Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
After things ended with Matthew, the team at Evermore didn’t mind when I told them I needed to step away for a little bit and regroup. The pitying looks were almost unbearable though. I knew deep down they were all sort of hoping I’d scram for good. Tanya was in a tough position, unsure of what to do with me. Since the breakup, we’d mostly avoided each other, and when I mentioned taking time off, she was all too eager to get me out of the office.
“Of course, Madison. Take all the time you need. You know your position will be here when you’re ready.”
My position, sure, but what about the promotion I’ve been working toward? My dream of moving up in the company and one day taking over Tanya’s empire? That’s been my goal from the jump.
Now, of course, everything has changed. Monday morning, bright and early, I’ll join my mom at her small office on Main Street and take Cassie’s place. No more Evermore Events. No more future promotion.
I can’t quite wrap my head around any of it, so this morning, I’ve decided to push all the misery and heartbreak aside so I can have a simple breakfast with my dad. I tug open the door to Cactus Cafe and take stock of the familiar players. Waylon’s back in the kitchen and his wife, Lucinda, is refilling the coffee machine. They’ve worked here since I was a little girl.
“Take any seat you want,” Lucinda instructs before she turns around and sees me. Her face immediately breaks out in a grin. “Never mind, you!” She nods toward my designated booth. “Head on over. I’ll be right there with your coffee.”
The Cactus is an institution in our town. No one serves better pancakes. No one makes better bacon. No one has the old-world charm, cracked plastic seats, and peeling red paint quite like Cactus Cafe. As I slide into the corner booth near the kitchen, I check in on the framed picture of my dad hanging on the wall above the table. The small portrait of him working the fryer is a little more grease-stained than the last time I was here and there’s some ketchup smudged on the bottom corner, but his familiar smile is as comforting as ever.
“Hey there, Dad.”
I’ve just finished cleaning off the ketchup and straightening the frame when I hear Lucinda come up behind me.
“You look more and more like him every time I see you. You got a lot of your mama in you too, but you’ve got his eyes. No one can deny that.”
They’re a bright cornflower blue. No one had eyes like my dad.
I smile and happily accept the coffee mug she slides across the table toward me. “Lots of cream, no sugar?” she ventures.
“You nailed it.”
While the diner’s mostly empty, she lingers at my booth, asking me about Montgomery while purposefully skirting around the juiciest topics. I’m grateful; it’s too early for all of that. Once we’ve caught up and the diner door chimes with a few new customers, she confirms my order: “Two pancakes, two eggs over-medium, two pieces of bacon?”
I smile wide. “Just like always.”
She reaches over to squeeze my shoulder. “I’ll go put it in, honey. Holler if you run low on that coffee.”
When I’m sure she’s busy with a customer across the room, I take my phone out of my purse and dial Kendra. When the call connects, I’m greeted with the dulcet sounds of absolute chaos.
“MOM!” a tiny voice bellows. “Nathan just put my dinosaur in the toilet!”
“BECAUSE SHE ATE MY GRAPE!” Nathan shouts back.
“Hey. Give me a sec,” Kendra says to me before addressing her kids in the tone of a drill sergeant. “Listen up, you two. It’s barely eight AM and you guys have been awake and running amok in this house for nearly three hours already. I’m tired. You’re tired. Please, please, I beg you. Nathan! Stop wiping your ketchup fingers on the couch!”
She groans.
I smile. “Ketchup at eight AM?”
“Nathan only eats corn dogs right now. For every meal. Every day.”
I shiver at the thought.
“Oh thank god.” She sighs. “The trash truck just pulled onto our street. That’ll buy me at least five to ten minutes. Hold on, let me go outside. They’ll never find me.”
A door closes and then Kendra sighs again like she’s bone-weary.
“I can’t believe you still want to join me in motherhood one day. Every time you call, the kids are doing something crazy. It should be warning enough.”
“It sounds crazy, sure, but fun.”
“Fun, right. I’m staring at a pile of my fancy kitchen utensils the kids must have snuck back out here without me looking. Think they were using them to make mud pies.”
I laugh. “I’m sitting in the Cactus right now.”
“Aw. Tell your dad I said hi.”
I flit my gaze over to his picture and smile.