Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 145231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 726(@200wpm)___ 581(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 726(@200wpm)___ 581(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
“I like Delly. She’s pretty nice.” He also looks like he’s fizzing with excitement.
“She’s a nice lady,” I agree.
The door flies open and Delly, with her immaculate white pantsuit and pink scarf, beckons us in. The woman has a knack for always looking runway stylish and regal, and today is no exception.
“So glad to see you again!” she gushes. Unlike when I’m talking to Kayla, it doesn’t sound forced. “Hi, Arlo. I bet you were missing your tablet, huh?”
“Yeah! I couldn’t find it anywhere.” He launches into telling her about his hunt with a dramatic style that could rival Indiana Jones. Delly gives me a pat on the arm as she leads me to her dining room.
Evelyn is there, too, clasping a mug of coffee in her hands as she nods at us warmly. She’s a little more casual than Delly, but there’s no doubt some of her best friend’s charm rubbed off, or she’s just a natural at looking poised and stylish too.
There’s never any doubt she makes a good impression, anyway. It’s the way she holds herself, I think.
But is she always like that or is it just the added pressure to blend into this fine house for her extended stay?
Not that I’d blame her one bit.
Just breathing the air here makes me obsess with the infinite ways I don’t fit in. Not that it stops either woman from acting like I’m an honored guest.
I give Evelyn a wide smile as I sit. We’re in the same boat, her and I—outsiders to the Rory court, even if she’s so much closer to being a regular than I am. Still, we should stick together.
“Salem,” Evelyn says, sipping her coffee. She smiles over the rim, just enough to show a flash of teeth and a soft crinkle of her eyes. “So lovely to see you again. You must have some of that orange cake. We just whipped it up yesterday with a little help from Junie. Delly, could you grab me another piece?”
Sure enough, there’s fresh cake on the small coffee table that smells like citrus heaven as Delly starts carving slices.
Arlo grabs his plate like a hungry little ghoul and devours his piece before plugging in his headphones and watching one of his favorite animal YouTube channels on his tablet.
“It’s a huge relief to have it back,” I say, nodding at the boy. “He would’ve been so disappointed if it hadn’t shown up. It’s like the nicest thing we own.”
No exaggeration.
I had to pull long hours flipping secondhand junk online just to scrape together enough for that Christmas present, an iPad with a durable case that can handle his abuse.
“Ah, I wish I had one of those. I could use it for the airport today.” Evelyn’s smile deepens. “He’s a good boy. I’m sure there was someone watching over him and his little toys.”
She sets a tall glass of orange juice in front of him.
He looks up, offering her a smile and a mumbled, “Thanks.”
Better than nothing, I guess.
“Boys,” Delly says fondly, glancing over at him and his tiny, puckered frown of concentration as a man on the screen lets a nasty-looking centipede crawl up his arm in some tropical environment. “I imagine he was a little nightmare this morning.”
“Only a little.” I laugh. “Honestly, I think he was sure I took it and misplaced it.”
The cake is downright decadent—Juniper’s expert baker touch for sure—and I eat my slice in about three big bites despite my best intentions to seem ladylike.
“Patton was a Tasmanian devil as a child,” Delly says, glancing at Evelyn with a conspiratorial smile. There’s something so pleasant about them, two old friends. I can’t wait to have her as Arlo’s grandma, and maybe Evelyn as a great aunt of sorts. “Remember that time we visited you in Minnesota, Evie?”
“How could I forget?” Evelyn laughs cheerfully. “Right in the middle of summer, the sticky dog days. You were staying in one of the lakeside cabins.”
I wonder if she means one of the cabins Higher Ends is looking at refurbishing. I lean forward, elbows on my knees, wondering if I’ll learn anything useful from a business standpoint I can recommend to Patton and his brothers.
There’s value in knowing a property’s history, the lives and laughs that have happened there over time.
Also, though I hate to admit it, I’m curious about any and all stories of young Patton. There’s so much of his life I still don’t know.
So much about him that’s a mystery, and I want to learn every little detail.
“He must’ve been about seven on that trip,” Delly says with a faraway look in her eyes. Her gold bangles clink dully as she links her fingers across her knee. “He was just learning to swim properly, and it was a hot summer. Terribly hot.”
“Those were the days, out in the sticks. Back then, the cabins didn’t have good air-conditioning, so we spent all our time by the lake, hoping to catch a breeze,” Evelyn explains.