Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94692 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94692 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
He huffed. “She wanted to talk every day.”
“The nerve on that girl. Good riddance. I don’t know how you put up with that nonsense.”
“You think you’re funny—”
“I think I’m fucking hilarious.” I just had to make that clear. “What else did she do that was crazy?”
“Okay, listen to this. She got pissy if I didn’t acknowledge her in the cafeteria—every single day.”
“Hoo boy—a girl who wanted a smile from her boyfriend at lunch. She’s downright certifiable.”
He let out a growling noise in frustration.
I chuckled and patted his leg. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be a dick, sweetheart. But can we agree she wasn’t crazy? It’s not a word we should use willy-nilly unless they root for the Giants.” Cowboys fans weren’t all there in the head either. “My guess? You weren’t ready for a commitment, and that’s perfectly fine. You’re focused on friends, golf, and hopefully your grades.”
He seemed to mull things over for a bit—and he was back to concentrating on traffic.
He really was turning into a solid driver.
“You seem very comfortable behind the wheel these days,” I noted. “And you can definitely handle your old man’s shit-talk while you drive.”
His mouth twitched, but he wasn’t ready to show his amusement yet.
Lily inspected my nails with a sigh. “I wanted to do them all.”
Yeah, I knew she did. But we’d been short on time, so she’d only painted two of them. In a sparkly, light blue color.
I looked fucking fabulous.
“You can do the rest later,” I said. Unless she ditched me to play with Paws.
Nate came back from the hostess’s desk and let us know our table was almost ready. Then he brought out his phone, and I followed his gaze to where Dylan and Hallie were standing by a big fern. They were, for once, smiling when they talked, and Nate took a picture of them.
For safekeeping, for evidence, for blackmail…
“I’m so hungry.” Mikey tugged at his suspenders. He looked so damn adorable, all dressed up.
“I know, buddy. Me too.” I folded up the sleeves of my button-down. “Do you know what you want yet?”
It wasn’t the first time we’d come here, and it wouldn’t be the last. We loved our Mexican food, and this place had an energy to it. Bright, colorful walls, fitting music, great food, and good deals on family platters.
Mikey nodded. “Tacos.”
“Excellent choice,” I said. “No taquitos? You love those.”
“Only when Nana makes them,” he said, sticking his thumbs underneath the suspenders. “She’s the best at cooking—except when you and Dad make spaghetti.”
We were admittedly awesome at spaghetti and Bolognese.
I smiled and ruffled his hair. “You know how fucking cute you are?”
He grinned and stood taller.
“I’m cute also, Daddy!” Lily exclaimed.
“Of course you are, princess.” I picked her up and positioned her on my hip. “All our babies are cute.”
She giggled and smushed my cheeks together. “We’re not babies.”
Don’t remind me.
About half an hour later, my heart couldn’t be happier. The whole family was gathered around a big table, which was filled with food and drinks, and I already had an enchilada in me. We always reserved the same corner booth when we were here, because the round table was the perfect size for us. And we weren’t assaulted by the din from the other guests.
Minimal fussing between Dylan and Hallie too—a big bonus. They were currently teaming up against Nate and Mikey in a debate about where we could go this summer.
I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday.
“Daddy, I don’t like these red things on the shrimpies.” Lily held up a shrimp for me.
“It’s chili. Hold on.” I sucked some queso off the side of my thumb before grabbing it, and I dunked it in my water, making sure the chili flakes came off. “Try it now.”
She found that super funny, but hey, it worked. Her eyes lit up as she chewed. “So yummy!”
I winked and went for a chicken quesadilla.
She promptly stole my water so she could give the rest of her shrimp a bath. At the same time, Nate slipped a hand onto my thigh, stealing my attention.
“I know you want to visit the West Coast again, but there’s a reason I think we should stay closer to home this year,” he was saying. “Actually, two reasons. This year, we didn’t start planning our road trip eight months in advance like we usually do, because Dad and I have been very busy.”
I nodded in agreement, rolling with the punches. We were doing this now—finally. It felt like the last puzzle piece before we could move forward.
“We’re also already goin’ to Mammoth Cave,” I pointed out, chewing. “Two days to get there, three days exploring the park, two days to get home.”
“Exactly,” Nate agreed. “But before I get to my main reason, we—Dad and I—talked about how this past year kind of got away from us.” He covered Mikey’s hand with his own. “We had this plan, you see. We were gonna work harder and save up to buy a bigger house.”