Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 77341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
I look at Foxx at the same moment he looks at me. He grins. I smile back.
This wedding, the new one, isn’t just about us. It’s about all of us. It’s a chance for new beginnings, new bonds, and an opportunity to heal wounds. And I think we all need that. We all could use that. And if I know my mother, we’ll all get that and more.
“Are you hungry, Rory?” Damaris asks. “I have a pot of chicken and dumplings on the stove.”
“And you didn’t tell me?” Banks asks.
Mom laughs. “Well, Jason and I did talk about getting a hotel room tonight.”
“Nonsense.” Damaris slips her arms through my mom’s. Mom doesn’t stand a chance, and the thought makes me giggle. “You’re staying with us. We’re family now.”
Kixx holds the door for them.
Banks gives us a quick wave. “If they think they’re eating without me, they’re nuts. And I need to pick up a package delivered there before Mom sees it.”
“I already saw it,” she shouts from the garage. “Stop hacking my Prime account, you little shit.”
Kixx shakes his head and follows them out. Then as quickly as he left, he pops his head back into the house. “Jason, do you want to come? I’m going to watch baseball.”
“Sure. I’d love to, Kixx.”
Jason squeezes my shoulder and follows him out.
Finally, the house is quiet. Everything is still. There are no uninvited guests, no law enforcement officers, and no family members.
It’s just us.
“I feel like today took five years to get through,” I say, moseying through the kitchen. “This morning, we were in Silver Springs. Who’d have thought that we’d go through all of this in one day?”
Foxx grins. Although it’s not one of his all-encompassing grins that I’ve to love, he’s at least more relaxed than he was thirty minutes ago. I’ll take it.
“We’ve been through quite a lot in one week,” he says.
I smile back at him. “That we have.” I reach for an orange but notice a bowl of keys next to it. “I need to talk to my mom and Jason about me staying here.”
“I’m pretty sure they already know.”
“Probably.” I pull the bowl to me and take out the keys. “This is what you were talking about before? The keys that aren’t yours but are being dropped around town?”
Foxx comes to me. “Yes. I can’t figure it out.”
“Could it be Paige?” I ask. “She was behind the texts. Maybe this is her, too.”
He shakes his head. “I don’t think so.” He lifts one and inspects it. “I have to be missing something. But I can’t find it.”
I hop on the counter and pull one out. A label is stuck to the front with Foxx’s phone number on it. Why would someone do this? Why would someone drop his keys all around town? I pick at the corner of the label and think.
“You don’t think it’s Banks,” I say, remembering what he said to me before about it.
“No. It’s too complicated.”
“Jess?”
He scoffs. “Chicken Daddy is too busy playing farmer.”
I laugh. “Okay, what if it’s …” I come up blank. “Who else could it be?”
“Fuck if I know.”
I start to set it back in the bowl and take the orange, but the corner of the label begins to peel back. I get my fingernail beneath it and rip it off the key.
Ooh. “Okay. Here’s a clue,” I say.
“What do you mean?”
“Look.” I hand him the key. “What does ninja mean to you?”
The word is typed in tiny font and was covered by the label.
“Ninja? I don’t get it,” he says.
I grab another key and pull the label back. “Wyoming.” I do it again. This time, the word is top hats.
“Are these clues for something?” I ask. “Does any of this make sense to you?”
Foxx holds up a key, annoyed. “I don’t know. This one says sourdough, so you tell me.”
“I don’t know what this means, but it’s fun.” I rip off another label. “The Roman Empire.”
“Sun.”
“Wrestling.”
He holds up another one. “Flannel.”
I begin to display another one but stop. A look flashes through his eyes, and a small, knowing grin splits his cheeks.
“What?” I ask.
He looks around. “Where is the key she found while we were gone?”
“Um …” I point next to a small candy dish. “It’s right there.”
He picks it up and pulls the label off it. He starts to laugh.
“What? Tell me. I’m invested.”
He lays the key in my palm. Bianca.
“I’m confused. Why is my name on here?” I ask.
He nods slowly as if he’s still piecing things together.
“Start talking, husband.”
He laughs, settling between my legs. “Sometimes you beg me to talk. Sometimes you punish me for it—or try to, anyway.”
I press a kiss against his lips.
“My mom said something to me the other day,” he says. “I can’t remember what her exact words were, but we were talking about Jess and his chicken obsession. And she said something along the lines of one day I’ll understand. And it’s easy to forget about the things that make you happy.” He holds up a key. “All of these random things? They’re things I’ve loved all through the years.”