Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 70528 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70528 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
“Just say it,” I tell her, knowing she has something to share.
Mia intakes a breath. “Thad and I are going to stay.”
“What do you mean you’re going to stay?” I glance over at her. “What for?”
“He wants to do more on the water. He thought three days would be enough, but clearly, he wants to play. We’ll be home in a few more days.”
I suppose it’s not the end of the world that I have to make for the airport myself.
“Too bad Davis left so early; you could have driven with him.”
Possibly made out in the van…
“There is no way in hell I’d want to be up as early as he was.” I shudder to illustrate my point, stealing one of her berries and popping it on my tongue. “Too bad, who knows when I’ll see him again.”
CHAPTER 9
Davis
“…Is Uncle Davis dead?”
“…No, baby girl—he’s definitely alive. See his chest moving up and down?”
“…Maybe we should check just to be sure. We can hold a mirror under his big nose. If it fogs up, we’ll know.”
“…That’s very smart of you, how did you know that?”
“I saw it on an episode of Lost.”
“You shouldn’t be watching that; it’s for grownups.”
There’s a pause. “Okay, but can we still check Uncle Davis’s vitals?”
“Skip, I could hear him snoring before we even walked in the door.”
Snoring?
What? Who’s snoring?
I wipe at the corner of my mouth and feel moisture.
“Gross,” my niece says. “Is that drool?”
“I’m too cool to drool.”
I stay flat on my back, arm slung over my eyes to block out the light.
“Oh yeah, he’s definitely alive.” I feel Penelope give my feet a nudge with her knee at the foot of my bed.
“Who let you scoundrels in here?”
“We did. There’s a car outside and a woman at your door and Skipper wanted to investigate.”
“What time is it?” I roll to my side. “How long have I been asleep?”
I’ve been home a week now and hit the ground running after that short trip with Mia, Thad, and Juliet; left town again for a meeting in Texas almost as soon as I returned.
Just needed a respite from my stressful day; a short nap. However, from the looks of it, I passed out a few hours longer than I’d intended.
It’s damn near dark outside.
“What time is it?” My sister chuckles at my question.
“Dinner time. We just got home and were going to invite you over, I grabbed a pizza.”
Skipper pokes me in the arm impatiently. “But that lady is downstairs.”
Oh right.
The lady downstairs.
“What do you mean by downstairs.”
“The kitchen. She brought you something.”
A lady is in my kitchen and brought me something? That makes no sense.
“What lady?”
My niece bounces on her heels. “Juliet.”
Juliet? I throw back the blanket I’d covered up with and sit up. “Juliet is here?”
“Whoa, someone is in a rush.” Penelope laughs, stepping out of the way to make more room in my crowded bedroom. Her hand circles the top of her own head. “Maybe fix that.”
It takes me a few moments before I realize my sister and niece are still standing there watching me hustle around my room, smoothing down my hair and straightening my clothes.
“Could one or both of you please go downstairs, so that Juliet’s not down there by herself?” She probably hears us up here. Lord only knows what she thinks could be going on.
“Maybe she wants to stay and eat with us?” my niece says hopefully—she loves meeting new people.
Sweet as pie, that little nugget.
“Oh shit, you’re right.” My sister springs into action, grabbing Skipper by the hand and leading her toward the door. “Come on, let’s go entertain Uncle Davis’s guest.”
She says it in a way only a sister would; full of suspicion and unanswered questions.
I can’t for the life of me imagine why Juliet would be at my house. Ordinarily I would also wonder where she got my information or my address, but I already know the answer to that: Thad.
And, why didn’t she call or text before popping in unannounced?
Seems out of character for her, but then again, I don’t know her all that well.
I pull the tee shirt over my head that I’d just slept in and pull on a clean half zip fleece, give myself a once-over in the bathroom mirror, and bound down the stairs.
“…you my uncle’s new girlfriend?”
“Skipper, don’t be rude,” my sister admonishes my niece.
Juliet takes the question in stride. “Um, no, sweetie, he and I met on a trip with his best friend Thad. Do you know Thad?”
“Yeah, Uncle Thad always brings me a Barbie when he visits.” Skipper takes a deep breath. “Do you like dogs, do you like cats, what’s your favorite color? Do you like ice cream?”
I catch Juliet’s soft, “Whoa nelly, that’s a lot of questions all at once!” before strolling through the kitchen door.
I stop short, pretending I hadn’t known anyone was in the kitchen, damned if I didn’t.