Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77904 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77904 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
The flames illuminated their faces as they placed a marshmallow on the end of the skewer and extended it over the fire. I watched them for a few minutes, then grabbed myself a hanger, poked it through the marshmallow, and held it over the flame. “I can’t remember the last time I roasted marshmallows.”
“It’s been a while for me, too.”
“We did some at Dad’s last summer, but he had those gross marshmallows from the gas station.”
“They weren’t that bad,” Samantha argued.
“They melted right off the stick.”
“That’s because you burned them.” Samantha pointed to his marshmallow over the fire as she fussed, “Just like you’re doing now.”
“Oh, man.” He quickly pulled it from the fire and started blowing on it. It was completely black and crispy. “What do I do with it?”
“Eat it,” Ronin answered.
“No way. It’s gross.”
“You don’t know what you’re missing.” Ronin reached over and grabbed the marshmallow from the end of his stick, then tossed it in his mouth with a smile. “Burnt is the only way to go.”
“I wanna try a burnt one!”
Samantha took another marshmallow from the bag and stuck it right in the fire. Once it was engulfed in flames, she pulled it out and blew on it. Worried she might burn herself, Ronin warned, “Give it a minute to cool off first.”
She waited a second, then popped it in her mouth. She chewed for a second, and it wasn’t long before she winced and started shaking her head. “Nope. I don’t like it.”
“It’s an acquired taste.” Ronin chuckled. “You’ll appreciate it more when you get older.”
“Nah, I don’t think so.”
Samantha put another marshmallow on her skewer and placed it over the fire. She and Nathan ate a couple more marshmallows, but the excitement started to wear off. Noting the shift in mood, Ronin looked over to Nathan and asked, “Hey, man. What’s your high and low for the day?”
“My what?”
“Your high and low?”
“What’s that?”
“It’s something my dad used to do with my sister and me.” Ronin glanced over at me, then back to Samantha. “You tell your high or your good thing for the day and your low, which is something that was not so great.”
“Ah, okay. I got it.” Nathan thought for a minute, then answered, “I’d say my low was failing my science test today. It sucked, but everybody else failed, too.”
“This is the first I’ve heard about the test.”
“Everybody failed it, Mom.”
“I’m not worried about everybody else.”
“Any-way... I’d say my high was not having to go hunting with Dad.”
“Oh, yeah.” Maggie grimaced. “What did you tell him?”
“Just that we were going out of town.”
“Good.”
“Okay, Samantha,” Ronin interrupted. “It’s your turn. What’s your high/low?”
“Hmmm.” Her brows furrowed as she toyed with her skewer. “I don’t really have a low. It was an okay day, but if I had to name one bad thing, it’d be when Ms. Downy wouldn’t call on me in math today. I knew the answers and raised my hand, but she wouldn’t even look at me. It was like she was doing it on purpose, but whatever. It doesn’t matter. My high was having lasagna for dinner. It was the bomb.”
“I’m glad you liked it.” Ronin turned to me as he said, “And what about your highs and lows?”
“Well, my low would be finding out that my kids had a not-so-great day today and that they didn’t even mention it to me.” I let out a breath, then added, “And my high would be right here and now, with all of you. It’s been nice.”
“I’m glad you’ve enjoyed it.”
“What about yours?” Nathan asked Ronin. “You gonna tell us your high/low?”
“Sure.” Ronin’s smile faded as he started, “My low was pretty low today. I lost a good friend, and we had his funeral a few hours ago. It was tough.”
“Oh, Ronin,” I gasped. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”
“I know, and it’s all good,” Ronin let out a sigh. “He had a good run and will be remembered well. Can’t ask for more than that. Besides, I’ve gotta pretty damn good high that’s helped get me through it.”
“Oh? And what’s that?”
“You.”
He cocked that sexy eyebrow, and it was all I could do to keep myself from going over and kissing him long and hard. But that wasn’t going to happen—not after what happened the last time we were together. I had no choice but to keep my hands and mouth to myself.
I did my best to play it cool as I asked, “I’m your high?”
“You are.” A sexy smirk crossed his face as he added, “I like having you here at my place. The kids, too. Hell, I might have to just keep you here.”
“Oh, it’s early yet,” I snickered. “Let’s see how you feel on Sunday.”
“Yeah, we’ll see.”
I had to admit I was a little surprised. The night turned out better than I could’ve imagined, and it was clear from all their laughing and carrying on that the kids felt the same way.