Total pages in book: 15
Estimated words: 13640 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 68(@200wpm)___ 55(@250wpm)___ 45(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 13640 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 68(@200wpm)___ 55(@250wpm)___ 45(@300wpm)
"Hey, Mom."
"Afternoon, bug. I just wanted to know if you're still planning a visit this weekend?"
I sigh and decide to give her a much-needed update with the hope she'll give me one of her own. "I'm at the house, Mom."
"Oh, uh, well, if you just give me a few minutes, I'm running errands and I'll be back home shortly."
"I spoke to Dean," I tell her. "I know you're not living here anymore. What's going on?"
"Oh, bug. Joe and I wanted to wait and tell you this weekend. Marriage is hard, ya know? We were taking a break these past few months and only decided this week to make it permanent. Now, none of this is your fault."
I try to keep my sarcasm in check. Of course, it's not my fault.
"Mom, it's okay. You don't have to explain how divorce works to me. Actually, I would like to apologize to you. I don't talk to you as often as I should. Maybe if I did, you wouldn't have waited so long to tell me, and I would have known to go straight to your house after getting let go this morning."
"Let go? Oh honey, what happened?" My mom's compassion is sickeningly sweet sometimes, but don't let her make a fool out of you. There's a switch that flips where sweet turns bitter and she's outright mean.
"Something about the company's owner committing a crime and the offices being raided by the FBI."
"See, Dakota? I told you those fancy tech startups were nothing but trouble. There's no way in hell that you can make a living managing a company's Snap Talk. You were better off hanging around Tamworth to get a job with Joe or one of his pals. Hell, even Dean's security company is hiring. Ask him about a job. Although, with the way you've been ignoring him these past few years, I wouldn't be surprised if he walks right by ya without recognizing you."
Sweet to bitter reality check in real-time.
"Mom, do you have room for me? Dean recognized me just fine and offered me my old bedroom, but if that makes things too awkward for you and Joe—"
She cuts me off. "Not at all. It's fine, bug. We're still friendly. I'm just interested in something a bit more exciting. Honestly, I'm in a studio, so there's not much space or privacy here. I didn't think you'd be coming home to stay. We were going to play family when you came back until we told you."
"Never fake it for me or anyone else."
"You got that right, bug." She cackles. "Joe and I were both tired of faking it. You go on and get settled in. We can have dinner tonight and catch up."
"Oh, uh, I already agreed to have dinner with Dean. Can we still keep our dinner for this weekend? I want to use the rest of this week to look for a job."
"Sure thing, bug. Just so you know, the only companies out here looking for talk operators are those Calls After Dark that charge by the minute for dirty talk."
That gets a loud laugh out of me. "Mom, for one, it's Snapchat. It's a social media platform like Instagram, Facebook, and all the others. I'm a media marketing manager who’s very good at my job. Well, I would have been really good at it if I had more time to prove myself. For two, every company needs a marketing specialist at some point or another. I'm just trying to decide if I should freelance or look for something a bit more steady."
"Slow and steady wins the race, bug."
That's the problem. This is my life and I'm in no rush to race toward the finish line.
2
DEAN
Wow.
Dakota "Cody" Austin is still the most beautiful woman to set foot in Tamworth. There's a prick of pride that I'm the only man in her life who gets to call her Cody. It's intimate, something just between us, just for me.
My last memory of Cody is from a frosty night during her sophomore winter break. Snow blanketed the ground, and we were both vibing off Dad's Christmas Rumchata. Something in the air lingering between us made it feel like the last night we would ever be this close. Just as our lips were about to touch, her mother stepped onto the porch to make sure we were all right. Moment gone, kiss stolen, memory frozen in my mind just like the frigid temperatures of that night.
The wind blows through her gorgeous brown hair, falling in waves over her shoulders, and carrying a soft scent of vanilla over the afternoon breeze. It's a reminder of how beautiful she truly is. Light green eyes hold me in a trance as I approach my Cody, standing in front of her car with an awestruck gaze.
The confusion riding on her face makes sense after speaking for a few minutes. Coming home to her mom divorcing the only father figure she ever had isn't the most comforting news. There are even more questions behind those gorgeous eyes, as she probably wonders what I'm doing here.