Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 114011 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114011 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
Ethan makes a face. “My friends are all online and want me to play with them.” He looks at me. “Is that okay?”
“Well, you are the one that invited Cole for a corn dog . . .”
“Like you care.” Ethan laughs. “I’ll still eat with you. But maybe we can just hang out here and I can play my games? Please?”
I turn to Cole. “What do you think? This was a thing between the two of you.”
He acts like he’s warring over the decision. “I’ll be a bit devastated, but I guess it’s okay.”
“Awesome!” Ethan fist pumps. “Holler at me when dinner is ready, okay?”
But before I can answer, he’s already closing his bedroom door.
“He invites me over and then leaves me with you?” Cole laughs. “That kid is my favorite kid ever.”
I laugh too. “I don’t mind him myself.”
“What do you want to do about dinner? You haven’t eaten, have you?”
“No. I can just make something here.” I head into the kitchen with Cole on my heels. “I don’t know what we have, but I’ll figure it out.”
“Isn’t there a place we can order from?”
I stop at the counter. “Sure. Um, there are a couple of pizza places and a Mexican place in town. And Fletcher’s, of course.”
“What’s your favorite?”
“Fletcher’s, I guess. We really don’t eat out much.”
A flash streaks through his features, but it’s only there for a moment. Then he nods. “Cool. Want to order from Fletcher’s, then?”
“Sure. Eating out on a Wednesday? Fancy.”
He laughs at me like I’m being funny.
“I mean it,” I say, sitting at the counter. “Midweek takeout is a fancy-people thing.”
He sits beside me. “Well, you wouldn’t believe how fancy I usually am, then. By the time I get home from practice, I’m not even thinking about making food.”
“Well, I’d rather not think about it either. So no judgment here.”
We share a smile.
“What did you do today?” I ask him.
He stretches his arms out in front of him. “I helped Dad finish a fence in the backyard. I now have a host of new topics to discuss with my therapist.”
I giggle because I can tell he’s joking. “It was that good, huh?”
“Turns out that I can swing a bat and hit a four-hundred-foot home run, but I can’t properly use a posthole digger.” He grins. “I can also swing a level bat, but my opinion of level for a fence is off. Which might be true,” he adds, almost vaguely. “Anyway, it was a fun day. What about you?”
“I had a war with a shipping company today over a container of parts we sent to Panama. So that was a blast. And then Kirk told me that I didn’t have to go to Parkersburg on Friday for a bus auction because Burt is going. That was fabulous on one hand because I don’t want to go, but it also sucked because Burt makes everything harder than necessary. But that’s all fine because he changed his mind at the end of the day, and now . . . I’m headed to the auction.”
“Auctions sound fun.”
I shrug. “I honestly don’t mind them. It’s exciting to bid on buses and decide which are worth the price and all of that. But when Val isn’t around, it’s trickier to get Ethan picked up from school and for someone to hang out with him while I’m gone.” My spirits start to sink, so I shove them away. “Anyway, it’s all good. Everything worked out.”
Cole watches me carefully. “You really like your job, huh?”
“Yeah. I do.”
The answer comes instantly. It falls from my lips without me thinking about it.
“I love the challenge of it,” I say. “It’s different every day. It’s a constant spring of information. But more than anything, I like being a part of something.”
Cole folds his hands on the counter. “That’s a very natural thing. It’s how I feel about baseball. How I feel about . . .” He shakes his head and stops himself. “It’s how people feel about being with their families, in their communities.”
That’s not what he was going to say. I want to ask him about it but choose not to at the last second. Instead, I keep talking so it doesn’t get weird.
“That’s it,” I say. “As much as I get annoyed with Burt and the guys in the shop, they feel like a family to me. And Kirk has been so good to me and believed in me and helped me when I was just a single mom begging for a job. I respect him more than anyone in my life, to be honest.”
“Sounds like a great guy.”
I nod. “I’m sure he’d give you a job, now that you’re retired.”
Cole laughs. “Hell, I might go see him about it. It would beat dealing with Scott.”
“Who is Scott?”
“My agent.” He sighs. “He’s pressuring me to make a choice, but I don’t want to choose anything on the table, if I’m being honest.”