Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 94546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
After jerking up my chin, my answer unvoiced since I’m unsure if I can refer to Octavia as my girlfriend without first asking her, I request the driver to pop the trunk so I can gather the ingredients Elaine purchased earlier today.
Marissa breathes out a girlish giggle far too immature for her forty-five years when she spots the bags of groceries. “If you had started with your wish to cook for her, I would have taken your comments more seriously.” She helps me unload before locking her eyes with mine. “You only cook for people you love, and since that has only ever been Mom, Keira, and me, I’ll remove the tainted glasses I’m wearing and go into this with a more open mind.”
I bow my head in gratitude. “Thank you.”
She bumps me with her hip before shadowing my walk to Octavia’s apartment building. She grunts and moans during our three-story climb, but her gripes are forgotten when Octavia greets her with a bright grin and a friendly hug.
“I heard rumors you were in town. It is a pleasure to meet you.” After freeing Marissa of the bags indenting her tiny wrists, she invites us into her home before offering us a glass of wine. “It’s only been on the chill for an hour. Caleb was late home since he was called back for a second interview earlier today.” When she peers at me in joy, I give her the thumbs up, aware Caleb’s unemployment weighs heavily on her shoulders. “He’ll join us in a minute. He’s just grabbing a quick shower.”
“And where is he planning to take it?”
Octavia dumps the groceries on the kitchen counter before spinning to face Marissa, her questioner. “Sorry?”
“The shower? Where is he planning to take it?” Marissa’s lips twitch as she struggles not to smile. “You did say he was grabbing a shower, didn’t you?”
Octavia looks a cross between laughing and cursing herself. She goes for a little giggle when I laugh at Marissa’s comment like it wasn’t the worst mom joke on the planet. “You will have to excuse Marissa. Her humor is as dry as the prunes she’ll need to consume when I shove her into an old folk’s home next week.”
“You’ll be there long before me.” Marissa locks her eyes with Octavia. “Jack is an old soul. He’s been here before.”
Octavia peers at me as if I’m cute when I roll my eyes before she reoffers us a glass of wine.
I thank her with a smile before saying, “Thank you, but I’m fine.”
After accepting my rejection with a shrug, she arches her brow at Marissa. “It’s a good label. I picked it myself.”
“All right,” Marissa concedes. “But only because you twisted my arm.”
As they move toward the refrigerator, I commence unpacking the groceries. The fact Octavia doesn’t fuss over me or try and shoo me out of the kitchen with comments like ‘it’s a woman’s domain’ sees Marissa warming to her even faster than predicted.
Within minutes, they’re discussing as many topics as Octavia and I did the day we met.
“Are you sure you’re not worried?” Marissa asks Octavia a short time later while drinking in the ingredients I brought with me. Beef patties, eggs, rice, and a packet of instant gravy.
“Not really,” Octavia replies, her high pitch undermining her reply. “I was leaning toward burgers until he whipped out the rice and gravy. Now I’m a little lost.”
After smiling at the confused crinkle between her brow, I confess, “Loco Moco is pretty much comfort food in Hawaii. It looks disgusting, but it tastes great. It was a staple in our house growing up.”
“Hawaiian, hey? That’s the other part of the jigsaw puzzle I couldn’t quite work out.”
Since I’m striving to work out what other parts Octavia thinks she’s missing, Marissa answers on my behalf. “Our mother is from Lanai, one of the smallest inhabited islands in Hawaii. She moved to the mainland when I was seven, then settled stateside a couple of years after that. Jack was born and raised in Jersey, and despite our mother’s wish to drum her coastal life into his veins, he’s a Jersey boy at heart.”
“I’d believe that,” Octavia says with a grin. “I’ve heard the way he says cawfee.”
Marissa tosses a hand over her mouth to hide her smile when she laughs at Octavia’s horrific imitation of my voice. Her accent is authentic, but she can’t get her voice as deep as mine. “You sound just like Jack… when he hit the horrid puberty stage,” Marissa spits out between bouts of laughter, her voice loud and over the top.
She’s so boisterous, she startles Caleb enough he races out of the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his hips.
Since he’s Octavia’s blood, I give his half-naked state leeway.
Octavia doesn’t, though. “Oh my God, Caleb. We have guests. Go get dressed!”