Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 115288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
“I would, but I need to head straight to the meeting. It should be done by eight thirty, but Peyton has pretty much everything she needs apart from jammies in here. Oh, and she’s been fed and watered, so you don’t have to worry about that.”
“I had chicken nuggets and fries,” Peyton offers.
“Dinner of champions, huh?” I arch a brow.
“Better than the donuts she asked for, but probably not by much.” His smile is chagrined. “Thank you again. I really owe you one.” He gives Peyton a hug and a kiss, and then he’s off.
Fifteen minutes later we’re sitting in the living room with a pile of rainbow construction paper, my glue gun, several pots of glitter in an assortment of colors, and watercolor paints. I have a plastic lid, and we’re tracing circles and cutting them out. Then we’re decorating them with glitter before we make flowers out of them. After that we’ll paste them onto white sheets of paper that have watercolor skies painted on them. Is it messy? Yes. Will we both be covered in glitter by the end of the evening? Absolutely. Will I find glitter on my clothes and everywhere else for the next month? Probably, but it’s so worth the smile on Peyton’s face.
“Granny never let me use glitter or paints. She says it makes too much of a mess.”
“What about your Nana? Does she let you use glitter?”
“Sometimes, but we have to put down a plastic sheet, and it takes a lot of work to set up, so we don’t do it much.” Peyton’s tongue peeks out of the corner of her mouth as she carefully tries to follow the line she traced.
“You must really be loving the art camp you’re at this week.”
“Oh yes! It’s been so much fun. And Claire’s sister is there too, so I had a friend already when I got there. I get a tummy ache when I have to go somewhere and I don’t know anyone, but I haven’t had one this week.”
“Does meeting new people make you nervous?”
Peyton scrunches up her nose. “I don’t know. My stomach gets all these butterflies, and I feel like I’ve just been on the teacups at the carnival. And then my hands get sweaty and I have to wipe them a lot on my shorts, but once I’m there, I’m okay.”
“That makes sense, and I think a lot of people feel the same way you do. I know sometimes I get nervous when I’m going to meet new people. How are you feeling about starting school next week?”
She lifts a shoulder and lets it fall. “I wanted to be in the same class as Claire, but I’m not. And now I don’t know anyone in my class and everyone else has known each other for a long time.”
“I bet you won’t be the only new person in the school, though. And think of it this way—you still have someone to talk to at recess, and you’ll get to make a whole new group of friends. What about the kids who were at the birthday party at Spark House? Don’t some of them go to your new school?”
She bites the inside of her lip. “Oh! Yes! A few of them do.”
“So maybe you will know someone in your class. Even if you know them just a little.” I hold two fingers half an inch apart.
“Maybe.” Her eyes light up.
“You could ask Claire if she knows anyone who will be in your class. Do you call each other?”
Peyton nods. “Oh yes. We have FaceTimes almost every day on Dad’s iPad.”
“Will you talk to her tomorrow?”
“Yup, after dinner.”
“You could ask her then,” I suggest as I shake some pink glitter onto my yellow petal.
At the sound of the door opening and closing I check the clock. It’s already twenty to eight.
“Hey, babe! I picked up pizza! I hope you’re cool with that!” Chad calls out.
Peyton frowns. “Who’s that? Do you have a roommate?”
“It’s Chad. I know you had something before you came here, but he picked up pizza for us.” His us didn’t include Peyton, but she doesn’t need to know that. “I’ll be right back, and then I’ll introduce you.” I hop up and rush to the kitchen.
“Hey! Thanks so much for picking up dinner.”
“I figured we could have a romantic night in.” He sets the pizza on the counter and grabs me around the waist, nuzzling into my neck.
“You might want to put a pin in that. We’re not alone.”
“Oh. Did you invite Belinda and Ted to hang out?” He backs off, his expression hard to read.
“Uh, no. You remember that family I used to nanny for?”
“Uh, yeah?” Based on the questioning lilt and his confusion, he doesn’t remember.
“Gavin had a meeting, and Peyton asked if she could see me. I figured we were just hanging out anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal for him to drop her off here.” I lower my voice. “It’s only for a couple of hours.”