Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 87091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
But Tessa, being an artist, had written Happy Birthday Crystal around the hem and painted flowers and swirls on the fabric. Because obviously it wasn’t garish enough. She’d also hand-painted a sash like the ones beauty contestants wore that Crystal was now proudly sporting.
Erin came over to talk to Opal, probably to dilute Jay’s boisterous personality, and once more, Crystal danced with Damien. Damien—world-famous rock star, who’d dated some of the most glamorous women in the world—had found true love right here at home with a girl he’d known since high school.
That was the reason Nick stuck to data. And computers. And programs. There was logic there. They made sense. There were patterns. Human interactions were far too random and bizarre for him.
While he was musing, a diminutive older woman came toward him. Margaret Percy lived in one of the fairytale houses in Carmel-by-the-Sea and had been a family friend since before he was born. It was impossible not to like Margaret. She never let her age—which was well over eighty—get in the way of her zest for life.
She was currently dressed as though she were at Woodstock, and he had to wonder if maybe she had been and the outfit was a relic from the sixties. Though probably at Woodstock their bell-bottom jeans hadn’t been covered in sequins. And probably they wouldn’t have worn high-heeled silver boots in all that mud.
Margaret had threads of sequins wound through her gray hair and strings of fake diamonds around her neck that caught the light as she moved. “Nick Davenport,” she said, accosting him, “why aren’t you out there dancing?”
He knew how much she loved to dance, so he put out his hand. “May I?”
She chuckled, delighted with him. “I thought you’d never ask.”
He took Margaret out on the floor for a boogie.
She must have caught him eyeing the birthday girl dancing with his brother, because she twinkled up at him. “Were you surprised that Damien and Crystal fell in love?”
He liked that she’d asked a clear and simple question. No ambiguity. “Yes,” he answered. “I was. I did not see that coming.”
She chuckled. “I could have told you that girl’s been in love with him for years. But like a lot of men, Damien couldn’t see what was right under his nose. Fortunately, the years have made him wiser and he’s smartened up.”
“Do you think they’ll be happy?” Nick wanted to know. He had no data with which to answer the question himself.
Margaret tilted her head as though thinking about it. She twirled on the spot in time with the music and then said, “I think some people are destined to be together. My beloved husband, God rest his soul, was the love of my life. I definitely think Crystal knew early on that Damien was the love of her life. Damien just took a little longer to catch up.” She twinkled at him again. “But then, men usually do.”
He laughed and swung Margaret around in a two-step. A dance with a pattern. He preferred those. When the song finished, he fetched her a sparkling water because he wanted to keep an eye on her and make sure she stayed hydrated. Then he got one for himself, for the same reason.
“When’s it going to be your turn?” Margaret asked him.
He wasn’t going to tell her that the software engineer he’d been dating had recently broken it off. Said he spent too much time working. And that was the trouble. He knew he did. And he spent far too much time online and checking out his apps, dreaming up new ones. He felt safe there. The rules made sense in a way that human interactions just didn’t.
The thing about dating software engineers was that they tended to think the way he did. So for one of his own kind to tell him he was spending too much time online made him think maybe it was true.
He was trying to wean himself off his devices, but it wasn’t easy.
He pulled himself back to the present. He asked Margaret when her next travel adventure was going to be, because with Margaret there was always a new adventure in the offing.
“Your tie is askew,” she said, and then leaned forward to tweak the sequined bow tie his mother had forced on him. He’d also managed to find a sequined vest that slipped over his white shirt and jeans.
For Nick, this was as dressed up as it got.
When she’d straightened his tie, she gave a nod and stepped back. “I’m going to be cruising in Norway. I want to see the fjords, and I’ve never seen the Northern Lights.”
“That’s great,” Nick said, his enthusiasm genuine, although he never found time himself to travel.
“While I’m away,” she said, “I’d like you to do me a favor.”
He was a bit surprised. “Sure. Do you want me to water your plants or something?”