Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 106538 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 533(@200wpm)___ 426(@250wpm)___ 355(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106538 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 533(@200wpm)___ 426(@250wpm)___ 355(@300wpm)
“Don’t let her guilt you, son.” Amos sets his plate on the counter and opens the dishwasher.
“I haven’t done anything to feel guilty about. Am I not allowed to have acquaintances?”
He chuckles while I hand him the dirty dishes. “Some days, Tia resents the air you breathe. So anything more than that feels extravagant to her. She just misses Brynn.”
“Well, I miss her too. But I don’t know what more I can say or do. I don’t know what level of misery I must endure to satisfy Tia’s need to see me suffer.”
“What are you two talking about?” Tia asks as she and Lola haul more dishes into the kitchen.
“I was just asking Ozzy if he’s recently had his prostate checked. But now that I think about it, he’s still young.”
Tia frowns, sizing up her lying husband.
“Dad, I need help with homework,” Lola says.
“You two go do that. Tia and I will clean this up.” Amos shoos us toward the stairs.
“Lola, we have to leave for school in ten minutes. Why didn’t you mention your homework last night?” I ask.
When we reach the basement, I follow Lola to her bedroom. She pivots at the door and lowers her voice. “I don’t have homework.”
She’s ten.
I think it a lot, but this girl is too astute and clever to be only ten. Brynn would be proud of her. She always knew Lola was intelligent beyond her years.
“You know this will come back to haunt you when you try the homework excuse on me in the future,” I say.
“I do need you to sign the permission form for track-and-field day. So it’s not a whole lie. It’s not technically homework, so it’s half a lie. See how good I am at math?”
I grab her head and kiss the top of it. “Get the form, and let’s go.”
“Can we get ice cream from Swirls on the way to Maren’s after school?”
I stop at my bedroom door. “Swirls isn’t on our way. You need to work on geography.”
“Remember, asking too many personal questions is not polite.” I do a final prep with Lola after school when we’re a block from Maren’s house.
“You mean it’s not polite to embarrass you?”
Yes.
“No. That’s not what I mean, but that’s a good rule too.”
“I hope Bandit likes me.”
“I hope so, too, but cats can be finicky.”
The driveway is full of vehicles when we arrive. I’m meeting her roommates with my daughter. Fantastic.
What could go wrong?
Maren steps outside in an oversize gray T-shirt and white leggings, hair pulled into a ponytail. “Hey!”
We park our bikes on the walkway, just past the vehicles, and remove our helmets.
“Where’s Bandit?” Lola asks.
“Let’s start with hello.” I stand behind Lola, resting my hands on her shoulders.
“Hello. Where’s Bandit?”
Maren laughs. “He’s in the shed out back. Follow me.” Her gaze lingers on me while she walks past us. It’s mischievous and sexy.
“Oh! Dad, get the gift out,” Lola says, spinning toward me.
I nod several times, retrieving six stalks of rhubarb from the pack attached to my bike. They’re tied with hemp string.
Lola hands them to Maren. “My dad said it’s polite to bring a gift when you visit someone’s house for the first time.”
Maren’s gaze shoots to me. “Thank you. Your dad is something else.”
I wink, and Maren leads us to the backyard.
“Looks like you have a full house tonight,” I say.
“Yeah. Will starts his next shift in the morning. He’ll be leaving for his tai chi class soon. And Fitz and Jamie are eating an early dinner before checking out a few houses. But I just know they will make an offer on my house.”
“The one with the cat tree house?”
“Yes.” She unlocks the shed door and opens it.
“It’s a bedroom!” Lola covers her mouth.
“Yes. It’s called a she shed. I used to sleep out here, and then my friend Jamie stayed out here; now it’s Bandit’s room.”
We step inside, and Lola’s world explodes with glitter, rainbows, and butterflies.
“That’s the kitten, that’s the kitten, that’s the kitten!” Lola scoops the kitten off the bed, kissing his head. “You saved my kitten!”
Maren tears up, as she did at the restaurant when Lola mentioned the scars on her face. I’m not entirely immune to this moment, either, but I won’t cry. It’s just a cat.
“I saved your kitten, but my roommate is allergic to cats, so that’s why Bandit must live in the shed, which is obviously just a really cool bedroom. And I spend lots of time in here with him, so he never feels abandoned.”
“It’s a cool shed.” Lola nods.
“Do you want to come meet my roommates before they leave?” Maren asks.
“Can I bring Bandit?”
“Lola, she just said Bandit can’t be in the house,” I remind her with my own exaggerated eye roll.
Lola doesn’t even look up from the cat. “If I go inside and meet them, do I have to stay for adult talk? Or can I come back out here with Bandit?”