Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
“And who are you?” Luna snapped.
“The wedding coordinator,” Hannah explained. “Not a wedding planner, they do the whole thing, but just a coordinator who does the day of.”
“So I––”
“If you don’t mind,” she said to Oliver, “please join your family.”
He gave Luna a gentle tug and they were off. Hannah then proceeded to introduce the Granger family: mom, Shelly; dad, Dave; and their two kids; a daughter, Tallulah, age three, and their son, Alexander, who was five. I was already excited.
Sam stood and shook hands with Dave and Shelly, who it turned out lived in La Grange where everyone else in Sam’s family did. The Grangers in La Grange was funny and easy to remember. Shelly was an art historian, and Hannah immediately asked her about the new exhibit that had just opened at The Art Institute, even as she helped her get out coloring books and crayons for her kids.
As Kola and Finn had gone to get drinks from the open bar, I leaned to my right over Hannah’s empty chair, Jake leaned to the left, and we met in the middle.
“You didn’t like Luna, huh?”
“She was fine. It was just, she always had places she wanted to take Kola, people she wanted him to meet. It was a lot, and you know he can only handle so much of that. She never wanted to just hang out with us at home, she was always wanting to go-go-go.”
“I see.”
“I was glad when she graduated and got a job at a magazine in San Diego.”
I nodded. “Did Harper feel the same?”
Jake turned his phone to me where I could read back-and-forth messages that were only minutes old. In a nutshell, Harper was horrified. He suggested Jake get stakes and garlic and a big-ass cross.
“So he really didn’t like her.” I chuckled.
“He thought then, as he does now, that she’s a vampire,” Jake made clear. “But I don’t care,” he said with a shrug. “Kola was awesome as usual. Did you see how he included Finn? Had his hands on him? That was good.”
“Yes, it was.”
Walking back, Finn was carrying three drinks, as was Kola. I got a glass of chardonnay, Hannah got an Amaretto sour, Sam an old-fashioned, Jake a Corona with the lime stuffed down in the neck, and Finn had a Moscow mule and Kola the same exact beer as Jake.
“If you guys tell me what you like…” Kola said to Dave and Shelly.
“Oh no, you don’t––”
“Please,” he insisted.
Finn went with him, because he was smart, and Kola alone might have been hit on or, even more likely, Luna might have joined him. As it was, they returned with white wine, a beer, and apple juice for the kids.
“Oh thank you,” Shelly said, clearly struck by how thoughtful Kola and Finn were.
The waitstaff came around to confirm dinner dishes, and Hannah explained what had happened, and they made quick changes on their tablets about where meals were going. Had to love the digital age.
Sandra came by and was surprised, and I could tell, upset, to see her family moved.
“Both your girls were distressed to be parted from their plus-ones,” I explained, “as well they should have, so Hannah fixed it.”
She glanced at my daughter. “You’re so very good about getting things done, Hannah.”
“Always,” she told her.
Once dinner was served, Alex announced that the chicken looked slimy. His sister, taking her cues from him, just as Hannah had with Kola, didn’t want anything to do with it either.
“We won’t be able to stay if they don’t eat. I didn’t bring enough snacks.”
Kola took over then, had her pass him their plates, then used his napkin and wiped off both filets, and then cut them into bite-sized pieces. He asked the waitress for two large sides of ranch dressing and toothpicks, and voila, there were grilled chicken nuggets.
“I like to dip stuff, “Alex told him, using a toothpick.
“So do I.”
“Ohmygod,” Shelly said, looking at him. “That was amazing.”
Kola needed a new napkin, and the waitress kindly swapped his out.
“My father always had to clean off gross gravy.” Kola shuddered. “Smells and textures weren’t great for me when I was little, and I’m still not good with some stuff.”
Shelly watched as Tallulah dipped her chicken, took a bite of mashed potatoes, because Finn had added extra butter, and then even had some broccoli because that also could be dipped in the ranch dressing.
Dave finally noticed, having been talking to Sam about the effectiveness of the neighborhood watch. “Are they eating?”
Shelly nodded.
Finn, however, took two bites of his and decided he would not be eating, informing Kola that they would need to stop and get burgers.
“No,” Hannah told them. “I knew this was not going to be good when I heard who was catering, so I mentioned that to Pa, and he made meatloaf this morning, so we’re gonna have sandwiches at home.”