Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 116231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 581(@200wpm)___ 465(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 581(@200wpm)___ 465(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)
Me:
It gets better.
I put the phone back, crack six eggs and whisk them to start making my omelet. I spray cooking spray into the pan and sauté the mushrooms, adding in a handful of spinach and then the eggs. I’m plating it up when my phone rings and I see it’s Josephine. The only reason I answer is because the kids are with her, and I know it’s the kids because she’s trying to FaceTime me.
I press the button, and the circle goes around before Nora’s face fills the screen. “Daddy!” she squeals happily. “Hi, Daddy.”
“Hey, princess.” I sit on the stool and prop the phone up. “How we doing this morning?” I ask her, taking a bite of my food.
“Good,” she says. “We have to go shopping today for back to school.”
“Oh fun,” I tell her, and she looks over her shoulder.
“Westley, Daddy is on the phone.” She moves away from the phone, and I see him walking into the frame.
“Hey, Dad,” he says. “Are you going to be at my hockey practice tonight?”
“Yeah,” I confirm, “I’ll be there. You and your brother are on at the same time.”
“Vincent,” he yells for his brother, “we’re on at the same time tonight!” The two of them have been on skates since they were both two years old. So has Nora, but unlike her brothers, she is not interested in playing hockey. She’s good to go skating, but it stops there. Now the boys are playing on competitive hockey teams, which makes it fun. Westley is good and I see him getting as good as Vincent is, but he needs a little bit more work. Vincent, on the other hand, doesn’t even have to try, it’s like he was born to play hockey.
“Let me talk to him.” I hear Josephine say and I bite my tongue to tell her to fuck off.
“Hi,” she says, coming into the screen and she is wearing her hair piled on her head, “I was thinking we could talk when the kids are on the ice.”
“I’d rather not,” I mumble. “We’ll see, I might have to do something else while I’m there.”
“Like what?” I hear her huff out in annoyance.
“Like not talk to you. Do the kids need to talk to me?”
“No, they are going to have breakfast right now,” she replies, “then we have to go back-to-school shopping. Do you want to come?” I shake my head. “Do you want me to buy extra clothes for your house?”
“I got it,” I tell her. “I’ll take them out with me next week when they are here.”
“You’re ridiculous,” she almost hisses.
“Great, thanks.” I hang up on her before she is about to say something else that will irritate me.
I finish eating and clean up the kitchen before walking back upstairs to my bedroom. After I left her, I stayed in a hotel for two weeks. I knew I needed to find a place to settle for the kids. I must have looked at twenty-five houses before settling on this one. It has five bedrooms and the thing I liked most about it was the front entrance and the family room had open ceilings that were all the way until the roof, making it seem even bigger than it was. I loved that there were three bathrooms upstairs. I also loved the big family room and the kitchen, and the fact there was a guest room downstairs, which was a computer room for the kids. The house made sense for us, and I’m trying my best to make it a home.
I get dressed in shorts and a T-shirt when I hear the horn honking from outside. “I’m coming!” I shout, even though I know they can’t hear me. I grab a bottle of water before I walk out of the house. Kirby sees me and still honks his horn, making me laugh. I open the back door and get in. “Hey,” I say, shutting the door and putting on my seat belt.
“Yo,” Jaxon throws over his shoulder.
I buckle my seat belt and I’m about to say something when Kirby looks over at me. “So, you met my sister last night,” he starts, and the back of my neck begins to get hot. I wonder if he’s going to kick my ass once he stops the SUV.
“Yeah,” I reply and I’m about to tell him how sorry I am for being an asshole, “listen, I’m--”
“She’s usually always with us, but she spent the summer in Phoenix,” he tosses over his shoulder at me, “so you’ll get to know her more now, since you hang with us more.”
“She’s the best,” Jaxon adds.
“She just moved here?” I ask, even though I shouldn’t because it really doesn’t matter. I do owe her a thank you for not telling her brother what I said to her, so I will do that. When I see her again.