Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 41351 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 207(@200wpm)___ 165(@250wpm)___ 138(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41351 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 207(@200wpm)___ 165(@250wpm)___ 138(@300wpm)
When she rang the doorbell, her sister Raine opened the door. “What took you so long? We’re starving. I had to fix the kids plates, but the rest of us had to wait.”
Riley didn’t allow her sister’s lousy disposition bother her. Raine was usually sour about one thing or another. “Hello to you too.”
“You might as well give me those. I’ll go warm them up. I’m pretty sure they’re cold by now.” Raine took the plate of homemade dinner rolls Riley had baked.
“Thank you.” Riley had learned early on it was best to let Raine be when she was in one of her moods.
Before she entered the living room, she was greeted by Rachel. “Hey Rachel, what’s up.”
“Just wanted to give you a heads up. Mom is out of sorts.”
Riley raised a brow. “Really? She loves these Sunday get-togethers, especially since she has all her grandchildren to dote on.
“Daddy served her with papers this morning. He invited her out to breakfast and he dropped the bombshell just as they were finishing the meal. She’s been almost inconsolable since we got here. Me and Raine had to finish cooking for her. Seems fine now but the slightest thing could set her off.”
Riley tried to wrap her head about that news. Although their father had left the family a long time ago to live the life of a bachelor and date as many women as he wanted, he and Sheila had never divorced. Riley suspected it was so her father could use the excuse to fend off any of his lovers who might have been marriage-minded.
“I don’t understand. They’ve been separated for over twenty years. Why now?”
“I think Daddy wants to remarry. And even though Mom has acted like she didn’t care what he did over the years as long as he supported us financially, I think she always believed they’d reconcile.”
“Get out of here. She hasn’t had a kind word to say about Daddy since he left.”
“Maybe it wasn’t us she was trying to convince but herself. Raine seems to be taking it pretty hard too.”
“That explains why she seemed so grumpy when she answered the door. But that makes sense. Of the three of us, she was the closest to Dad and probably spends the most time with him. How are the kids taking it?”
Rachel shrugged. “They don’t know and I doubt they’d be able to tell the difference anyway. Dad comes around with gifts when he feels like it and disappears again. I just wanted to warn you in case Mom seems a bit off.”
“I promise I’ll tread lightly.”
When Riley saw her mother, she just managed not to gasp. Her mother was always well put together, and usually had her hair styled, makeup done and wore a snazzy outfit that showed off her still trim figure. Tonight, her face was puffy and her eyes were swollen as if she’d been crying recently. Her hair seemed a bit unkempt and she was dressed in a sweat shirt and some yoga pants.
Riley had never seen her mother look so messy.
“Aunt Riley!” Her two nieces six-year-old Talia and eight-year-old Karsyn ran over to her and gave her a hug.
She gave the rambunctious children a kiss apiece. “How are my girls?”
“Good.” Talia gestured for Riley to bend over and when she did, whispered, “Nana is sad so we have to be nice to her.”
She doubted either of her sisters had appraised the children what was going on but it didn’t surprise her that they’d picked up that something was wrong with their grandmother. “Okay,” she whispered back. “I’ll be extra nice.”
Talia gave her the thumbs up before heading back to her seat followed by Karsyn. Even though Talia was the younger of the two, she always seemed to take the lead.
Riley waved at Eli and her eleven-year-old nephew Jayson before walking over to her mother. She leaned over and gave the older woman a kiss. “Hi Mom.”
“Hey baby. Glad you could make it today. Dinner is ready so why don’t you have a seat.” Sheila sounded subdued.
Riley took a seat in between Rachel and Talia and proceeded to put food on her plate. Instead of lively conversation, the atmosphere was restrained. Even the children who were usually talkative kept conversation to a minimum. Just when dinner couldn’t get more strained, Raine decided to focus her attention on Riley.
“What have you been up to lately, Riley? You hardly visit anymore. The kids have been asking why Aunt Riley doesn’t visit anymore.”
Riley’s fork was halfway to her mouth when she froze. “I’ve been pretty busy. I’m working on a big project at my job and helping Megan with the wedding.”
Raine snorted. “Isn’t that what a wedding planner is for? If you ask me that girl depends on you way too much. I see not much has changed since you two were teenagers.”