Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 68500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
I was elated that she didn’t know.
“Tammy, this is Val,” I said softly. “Felix wanted me to call you to let you know that his grandfather passed away today. He asked me to let you know that he is okay, and would like a little space, but that he’ll call you as soon as he’s done grieving on his own.”
There was a lengthy pause and then a muted shriek of, “What are you doing there?”
I looked up to see if Felix was paying attention to my conversation, but he was sitting on the bottom step of the stairs with his gaze solidly fixed on a point above my shoulder.
He was listening, possibly, but he was letting me handle it.
I looked away from him and said, “Checking on him. He’s okay. He just needs a little bit of time.”
Tammy let out a few choice expletives before saying, “I’ll be there in ten minutes. What’s the address?”
I looked at Felix again, who was now looking at me.
He silently shook his head. He didn’t want her over here. Duly noted.
“Tammy,” I said quietly, “he needs time. He’s still very raw emotionally, and I’m not staying very long, either. I’m just making the phone calls, so he doesn’t have to, and leaving.”
She scoffed.
Then she said, “Well isn’t that fucking nice?” and hung up.
I dropped the phone to lie flat against my leg and caught him still watching me.
“Thanks,” he said quietly. “I know I probably should’ve done that myself, but sometimes Tammy can get emotional, and I just don’t have it in me to talk her down right now.”
I knew she did.
She’d always been one to get riled up easily, and then Felix would have to spend the next half hour talking her back into being a rational human being.
I’d seen him do it twice at work since I’d started there, too.
Sometimes it was exhausting, and I didn’t even have to deal with her.
“It’s not a problem,” I lied. “Are you hungry?”
He nodded. “I can’t eat yet. Not with him in there.”
I understood.
Taking the food, I went to the kitchen and thrust it into the cutest refrigerator ever—a soft, baby pink number that looked old, but I had a feeling it was new.
Once I took a quick glance around the room, I went in search of Pops.
I found him in the living room with the television softly playing Gun Smoke.
The next ten minutes as I waited for the people to arrive to help, I started to clean Pops up.
I took out his IV, straightened his clothes, and started to help fold up the blankets that were on the bed covering him up. I got rid of his lines and accessories, moving them into a biohazard bag for the nurse to take care of.
Then I sat with him and waited until a nurse appeared in the doorway.
I hadn’t even heard the doorbell ring.
Still no Felix, though.
Knowing that I wouldn’t see him again until his grandfather was gone, I helped the nurse finish up, and then we waited for the crematorium people to arrive.
They came with a gurney and an empty black bag.
It was then that a call came in on the phone I still had in my pocket.
Woody.
Fucking. Awesome.
“Mr. Kent,” I said carefully in answer as I moved into the kitchen to be away from the noise the funeral home people were making.
“Who are you?” Woody snarled.
The asshole.
Could he never be nice about anything?
“I’m Felix’s girlfriend,” I lied. “What can I do for you?”
Like hell would I give him to Felix, which was what I knew he wanted.
He didn’t say anything for so long that I thought maybe the good Lord had blessed me with a dropped connection.
No such luck, though.
When I started to shift the phone away from my ear, the snarl that filled the line made me wince.
“Tammy called me and informed me that his grandfather died,” Woody snarled. “Please tell me that information isn’t true.”
That fucking bitch.
“Hospice is here right now,” I said as I watched them zip Pops up into a black bag. “I’ll call with more information once I have it.”
Or never.
The jerk.
And her for calling and knowing that it would stir a pot that didn’t need stirring.
Ever.
“Where is ‘here’?” Woody asked.
Like hell I’d give him that address.
“Sorry,” I feigned static. “You’re breaking up.”
“I am not!” he all but yelled.
I made fake static sounds, half said words, then said, “I’ll have him call you back later!”
Then I hung up.
A chuckle had me turning around to see Felix leaning in the doorway of the kitchen, not quite all the way inside so he couldn’t see what was going on in the living room.
Poor guy.
“Sorry,” I smiled sheepishly. “He was really laying it on thick.”
The phone started to vibrate in my hands, and I glanced down to see the name ‘Merrina’ on the display.