Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 138588 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 554(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138588 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 554(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
“Oh, Marie isn’t the tight-fisted one,” Del replied. “She’s the agent. Marie is kind of the go between. There are a couple of people who actually own the cabins for rent, but they all use Marie as their property manager. I know Stef and Seth both own multiple properties. Doc Burke rents out a couple of cabins around town.”
“So I can yell at one of the billionaires? It’s probably Doc. He forgets things all the time. If it’s not someone’s blood pressure reading, he ignores it.” She’d figured out the town very quickly. It didn’t hurt that her sister knew everyone.
“Probably,” Del agreed. “Or it’s one of the Texans.” Her blonde bob shook. “They’ve been buying up land here ever since that writer broke down and ended up buying a cabin.”
Sabrina knew the story well. “She’s my sister’s sister-in-law. Or she’s married to her brother-in-law. It gets confusing when there are six people involved. And I don’t think it’s the Texans. They come up way too often for anything more than short-term rentals. I’ve got a three-year lease on mine. It’s well kept, with the exception of the lights flickering on and off at the weirdest times. It’s kind of creepy. I want it fixed.”
“Well, you should go straight to the source,” Del advised, closing her laptop and standing. “And we need to watch the weather. I’ve heard there’s a bad storm coming in tomorrow morning. If it’s too bad, I’ll come by and pick you up. You shouldn’t drive your sedan in this kind of storm. You need to buy a snowmobile. It’s kind of like the bike of Colorado.”
“Oh, I don’t want you to go out of your way,” Sabrina replied. “I assure you my sister will make sure I get into town okay. Or my… He said I could call him Dad. Is it weird I kind of want to call him Dad?”
“Mel Hughes? Yes, it’s weird,” Del replied with a grin. “Everything about Mel is weird, and he’s also a great guy. He’s been a dad to most of the kids who grew up here in Bliss, so I think it’s wonderful he’s got a couple of kids of his own now. Look, he’s not your biological father, but he is your sister’s. If she wants to share, I say go for it. Mel will treat you like family. Mel has never needed blood to love a person. He’s got a big heart. As long as you’re not an alien. Do you like beets?”
Sabrina laughed, something she did often now. “I do. And I eat them all the time. I think my blood pressure’s down. So no one will think it’s weird I call a man I met a few months ago Dad and a woman who has nothing real to do with my bio family Mom?”
“They’ll love you for it,” Del replied with a shrug. “Welcome to Bliss, sister. I’m off to teach several surly preteens about past participles. See you at lunch.”
She turned and walked out as Nell Flanders was walking in. She was a pretty woman in her mid-thirties with a toddler strapped to her back. Nell believed in baby carrying. Along with a lot of other things she was vocal about.
“Good morning, Sabrina. I left Henry in the classroom to do welcomes,” Nell said with a smile. “We brought the snack for the day. I made vegan muffins. I thought I’d bring one in for the teacher.”
Nell knew how to make some excellent vegan food. Sabrina wasn’t a vegetarian, but she also wouldn’t turn her nose up at food that didn’t contain animal products. She’d had Nell’s tofu cake, and it was delicious. She took the muffin. “Thanks. I was going to eat a protein bar. I’m a waste in the kitchen.”
It was true. She could burn water. Most nights she ate a sandwich or microwaved a bowl of soup. She was sick of protein bars.
“Well, if you ever want to learn vegan cooking, I’m your girl,” Nell offered. “Now I overheard you talking about going to see Marie after school. You’re having trouble with your cabin? Is it anything we can help with?”
Everyone here helped. They all pitched in. She’d already attended a party where they’d erected a barn out at the Circle G, a fundraiser for some poor dog named Princess Two, who needed a ton of meds, and been to the opening of Alexei Markov’s new office in town. The Bliss Mental Wellness Center was cozy, and Sabrina was thinking about going to the woman Alexei had imported as the second therapist in the practice.
In fact, her first big town event had been a baking party for the Harper family. Apparently when someone had a baby around here, the whole community made casseroles and easy meals for the family for the first month. She’d brought important moral support to the group baking effort, all the while thinking her mother would have told Rachel if she wanted free food she should go to a church and beg. Or she would say she should have kept her legs shut.