Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64527 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 323(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64527 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 323(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Not that Ally knew what that was. She just knew that I liked kids and that I was lucky enough to be good with them, and her kids liked having me around.
“Do you want to come over for dinner tonight? I know the twins would really like to see you,” Ally said.
“Sorry, Al—I actually have plans.”
Alison was nice enough not to say anything to contradict the fact that I hadn’t had any hint of a life since I’d moved to town and that she was pretty much the only person I’d spoken to at all since I’d come here. Except, this time it was true. I was planning on calling my mom and giving her a life update.
“Do you at least have anything to eat at your apartment?” she asked.
“Yep—I made a crap ton of pasta the other night, so you do not need to worry about me.”
“I will never understand women who are able to eat as much pasta as you do and not have it show on your hips,” Alison said. “The jealousy is so real.”
I laughed. “You know, if you eat a little bit of pasta more often, it’ll take on less power over your mentality, and then you won’t feel the need to binge eat it.”
Ally turned to me with a surprised look. “Were you like a shrink in your past life or something?”
I shrugged. “I just follow a lot of therapists on Instagram. You end up picking up on a lot of useful stuff.”
“Huh. I should probably follow some too.”
“I’ll recommend some to you,” I said, coming back around to the other side of the register just as I was hit by a wave of exhaustion. It was strange, but the simplest things seemed to be taking everything out of me lately. All of a sudden, I couldn’t wait for my shift to end.
By the time I got home to the little studio I’d been living in since I’d moved to the Ridge, as residents called it, I was just about ready to pass out, like I felt every time I got home from work.
Well, “home” was a strong word for the place. I’d left LA in such a hurry that I hadn’t been able to make any arrangements for prepping a transfer of my savings, especially after Alex had had me set up a joint bank account with him and started having all of my money from my practice deposited directly in there. It had been hard enough to extricate myself from the apartment with the gym bag of clothes I’d left with, and as a result, my budget for a place to stay when I moved had been a lot smaller than I would’ve planned for, otherwise. As a result, I hadn’t been able to form any kind of attachment to the place, and not being able to see myself there long term, I hadn’t been able to bring myself to make it homey for myself.
I collapsed on the couch that had come with the apartment and pulled out the little flip phone and dialed the only number I had saved in it.
“Honey? Is that you?” my mom asked as soon as she picked up the phone.
“Who else do you know with an East Tennessee area code?”
“You don’t know everything about me,” she said, her voice sassy.
I laughed. “True enough.”
“How are you, baby?”
I huffed a sigh. “I babysat the other day for Alison again.”
“How was that?”
I couldn’t stop the tears that started to flow. “It made me homesick. I miss my old life, Mom.”
“I know, honey. I know.”
My mom knew how hard I’d worked for my master’s degree. I’d gone to Cal Arts for my undergraduate on a full scholarship, but after I’d graduated, I realized that I’d been missing something. I started taking night classes in psychology and eventually had started a part-time program at UCLA to become an art therapist. It had taken me four years of school and hard work and student loans, and when I’d finished, I started working and I hadn’t regretted a second of it.
Now, having had to give all that up felt like an extra slap to the face.
“We’ll be able to put all this behind you soon, and you’ll be able to come home and start working again in no time.”
I sighed. It was a beautiful thought, and I wanted it to be true more than anything. I just didn’t think she was being realistic.
“Tell me more about your day, sweetie. How was work?”
I sighed, thinking back over everything that had happened. “I met a cute dog.”
“Inside the market?”
“Yeah, crazily enough.”
“Was he a service dog?”
“Don’t think so. He wasn’t wearing a vest or anything. I think this is just a small enough town that people just let you get away with shit if they know you and your habits.”