Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 127715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
And just like me, he loved them both.
Epilogue
JUST RIGHT
Harry
Harry closed down his computer, cleared his desk, locked it and got up to go get his coat.
He was pushing his chair under the desk when the lights caught his attention.
Egged on and helped by Lillian, Polly had lined his window with multi-colored Christmas lights.
Harry’s lips quirked, and his eyes fell to his credenza.
Winnie was no longer there. She was on the chest at home with Lillian’s parents.
But the picture of Harry and Lillian outside her house at Halloween was there. A picture of Harry with Eugenie on his shoulders was also there. Further, there was a picture of Harry with George, their arms around each other’s shoulders, George giving a thumbs up for some dad-doing-something-for-no-reason reason. Also added, a picture of Harry and Lillian, Trey and Jenna, Mark and Kay, all sitting around a table covered in glasses of beer and nacho remnants at the Squirrel’s Nest. Not to mention, a snap of Rus and him sitting in that very office and another of Harry with Doc and Ledge out on their pier.
And last, a picture of Lillian with her face in a bunch of sunflowers that Harry had brought home for her randomly one evening.
He left the Christmas lights around his window burning and went to his coat. He put it on, turned out the overhead lights and gave himself another moment to take in how those lights around the window transformed even his office, made it more cheerful, more joyful, more peaceful.
On that thought, he walked home.
When he got there, only his dogs greeted him.
He gave them pets, words of love, and hit the kitchen to toss them some treats.
He then let them out for a bathroom break while he went to the bedroom and changed out of his uniform and into a pair of jeans and a pine-green sweater.
After he got the dogs back in, and gave them more pets, he headed out the front door, made sure it was locked, and walked across the yard, driveway, and Ronnie and George’s yard.
He put his thumb to the pad on their door, heard the locks whir, and then he stepped in.
“Harry’s here!” Sherise yelled over a hum of chatter and Christmas music. She grabbed his arm, tugged him in farther and exclaimed, “Finally! Mom wouldn’t let us break into the sausage roll wreath until you showed.”
Shane arrived with a beer and handed it to Harry, with a, “Hey, brother.”
Harry took the beer, got a chest bump and back clap from Shane, a kiss on the cheek from Sherise, and then he had Lillian beaming up at him.
“Hey, honey,” she greeted, rolling up on her toes to give him a kiss.
“Hey, baby,” he murmured, smiling at her as she rolled back.
“Can we eat now?” George boomed. “I’ve been tortured by these food smells all freaking day.”
He hadn’t, the man still worked.
But he came home for lunch most days, and thank God he did, or he wouldn’t have been home when the dogs were barking, and Lillian was shouting when Karl Abernathy showed next door.
“Yes, George, you can eat,” Ronnie sighed, making her way to Harry to give him a cheek kiss too.
She did that and immediately turned and issued orders.
“Shane and Harry are on unpacking ornaments. Sherise and Lillian are on ornament placement on the tree. The old folks get to sit, eat, drink and watch you all work.” She clapped her hands twice. “Let’s get to it.”
“Can we make a plate of food first?” Shane asked.
“Yes, then get to it,” Ronnie answered.
Shane headed to the coffee table, which was covered in what was clearly Christmas themed finger foods.
Caroline and his dad moved in, and Harry got a hug from the first, a handshake and a playful slap on the face from the last before they moved to the living room.
Harry followed them.
“I get to do the angel,” Sherise declared.
Shane had bent over the food, but he shot straight at that.
“You do not. You did it last year. It’s my turn.”
“Actually, I did it last year,” Lillian put in.
“Then it’s still my turn,” Shane stated.
“It’s Harry’s turn,” Ronnie decreed. “And no lip. Eat. Unpack ornaments. Or we’ll be at this all night.”
Harry approached the coffee table and muttered to Shane, “You can put the angel on our tree when we get over there.”
“Thanks, man,” Shane muttered back.
“I heard that!” Sherise cried.
“Calm, darlin’,” Greg said. “You can put the star on our tree when we get to the dessert portion of this extravaganza.”
Sherise shot a sunny smile at his dad. “Thanks, Greg. You’re the best.”
And the extravaganza was: hors d’oeuvres at George and Ronetta’s, entrée at Harry and Lillian’s, dessert at Caro and Greg’s, tree trimming at all of them.
How he didn’t have a gut living with Lilly and next to Ronnie, he had no fucking clue.