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)
“And what would Calvin say to his parents? That he was saying disgusting things to some girls in his dorm, making them feel uncomfortable and trying to grope them, and ended up getting in trouble for it? What else would they do but have a seizure over that news?”
“Yeah, that makes sense.”
We were quiet a moment.
“It was nice of Ian to give you a ride home,” I commented.
She groaned. “He said Dad wanted me here for dinner, so that was that.”
“Ah.”
“He then told Calvin that I had a bodyguard who he would see around too, and as long as there were no further bad reports, George wouldn’t break his arms.”
“I suspect that didn’t go over well.”
“He started to hyperventilate, and I had to make sure he breathed into a bag.”
“What did Ian do?”
“Just stood there like a statue, scowling at him.”
I didn’t know Ian Doyle that well, but I suspected he could be terribly imposing when he wanted to be. He had the same quality that Sam did, to somehow stand completely frozen and still be menacing. It was like watching a snake who had all the time in the world to screw with you. I’d told Sam not to do it, be intimidating, on a number of occasions. It sounded like Miro had work to do on Ian.
“Anyway,” she said with a sigh, “Calvin promised that he’s a changed man. I said I would help him put his room back together, but he said ‘no, thank you’ super nice.”
“That’s good.”
“I mean, he was looking at Ian the whole time.”
“Well, that couldn’t be helped.”
She shrugged.
When Sam got home, she sort of melted into him, leaning heavily.
“Oh, B, what happened?”
“Ian came to school after you did, and he scared the holy crap out of Calvin, and then Eli set up this whole self-defense thing, and, Daddy, now everyone knows who I am, and I didn’t want that.”
“I’m sorry, love.”
“You were so great,” she said into his chest. “You didn’t make a scene, and everybody loved you. I know the self-defense thing was probably your idea, but then Ian showed up and asked about Calvin and…” She trailed off, lifting her head, looking up at her father’s face. “But how did Ian know to even ask about Calvin?”
“Oh, I might have mentioned his name, but if I wasn’t going to talk to him, since you wouldn’t want that, then certainly, I would never direct anyone else to do so.”
She nodded, letting her head drop again, still leaning on him. “I knew you didn’t tell any of them to do what they did.”
“No, of course not. That would be a violation of my mandate as chief deputy to ask my men to go to my daughter’s school and scare the crap out of a kid hassling her. I would never order that.”
“I know.”
“Hey,” I said to him.
He slowly turned his head to me.
“You’re not fooling anyone.” I mouthed the words. “You’re the godfather pulling the strings.”
“What?” he whispered back, indignant. “I’m a saint.”
“No,” I assured him. I didn’t know any saints who dealt in karma.
“Something smells good,” he said in his normal tone. “Is that spaghetti?”
I got a peck on the cheek as I was putting meatballs on his plate; then he turned my head for a real kiss.
“You taste like red wine,” he husked. “I’m gettin’ lucky tonight.”
“You get lucky every night,” I told him. “Whenever you want.”
“Guys,” Hannah whined. “I’ve had a long day. Let’s put a pin in this until after I go back to the dorm, all right?”
“Yes, dear,” I promised, even as I kissed my husband again.
That’s it, all. Have a lovely rest of September, and I’ll see you in October.
OCTOBER 2022
Hello, all, welcome to He Said, he said October 2022. We are gearing up for Halloween here, as Hannah has informed us that she’ll be home, as will her coven, plus some friends from school.
“She just announced her plans without consulting us?” my dear sweet husband asked me in the morning as he was having his first cup of coffee and reading the news of the day on his tablet. “That’s what you’re telling me?”
“Well, she did say she would make us dinner and dessert,” I told him.
“Okay, that doesn’t sound horrible,” he admitted.
Hannah could always win over her father.
Sam had to work on Saturday, so I was home alone when I got a call from Kola.
“Hi, honey,” I greeted him. “What’s happening?”
“Pa, I need you to settle something with me and Harper.”
“Certainly,” I said, chuckling.
“No, no,” I heard Harper in the background. “You need to FaceTime him.”
And the call came through, and when I answered, I was looking at Kola and Harper, and Jake was raking in the background.
“What’s going on?”
“We were cleaning the gutters like we normally do at all our houses, but we don’t have the same ladders.”