Total pages in book: 174
Estimated words: 172061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 574(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 172061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 574(@300wpm)
“I think you came to the right place because that’s what we got around here,” Nolan said. His adorable face was stretched in a wide grin, his warm blond hair longer on top.
“Are you my new friend Nolan?” Colin asked him, dancing back and forth on his feet.
The boy puffed out his chest. “Yep! That’s me. And you gotta be Colin.”
“That’s my name, all right. We kinda match because we got a bunch of the same letters in our names. Do you know how to spell it? Because I do. C-O-L-I-N and N-O-L-A-N. So, I bet we’re really supposed to be friends.”
Nolan cracked up. “I didn’t even think of that! My Daddy-O said I’m really smart, and I guess you’re really smart, too, so I guess we’re definitely supposed to probably be best friends.”
“You want to be my new best friend?” Maci beamed up at Addy. “But we all gotta be best friends because we love each other so much. We can’t be leaving no one out.”
“We never forget the ones in our hearts,” Addy agreed. My heart squeezed tight at her words. The truth that I forever tried to instill into my children. She lifted the bead set. “And look, I brought something for us to make.”
Maci’s eyes lit up. “You got a bead set?! Do I get to make a necklace?”
“Or a bracelet. Whatever you want. Mr. Cash got it for me, so it’s extra special, but we’ve got to do it on the table so the little kids don’t get any of the beads. We have to be careful so they don’t eat any.”
The younger boy popped up from the floor and came tottering our way. White hair framed his cherub face. “I is Finn!”
“Yep, this is Finn, and he’s our family, so he’s our best friend, too.” Maci slung her arm over his shoulder and tugged him so close to her chest that it squished his little lips together.
“That’s right, ’cause family is who you love most.” Nolan peeped it like fact.
His statement pierced me in the chest. The wisdom from a little boy who couldn’t be more than six or seven.
My gaze was drawn up to the eyes that still watched us in shock as the children made their introductions. Meeting the disorder of gazes.
Curiosity, surprise, and speculation.
Before a piercing screech suddenly broke the tension. “Oh my gosh, how in the world is this real life?”
A woman with the blackest hair and even darker eyes peeled herself from the burly mountain of a man who stood at her side. She rounded the island.
My eyes widened when I saw she was wearing the highest stiletto heels, black leather shorts, and a lacy white tank.
She was gorgeous to the extreme. Her eyes lined in thick makeup and her lips painted red. Her hair was woven in one thick, long braid and adorned with little white flowers.
Self-consciously, I shifted on my flip-flops. Apparently, I’d underdressed for this little soiree.
I didn’t have time to elbow Cash in the side for not warning me that I should have worn something nicer since the woman strutted in my direction. Before I could make sense of what was happening, she took me by the hand and pulled me forward so she could inspect me.
“She’s real!” she shouted over her shoulder to the rest of the group still gawking from the kitchen. She turned back. Her red-stained lips stretched into the biggest smile. “I mean, obviously, you’re real, but when my husband told me that Cash was bringing someone with him to today’s family gathering, I was pretty sure he was yanking my leg.”
“Ah, Moonflower, if I’m yanking on those gorgeous legs, it’s for an entirely different reason.” A guy with brown hair and big blue eyes set his hands onto the island and wagged his brows.
“Okay, fair,” she said with a sexy kick of her heel behind her. “I was pretty sure he was yanking my chain,” she corrected, “since our Cash here likes to fly solo.”
She widened her eyes at Cash. Full of disbelief and questions.
He only grunted at her.
“My mom is very real.” Addy planted one hand on her hip, clearly thinking she needed to stand up for me.
The woman laughed a throaty sound, and she knelt in front of my daughter. “You’re right. That was very rude of me. I’m just really happy that you and your mom are here. That all of you are here.” She glanced at each of them. “I’m Raven.”
“You mean Auntie Raven!” Nolan interjected.
A soft giggle rolled from her. “That’s right. Auntie Raven.”
“Are you my auntie?!” Eagerness blazed out of Colin.
“You can absolutely call me Auntie Raven since pretty much my favorite thing in the whole wide world are my nieces and nephews.”
“And Uncle Otto and Baby Luna.” Maci clapped her hands.
Raven laughed. “They’re definitely at the top of my list.”