Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 53238 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 266(@200wpm)___ 213(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53238 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 266(@200wpm)___ 213(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
“You guys drown it in syrup anyway. How can it taste that different?”
Charlotte cuts off another bite and eats it, her forlorn expression making it look like she’s being force-fed prison gruel.
“Just find something to eat and be ready to go in”--I look at my watch--“eight minutes.”
Olivia runs into the kitchen, her hair wet and her eyes wide with panic. “My hair dryer stopped working.”
“What if I told you your hair will still dry? It’ll just take longer.”
“It’ll dry frizzy, though! I can’t go to school with frizzy hair.”
I shrug, finishing the last lunch container of mandarin oranges, nuts and dried cherries for Charlotte’s lunch. “Can you borrow Charlotte’s dryer?”
Charlotte snort-laughs as she walks out of the pantry holding a half-eaten Twinkie. “I’m not high maintenance. I don’t own a hair dryer.”
“Can I borrow Suki’s?” Olivia pleads.
“Yeah, I’m sure she won’t care, but you only have six more minutes until I leave you behind and you miss school.”
She sighs dramatically and races back upstairs.
Fifteen minutes later, I’m glaring out my windshield, my car idling in the driveway while I wait for Olivia.
“I don’t want to be late for school,” Charlotte grumbles from the back seat.
“Leave her here,” Hallie says.
“How does Suki get you guys out of here at exactly seven forty every morning?”
“She doesn’t sit on the toilet as long as you,” Charlotte says.
I fight back a smile because that’s completely true. But I’ve been starting my day with fifteen minutes of toilet time for more than a decade; I’m not changing.
Olivia runs out to the car, her expression frantic.
“Sorry,” she says as she gets in, her hair dry and a giant Stanley cup in hand.
I turn on Taylor Swift and start the drive to school, glad today is just a practice day and I don’t have to be at the arena until nine thirty.
“Uncle Carter, when is Suki coming back all the time?” Hallie asks.
I glance at her in the rearview mirror. “Hopefully soon.”
“Why doesn’t she want to see you?”
It’s a punch in the gut to hear it put that way. “We just needed a break from each other, Hals.”
“Just apologize for whatever you did,” Charlotte says.
I balk. “How do you know it was my fault?”
“Who cares whose fault it was?”
I don’t have a comeback for that. We listen to Taylor singing “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” for around thirty seconds without talking.
“You could buy her a Taylor Swift shirt,” Hallie suggests.
Her sweetness makes me smile. If only it were that easy.
“Maybe I should.”
“Or you could get her a new plant. I saw one on my iPad that she doesn’t have. It’s called you licked a puss.”
“What?” My jaw drops.
“Hallie!” Olivia scolds.
“What? That’s what it’s called. You licked a puss.”
I burst out laughing, realizing how much I needed a moment of levity. “It’s eucalyptus, Hals.”
“Oh.”
“Oh my God, Hallie,” Charlotte says.
“Leave her alone. It’s a big word and it’s hard to pronounce.”
I pull up to Charlotte and Olivia’s school first.
“Make sure you’ve got your lunches and laptops and water bottles,” I say. “If I have to come back and bring you anything, I’m coming to your classroom to give it to you in front of everyone and I’ll kiss you on the cheek when I do it.”
“I’d rather die,” Olivia mumbles.
They get out of the car, Charlotte giving me a little wave on her way into school. I wave back and put the car into drive, heading out of the parking lot toward Hallie’s school.
“I miss Suki,” she says softly.
“Me too. I’m going to see her after practice and I’m gonna try to get her to come back.”
She brightens. “Tell her I miss her. And don’t say anything that will make her mad.”
Wise words. I have to find a way to undo the damage I did by telling her I love her, which is ironic as fuck.
“Don’t forget to give Darling treats today,” Hallie says as I pull up to the drop-off door of her school.
“Uh-huh,” I say wryly. “He might waste away.” I wait for her to get out of the car. “Have a good day, Hals.”
“You too.”
On the drive home, I start to game plan what I’ll say to Suki this afternoon. I plan to open by telling her how amazing she is and then swallow my pride and say I moved too fast.
I didn’t. I was honest with her about my feelings, but if I have to lie and say I shouldn’t have said it to get her back, I will.
We still have more than nine months left in our agreement, though I guess she could just decide the two hundred thousand dollars I already gave her is enough and bail. If she stays, she’ll have a full year to decide whether I’m the guy for her.
If she’s too jaded over Tyler to risk being hurt again, I’ll have to accept that. It’ll be really damn hard-- for me and the girls--but I can’t force it.