Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 34527 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 173(@200wpm)___ 138(@250wpm)___ 115(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34527 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 173(@200wpm)___ 138(@250wpm)___ 115(@300wpm)
I might have even wondered what it would feel like to kiss her, and I hate kissing.
But I blurt out none of this, because Devin isn’t interested. So I shove it all deep down inside and try not to think about the dusky pink shade of her mouth and how her upper lip is tiny in comparison to her lower one.
We load the ornaments and decorations into the air-sled, and then I carefully settle the tree in the back. Devin grabs her poncho from inside and returns a moment later with a container of food and her damned rodent. I don’t say anything about it for once. Is she really so lonely—like Liesje said—that she lavishes a barn rodent with affection?
She’s all smiles as we start the air-sled and hover in the air. Her excitement is palpable. “I can’t wait to see the look on her face. She’s going to be so excited.”
“I hope so.”
“I know so,” Devin says, beaming at me. Her cheeks are ruddy with the cold, and the tip of her nose is even pinker than her mouth. It looks ridiculous and adorable all at once, and I want to stare at her instead of the controls of the sled.
“I’ve been visiting her this week,” I tell Devin as I cruise the sled away from her farm and in the direction of Liesje’s neighboring one. “The bots have her fields almost completely cleared and composted, and I’ve been working with her on tidying the inside.”
Devin gasps, and her hand covers mine on the controls. “You have?”
Her fingers are cold, but I can’t stop staring at her hand touching mine. “I have. She seemed like she needed some help.”
“But I’ve offered before,” she protests, and I can’t tell if she’s wounded that Liesje wouldn’t take her assistance or just bewildered. “She always chases me away.”
“What can I say? Sin has a way with words.” I grin at her, and when she sputters and breaks into fresh laughter, I feel like a high and mighty Homeworld lord. “Come on, Merry. Let’s go see what Liesje thinks of our tree.”
“I’m not calling you Sin,” she warns me again, but her voice is so warm with amusement that it fills me with pleasure.
Her refusal doesn’t bother me. “I’ll wear you down.”
When we coast to Liesje’s farm, I can tell right away that it looks better. The bots have been hard at work, tearing down the leafy remains of the harvested crops and mulching them. The fields are starkly brown against the pale white layer of snow falling, and the pristine snow probably contributes to a lot of the “less abandoned” look of the place.
I park the sled and look over at Devin. Now that the sled has stopped, her rodent is trying his best to get out of the vehicle, and so she’s having a difficult time holding him. “Before we go inside, I need to ask you something,” I say.
“What’s that?”
“She’s been doing some cleaning, but it might be messy inside again. Either way, don’t comment on it.”
Her lips part and she gives me a hurt look. “I wouldn’t insult her.”
“I know you wouldn’t. It’s just…I’ve been in her situation before. If you say something about how much she’s cleaned up, she’s going to feel guilty that you noticed her mess. And if you comment on how messy it is or if it’s worse, she’ll feel bad about that, too. It’s best to just ignore it and let her tackle it on her own.”
Devin gives me a searching look, clutching her wriggling pet in her arms. “What do you mean, you’ve been in her situation before?”
Kef me, I didn’t want to pour my heart out to Devin or make her feel pity for me. I want to make her laugh and amuse her with my clever wit. Wit’s about all I’ve got going for me. “I’ll tell you some other time,” I say, gesturing at the window. Liesje is peeking outside. “Let’s go in, shall we?”
She watches me thoughtfully for a moment and then nods. “All right.”
The moment we emerge from the sled, her creature—Jerry—springs from her arms. Devin makes an unhappy sound, racing after him in the snow. It’s clear that he’s not going far, and from the way he scampers back and forth, this is a game to him. I decide now is a good time to take the tree out of the air-sled and haul it to the front door of Liesje’s home.
The older woman opens the door before I can knock, eyeing the tree in my arms with great confusion. “What is that?”
“It is a tree for dressing up in female clothing,” I tell her, grinning as I wait for Devin to correct me.
“No women’s clothing!” she calls out, scooping up her pet. She races back to my side, breathless and disheveled. “It’s for the holidays, you absolute nut.”