Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 69063 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69063 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
“Perfect!” the little girl cried again. “We can get the orange one and the white one!”
Nastya flashed me a grin of triumph, and I winked at her.
The new front desk girl led the mom and the girl over to the desk where they filled out their paperwork, and Nastya came to me.
“Oh!” she cried. “You’re Haze’s dad.”
I winked. “How did you know?”
“Because he’s incredibly handsome, looks like he could be your brother, and man, you Hopkins men age well.” She looked back and forth from me to my dad.
“Let me tell you something,” Mom sighed. “It’s hard work trying to keep up with this one. He ages like fine wine, and I’m constantly having to put in so much work to keep myself looking good so no one comments on our disparities.”
I gagged. “Mother.”
“You’re the most beautiful woman in the world, Renee,” my dad shmoozed.
I pulled Nastya toward me and muttered, “Look what you did.”
“What?” She looked confused.
“Now Grams and Gramps are gonna get all kissy kissy,” Desi said. “And you know, it’s weird enough when your dad does it. When your grandparents do it, it’s like something shriveled up inside you and died.”
“Hey!” Mom said in affront.
Dad chuckled, then held out his hand to Nastya.
“Nice to meet you,” he said. “I’m Cade.”
“Nastya,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”
“Would y’all like to come to eat with us for dinner? We’re meeting the kids—Caroline, Kingston, Benedict, and Kendall. I think they’re going in on a babysitter, so it’ll only be the adults.”
I looked at Desi. “That means you can’t go.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m going.”
“It’s over twenty-one,” Mom said unapologetically. “But I’ll offer you two hundred dollars to watch the kids so Ben and Caroline don’t have to get a babysitter.”
“Deal,” she said, narrowing her eyes at me. “Take me there now, Hopkins.”
“Why now?” I asked. “Dinner’s not for at least three more hours.”
“Because I have to prepare,” she said. “And I also left my laptop at Ben’s.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re nuts.”
“What’s nuts is that you haven’t told me how today went,” she countered. “That’s the first thing you should’ve told me when I got in the car. I’ve given you hours. Please tell me.”
I sighed. “It went about as expected. Your mother threw a fit. I tried to remain calm. I won custody since you wrote the letter saying you want to live with me. But she still gets you on the weekends, and it’s been discussed that the asshole will have his kid out of the house until you’re gone.”
“Mom probably loved that.” She narrowed her eyes. “Did you get Finn?”
“Your mom is going to give Finn back after you come this weekend,” I admitted.
“Damn,” she said. “She’s holding the dog hostage.”
I wanted to reply with “it’s your mother, what do you expect?” but chose to keep my mouth shut.
I was sure she heard enough of that from her mother.
Adding my gripes onto her already heavy shoulders didn’t seem like a good thing to do.
“She is,” I agreed. “But you’ll get him back in two days. I do plan on going over there to make sure the douchebag is gone, though.”
“Thanks.” She shivered. “Maybe I can conceal carry, just in case.”
“And maybe you can not mention doing something highly illegal around me so I have plausible deniability,” I suggested.
“On that note.” She turned to the other three adults that were standing and pointed at her grandmother. “You, I’ll forgive since there is a legitimate reason that you won’t let me come. You.” She pointed at my dad. “I won’t forgive until you take me horseback riding.” She turned to Nastya. “I’m going to go to Ben’s place and write my reviews!”
Nastya smiled. “I’m happy you are helping. I’ve become inundated with requests and it’s overwhelming.”
“Do you want to stay here and finish up, or would you like to come with me?”
“Do you mind coming back?” she asked.
“Of course not.”
“Good, then I’ll stay. There are too many kitties I didn’t get to see yet.”
I picked her up an hour later, fully covered in cat hair.
We stopped at her house for her to get showered.
While she was in the shower, Shasha stopped by with a grim look on his face.
He jerked his chin for me to go outside and said, “You’ll be getting your job back any second.”
“Why?” I asked in confusion.
“Because as of an hour ago, the senator’s dead by his wife’s hand.” He chuckled. “She found out—though it was by me—that her husband had played a part in the mistress’s death. That and the fact that he had a mistress. She lost her fuckin’ shit and shot him in the face. On national television.”
My mouth dropped open. “What makes you think that I’ll get my job back, though?”
“Because Sergeant Daniels tried to protect the dumbass and got a bullet to the face to show for it. She took out five of them before she went down herself.” Shasha laughed. “She told everyone, on live TV, everything that happened, and media coverage on that event was wild since it’s an election year.”