing a copy of everyone’s vaccination cards, and once he chimed in, all the other parents thought that sounded like a wonderful idea and everyone needed to see them. Hannah created a temporary website where they could be viewed and took it back down once all the kids going on the trip were cleared. Some of them were twenty-one and were probably annoyed with the chief deputy, but no one said a word.
“What are you going to do once Kola is twenty-one and can legally make all his own decisions?” I asked my husband.
“They can make all their own decisions now,” he apprised me. “But people who live under my roof have to abide by my rules, and if anyone doesn’t like that, they can move out at any time. I’m not holding anyone back.”
“You want your kids to move out?”
“I don’t expect Kola to be here much longer. He’s going to want his privacy.”
I squinted at him. “Your son is going to med school after he graduates. Why on earth would he want to move out then? Cook for himself? Not be taken care of? Really?”
He thought about that. “Maybe. But your daughter is going for sure.”
I whimpered.
“She is, love,” he assured me. “She’ll be eighteen this year, and next year will be college and she’ll want her own place. Depending on the school she picks, she’ll live in the dorms or get a place off campus. But we both know she wants her freedom.”