Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 107352 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107352 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
“That’s really good, Dad,” Tatum told him, then leaned into me as she ate. “Griff, these are the best eggs I’ve ever had, even better than when Mom rolled the eggs up for me like in my anime.”
Griff leaned forward at the table to look past Darwin and me to see her. “Thanks, Tate.”
“How did you get ’em so yummy?”
“I fried them in the bacon grease.”
“Keep doing that, okay?”
His laughter made everyone smile.
The not hugging was getting to me, and as I loaded the dishwasher and washed the pans, put the fruit away, as well as the tomatoes and mozzarella, I tried to figure out why, now that he was dry and warm, they didn’t each go in for an embrace. Even though Luke wanted to help me, I didn’t let him, instead sending him to the living room with his kids.
Clearly, the kids were huggers, so was it only their mother? Was that simply not something he did?
“Nash,” Darwin whispered, coming up beside me and grabbing a towel to help me dry. “Dad seems kind of out of it, don’t you think?”
Checking on him, I saw Luke walking around the living room, studying everything the kids had brought from their rooms, as though he’d never laid eyes on any of it before. And I knew it had to be weird for him because it was a night-and-day difference from what it had been when he left, but still, the items were not new additions to the house. Or were they?
“None of that stuff you guys brought out is new, is it?”
Darwin shook his head.
“Then why is he acting like he’s in a museum?”
“Well, I mean, he never saw my science trophy before.”
“Why not?”
He shrugged. “Only Griff and Tatum saw me get it.” Big grin suddenly as he thought of something. “Griff brought an air horn with him on the day they gave it to me in front of my whole school. He blew it when they announced my name and it was awesome. I don’t think the science club ever had one of those before.”
I smiled. “Griff’s a good brother.”
He nodded.
“So a lot of the stuff on the shelves now is brand-new to your father.”
“Probably, yeah.”
“Why didn’t you show it to him when you got home?”
“I tried, but he was busy.”
The picture was becoming so much clearer. Over time, they had basically gotten used to getting along without their father. They had been abandoned by their mother, and with Luke suddenly working so hard, they’d lost their father too. And now Luke was getting reacquainted with his kids through their own artifacts. I would have to remember to tell their therapist. I was betting she would want to talk to their father.
“Do you think he hates it?”
“Absolutely not,” I assured him. “He’s just taking it all in. It’s a big change.”
No longer a shrine, instead a lived-in space, a warm hug of a front room filled with current mementos, a couch with mismatched blankets and pillows, and a hideous coffee table we’d traded with the Beekmans at the yard sale. They got an ugly painting of a clown that was creepy as hell, that had been stored in the basement, because of course it was, and we got the sturdy eyesore that appeared to be reclaimed barnwood stained a pale French-cottage gray. The thing was, it matched the soft slate-blue burlap couch, the red damask muslin blankets we’d found in the attic and laundered, and the weird plaid area rug with all those colors intermixed.
There was also now a cat tree by the front window and various toys strewn about. The books didn’t get put away the night before, and it was easy to see that Darwin had been showing us space stuff. All in all, it was now the perfect entryway that said Luke Duchesne actually had kids. If he was missing the plants, that was too bad, because a very nice woman bought them for her office and they weren’t coming back.
“Where did the table come from?” he asked as if on cue.
“From the Beekmans,” Griff answered, yawning. “We found this spooky clown picture in the basement, and when we brought it up, Mrs. Beekman came right over like she was supernaturally drawn to it. It was weird.”
“It was very weird,” Darwin seconded.
“But we needed a coffee table,” Tatum explained, “and they had this one that we all like—most of us, anyway—so Griff asked if they would swap for the carnivorous clown.”
“Carnivorous clown?”
“That’s what Dar named the picture.”
“No way that clown didn’t eat people like Pennywise in It,” Darwin said with a shudder.
“When did you watch that movie?” Luke asked, scowling at me.
“I did not,” I said defensively.
Luke’s focus returned to Darwin. “Well?”
“Are you mad?”
“More invested in the answer at this point.”
“I saw it at Teddy’s house.”
I was surprised. “The nice church lady let you watch that?”