Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 89224 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89224 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
“Polly,” I whisper, feeling my throat get tight.
“You’re going to be okay, Emma. I just know it.” She wraps her arms around me and squeezes. I hug her back just as tightly. “All right.” She lets me go with a smile. “Get out of here so I can get some work done and go home.”
“Sure.” I grab my coat. “Tell Howard I say hi,” I say referring to her husband who is one of the best men around.
“I will.” She turns to the computer, then spins back toward me, holding out the pack of colorful hair bows I picked up for Winter from the shop that just opened next door. “Don’t forget these.”
“Thanks.” I shove them into my purse, then head for the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow,” she calls back as I walk to the front desk to check in with Sammy before I take off to pick Winter up from school.
At the stove, I stir the tomato soup I made from scratch and look at Winter when her iPad begins to ring.
“Hi, Mommy.” She smiles at the device, then goes back to coloring the picture she’s been working on since she finished her homework.
“How was school?”
“Good.”
“Just good? Did anything happen?”
“Jameson puked in class,” she says, and I press my lips together. She told me about that as soon as I picked her up, and all I could think is I hope there isn’t a bug going around, because no one has time to be sick.
“Was he okay?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugs. “He went to the nurse and got to go home early.”
“Are you feeling okay?”
“Yep.” She drops the marker she was using and picks up a different one.
“Is Daddy home yet?”
“No, but he called and said he’s on his way.”
“Who’s with you now?”
“Emma.” She turns to the camera and gives her mom a smile that makes my chest warm. “We’re making grilled cheeses and tomato soup for dinner.”
“Are you?”
“Yeah, I get to help make the grilled cheeses when Daddy gets home.”
“That’s fun. What did you do last night? You never called me back after your shower.”
“I fell asleep. Daddy said Emma sleeps like the dead, just like me.”
“Does she?”
“I guess.” She shrugs. “That’s why she stayed the night last night.”
“She stayed the night?”
Oh, God. Even if don’t really know her and am unable to see her face to read her expression, I can tell by the tone of her voice alone that she is not happy with that bit of information. I’m tempted to go over and clarify to Hazel what Winter means but wonder if that might just make me seem guilty of something I’m not guilty of and cause a problem.
“Did she have a sleepover in your room?”
“No, she slept in Daddy’s room,” she tells her as the door is opened, and I inwardly cringe as Miles walks inside.
With a quick smile aimed toward Winter and me, having no clue the conversation taking place, he takes off his jacket, then removes the gun he has holstered at his hip, setting it on a high shelf. When Winter notices his arrival, she slides off her stool without a word to her mom and goes to greet him with a hug.
“Did you finish your homework?” he asks, picking her up and carrying her back to the kitchen.
“Yep, Emma helped me.”
“Emma slept in your bed last night?” Hazel asks when Miles walks into view of the iPad propped up on the island, and his expression instantly goes hard, the smile on his face slipping away as his jaw clenches.
“Win, go to your room for a minute,” he says, placing her on her feet, and she looks up at him, then to me, before she walks away with her shoulders slumped. “We spoke about this,” he bites out quietly, picking the iPad up off the island.
What does that mean? Did he already tell her I stayed the night?
“No, you refused to talk to me about it.”
“Yeah, but what did I say? It’s none of your business.”
“All I did is repeat what our daughter just told me.”
“She’s seven. All she knows is Emma stayed the night. You making it a big deal is going to make it a big deal,” he clips.
“I asked you what’s going on, and you won’t tell me.”
“When there is something for you to know, Hazel, I’ll fill you in. Now, I’m gonna hang up. Win will call you before bed,” he growls, then turns off the iPad and sets it aside.
“I thought about explaining things to her when Winter told her I stayed the night,” I say quietly, watching him rip his fingers through his hair, and he turns to glare at me. “I didn’t, because I wasn’t sure if it would make it better or worse.”
“You don’t need to explain shit to her, Em.”