Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 64880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
If he hadn’t come to town, Tulsi wouldn’t have spent half her afternoon crying, lied to her best friend about why she needed cheering up, or been forced to endure a fifteen minute lecture from the director of Bibles and Bunk Beds, detailing all the ways she was failing to bring her daughter up properly. If Tulsi hadn’t needed to make sure Clementine and Pike saw as little of each other as possible during Pike’s visit, she wouldn’t have sent her daughter to camp in the first place. Clem was too young, and obviously had too much intelligence and personality for the stuffy old women running Bibles and Bunk Beds.
Tulsi had been prepared for a phone call about Clem sneaking off to explore or trying to jump off the big diving board, even though only the older kids were allowed to use the high dive. She hadn’t been prepared for a lecture on teaching Clem to keep her mouth closed and her ears open.
“It’s like they hate her for having a brain!” Tulsi sobbed, swiping another tissue from the box Mia had fetched from the bathroom moments after she came through the door and saw the state Tulsi was in.
“They don’t hate her,” Mia said, patting her knee. “How could anyone hate Clem? She’s the best.”
“It s-sounded like they hated her,” Tulsi said. “Mrs. Beatrix made it seem like she was some sort of a monster. I know calling God a jerk face was bad, but she just wanted to know why he killed all the innocent babies in the flood. That’s not being a monster; that’s having a sweet heart!”
Mia’s brow furrowed sympathetically. “Of course it is. And it’s a valid question.”
“Well, apparently the church camp people don’t like kids who ask questions.” Tulsi wadded up the tissue in her hand. “I should go pick her up right now. I don’t care if she begged to stay.”
“And then she would give you no end of grief and you’d both be even more miserable than you are now,” Mia said, pinning her with a hard look. “If she wants to stay, she’s obviously doing okay and having fun. And Mrs. Beatrix can’t mess up all the good parenting you’ve done in a week.”
“But Clem must be so confused,” Tulsi said with another sniff. “I’ve always encouraged her to speak her mind and think for herself.”
Mia held up the tiny trashcan from the bathroom for Tulsi to toss her tissue. “She’ll be fine. She’ll be home for the wedding on Saturday and we can talk to her then before she heads back to camp for the last night.”
“But what do I say?” Tulsi asked. “That part of the story’s always bothered me, too.”
“Tell her that parts of the Old Testament are weird and violent and it’s okay to be creeped out,” Mia said with a shrug, making hard answers seem easy the way she always did. “I mean, the Noah story is scary. I don’t know why people think it’s so perfect for kids. Cute two by two animals do not make up for wiping out the rest of creation in a big scary flood. I guess most kids don’t get that, but Clem’s advanced for her age. We’ve known that for a while.”
Tulsi sighed. “She’s so much smarter than me.”
Mia laughed. “She is not. Don’t be crazy. You’re smart!”
“Not the way she is,” Tulsi said, but the words didn’t bring on another round of tears. Talking to Mia was working the magic it always did, making her feel better even though talking didn’t change any of the things that had gone wrong. “I’m not always going to have answers to her questions, you know? No matter how hard I’ll try.”
“And that’s okay, too,” Mia said gently. “It’s okay for Clem to know that we’re all searching and trying to do the best we can. The only people who think they’ve got life all figured out are the ones who’ve stopped paying attention. And those people are the real jerk faces.”
Tulsi smiled as she rested her cheek on the overstuffed couch cushion. “At least she didn’t say anything worse than jerk face.”
“Yeah, that would have been bad.” A guilty expression flickered across Mia’s features. “I guess some people should start watching their mouths in front of Clem a little more than they do right now.”
Tulsi chuckled. “Don’t worry about it. I slip up sometimes, too.”
Mia lifted a wry brow. “I don’t think ‘flipping’ counts as a swear word.”
“It does too. And sometimes I say ‘damn it’ under my breath when I’m driving.”
“Rebel.” Mia poked her playfully in the leg. “All right Miss Potty Mouth, are you ready for pie now?”
“I am so ready for pie,” Tulsi said, sliding her legs out from under her. “Let me go grab plates.”
Mia waved her back onto the couch as she hopped to her feet. “Don’t worry about it. I know where everything is. You just relax. You’ve had a rough day. Let me wait on you.”