Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 88290 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88290 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Peter, who was an associate at Jenner, Knox, and Pembroke, brought his buddy, Warren Leary, who worked there alongside him, to our party, as Warren had no family in Chicago and couldn’t take the time to go home and visit his. Warren, Rachel told me, seemed very nice. He was an up-and-coming young lawyer, and Pete had wanted him to meet his cousins and his sister, Riley. Apparently, he had thought that Warren would make a good addition to his family, but Hannah hadn’t crossed his mind, as he thought she was too young for him.
“But he’s a great guy, Uncle Jory,” he assured me when he caught me in the kitchen alone. “Hannah could do way worse, you know?”
Which was not a glowing recommendation in my opinion. “Sure,” I agreed, seeing how very uninterested my daughter was in her cousin’s friend. The person Hannah did have an interest in was the one walking back and forth, from one end of the front porch to the other, ranting through clenched teeth.
She was out there, in the cold, facing the house—which was how I could see her face—bundled up, watching Jake pace and flail his arms around. I was guessing she was catching maybe every fifth word from the way her brows kept furrowing and the way she was nodding whenever he looked at her.
“What’s happening out there?” I asked Kola when he passed me, carrying drinks that my husband, the bartender, was making.
“Well, I think Jake is finally coming clean with Hannah about how he feels.”
“Oh? And how does he feel?”
My son gave me a look like I was stupid. “C’mon. You know.”
“I for one haven’t seen anyone else with him since you guys moved home,” I threw out. “Has he been dating at all?”
“Nope.”
“That’s interesting.”
“Is it?” He sounded pained.
“I think so.”
“I told you she was the main reason he wanted to come back.”
I smiled at him. “I find that very romantic.”
He groaned like that was disgusting and left me.
Five minutes later, Hannah was bent over laughing so hard she was shaking, and Jake was back to looking like he was giving some kind of impassioned speech before Congress. She finally rushed forward and leaped at him, and he caught her, as he always did, and wrapped her tightly in his arms. The hug lasted so long I got bored and went to help my son shuttle cocktails.
Later, Hannah came into the backyard where I was sitting with others, tapped me on the shoulder and asked if she could speak with me. On our enclosed porch, I noted she was nearly glowing with happiness.
“And?” I prodded her.
“He was yelling at me, and I didn’t catch much, and there was some drooling because, you know, he can’t open his mouth, but I got the gist of it.”
“Drooling?” That was gross.
“Focus,” she ordered.
I snickered and she grinned.
“He doesn’t want me to date other people, and especially not pencil-dick lawyers.”
“Oh, how could he possibly know that?”
“Pa,” she scolded me.
“I’m just being fair to the young man.”
Deep sigh from her then.
“You, of course, are still smitten with the blond, as George calls him.”
“George is annoying.”
“Sorry,” I rushed out. “George saved your life and watches out for you. I am team George all the way.”
She rolled her eyes at me. “I know, but still. He doesn’t think much of Jake, and he should. Jake’s wonderful.”
“He is,” I agreed, because he was. But I still wasn’t getting into an argument with him about anything. George was golden as far as I was concerned. “So what are you doing?”
“We’re going to date,” she informed me. “Again.”
“Okay.”
“I’m different now. So is he.”
“Are you different?”
“I think so,” she said thoughtfully. “I had an idea in my mind of what a boyfriend was supposed to be, and that wasn’t fair.”
I nodded.
“And Jake, he’d never been serious about anyone before me and didn’t know how to change from friend status to girlfriend.”
“You think he knows better now?”
“I do. I think now he knows it’s not necessary to move me into a specific box because I don’t just have to be one thing. He can still eat pizza with me and play Diablo and go with me to an event at school and hold my hand.”
I smiled at her. “It sounds hopeful.”
“Well,” she said with a sigh. “He’s the only guy who’s ever made my stomach hurt when he smiles at me.”
Which was both adorable and terrifying for me.
When I informed my husband, his grimace told me he didn’t think it was such a great idea. “Listen,” I said firmly. “We lived through it the first time.”
He didn’t look convinced.
“Just keep an open mind.”
That didn’t work either.
Two weeks later, he basically forgot about them when, on the first of December, we had turkey again with all the fixings and Sam Kage was a very happy camper. So was Jake. He’d lost ten pounds and was, at the moment, busily putting the weight back on, eating for three as far as I could tell.