Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 64337 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 214(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64337 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 214(@300wpm)
My eyes narrow. “How do you know that? What did Binx say about me?’
“She just said you were smart and liked math, but I could tell you have time on your hands because you’re just standing here, spying on other people. Doesn’t seem like you have a lot of friends, but that’s okay,” she says, in a placating tone. “I don’t have a lot of friends, either. My best friend moved away, and the rest of the kids at my school are dicks.”
My brows shoot up. “Does your dad know you use that word?”
She shrugs. “No. Does Binx know that you spy on her all the time?”
“I don’t spy on her all the time, just when she’s with a cute boy. I’m a little sister. It’s part of the job description,” I say, pushing on before she can insult me again. “And what about you? You’re spying, too.”
An even wider grin bursts across her face. “Exactly! That’s why we’ll be perfect partners. I’ve been doing what I can, but there’s only so much a person can do when they can’t drive and have to be in boring old school all day.”
My lips hook up. As diabolical as this kid is, her grin is contagious. “How old are you?”
“Eight,” she says. “But I’m going to be nine in January, and I read at a tenth-grade level. I’m not stupid.”
“Clearly,” I say. “But neither are they. They’ll see a matchmaking scheme coming from a mile away. Especially Binx. And then she’ll murder me in my sleep for embarrassing her.”
“She won’t. She’s nice. My dad’s nice, too, even though he looks different than other dads.”
“He sure does,” I mutter, thinking about the way Seven came roaring up the hill on his motorcycle, looking like a bad boy action hero swooping in to save the day.
Speaking of cartoons, his biceps and thighs would give Gaston from Beauty and the Beast a run for his money…
“Ew, gross,” Sprout says. “Don’t tell me you think my dad’s cute, too. The ladies at the playground flirt with him all the time. Keeping them away from him is a full-time job. I barely have any time for the swings.” Her nose wrinkles. “And most of them are married, so they should be keeping their giggles and blinky eyes to themselves. Only one of them is a nanny without a husband, but she’s even younger than Binx, so I know Dad won’t date her.”
“Is that the problem?” I ask. “He thinks Binx is too young for him?”
She nods. “Yeah, he’s forty-two, which I know is super old, but Binx doesn’t care, so why does he?”
“Valid question,” I say. “And he doesn’t look forty-two. I would have guessed he was in his mid-thirties.”
“He takes good care of himself and eats all his vegetables. He also wears sunscreen every day. We put it on together in the bathroom in the mornings, so we don’t get skin cancer. He and Grammy and my uncles used to do that when they were kids, too. It’s a family tradition.”
“It’s a good one,” I say. “And you seem like a very smart and savvy kid, but—”
“No buts,” she cuts in, shaking her head. “Please, you have to help me. I can’t ask anyone else, and we have to do something. Fast. Before Dad marries someone he doesn’t even love. He has a third date on Friday.”
I frown. “So? That doesn’t mean he’s going to marry someone else.”
“He never makes it to the third date. I mean never, not in my entire life since my mom died. But he and Pammy are going to dinner and a movie on Friday. Pammy.” She makes a gagging face. “That’s her name. Do you want me to be cursed with a stepmother named Pammy, Wendy Ann? Is that the kind of awful thing you would put on an innocent kid?”
I cross my arms. “No, of course not, but I honestly don’t see what we can do. Your dad has his mind made up, and he seems like a stubborn guy. And I know Binx likes him, but she’s a proud person. If she realizes he’s getting serious with another woman, that’s going to push her away, not make her want to try harder to change his mind.”
“But he doesn’t love Pammy,” Sprout says. “I know he doesn’t. He loves Binx, and I do, too. She should be part of our family, not some weird stranger with huge boobs and gross yellow Barbie hair.”
“Oh wow, Pammy Gore?” I ask as her description brings up a vivid mental picture. “He’s dating Pammy Gore?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugs. “He didn’t tell me her last name. I only know what she looks like because she used to come drink at Grammy’s bar in the afternoon with her girlfriends. They all wear way too much makeup and laugh like witches, and Pammy’s boobs are bigger than my entire head. Each one of them.”