Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 66233 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66233 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
“And now we have two more people on our team.” Janelle reaches over to squeeze my arm, and I send her a smile. I’m not going to be the one to tell her that I doubt very much that Jace will be involved in anything happening this week.
“Uh-oh. Eva does not look happy,” Haylee says as a woman with wild gray hair, wearing a flowing floral summer dress, hustles in our direction with a sour expression.
“She probably had a run-in with Mom.” Janelle looks over at me. “Eva is my sister.”
“Got it.” I unhook my belt and hop out, taking my coffee and shopping bag with me.
“I’m going to lock our mother in a box at the bottom of the lake,” Eva announces as soon a Janelle has her door open, and I hear Haylee laugh from the back seat before I slam my door closed.
“She’s been in a mood since she got here,” I hear Janelle tell her sister while I open the back door to help Haylee get Dash out.
“When is she not in a mood?” Eva asks, then hisses, “She told me that I look like a witch from a kids’ storybook. Don’t smile. It’s not funny!”
“It’s a little funny,” Janelle counters, then calls out my name.
“You’ve been summoned,” Haylee says through another laugh, and I hand Dash over to her once she gets her feet on the ground. “I’m going to take him in and see if I can get him to take a nap.”
“I’m not tired,” he tells her while he attempts to wiggle free, but she locks her arms around him.
“Then we will just have a rest.” She kisses his head as she walks off toward the house, and I head to the trunk, where Janelle and her sister are attempting to maneuver the box out of the back.
“Penny, I’d like you to meet my sister, Eva. Eva, this is Jace’s fiancée, Penny.”
“It’s—”
“What?” Eva cuts me off and looks between Janelle and me. “Jace got engaged?”
“He surprised us with the news yesterday.”
“Holy shit, he’s here?”
“He is,” my fake future-mother-in-law confirms.
“I told you!” Eva cries, tossing her hands in the air before focusing on her sister. “What did I say?” she asks, only to answer her own question. “I told you that Jace was going to find someone and that she would bring him back to life.” She focuses on me and grabs my free hand. “And here you are.”
“Eva thinks she’s a psychic,” Janelle tells me.
“I don’t think I’m psychic. I am physic.” Eva glares at her sister, then her expression softens when she turns to meet my gaze. “It’s so nice to meet you, Penny.”
“It’s nice to meet you too.”
“Oh goodness.” She lets me go and claps her hands together. “This week is going to be fabulous.”
“Did anyone think to bring me a coffee?” At that question from Janet, who is making her way toward us, Janelle stops trying to get the box out of the trunk.
“The doctors told you that you’re not supposed to have too much caffeine, Mom.”
“This is America. They have decaf.”
“Mom, not everyone is thinking about you every second of the day,” Eva says, and Janet’s face gets red like it’s going to explode.
Oh goodness, indeed.
“I’m just…” I take a step back when Janet turns her glare in my direction. “I’m just gonna go see if I can find someone to help with the box.” I spin around and walk as quickly as I can toward the house.
When I slide open the back door, I find Daniel in the kitchen with a donut halfway to his mouth.
“Hey, Janelle needs your help getting a box out of the trunk.”
“What did she buy?” he asks, and my nose scrunches.
“You’ll see.”
“Jesus, she cannot be trusted to go shopping at warehouse stores,” he mutters before heading out the door, shoving the entire donut into his mouth.
Smiling to myself, I walk into the room Jace and I are sharing and stumble to a stop when I find the room dark and him on the bed with his elbow covering his eyes.
The position is one I’ve found my mom in more than once, and it causes my heart to pick up speed. I hang my bag on the hook on the back of the door and set down my coffee before I walk over to the bed. Standing over him, I hesitate before I touch the back of my fingers to his forehead that I’m relieved to find is cool to the touch.
“Oh,” I gasp when he captures my wrist in his large hand.
“How was shopping with Mom, princess?” he asks, meeting my gaze, and even in the low light of the room, there is no missing the pain in his eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
“Headache. Did you find a suit?”
“Did you take something for your head?”
“No.”
“Will you take something if I bring it to you?”