Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 57043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 285(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 285(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
My mom’s eyes flick over everything from the napkin holder and the framed photo of the main street on the Fourth of July and even the light fixture above us like she hasn’t seen all the videos I’ve sent her.
“So,” she says. “Tell me about this town. It's small…even smaller than our hometown.”
“I'd say it's just the right size.” The bar is just the right size, too. Enough space to have a good crowd for the big games, not so much that it feels like a corporate chain restaurant. We have a row of booths along one side and tables in the middle—not too many, not too few. A decent number of seats at the bar. In the summer, we can seat people on the side patio, where we've got wrought iron tables with blue-and-white umbrellas. Like most places in town, we're busier in the summer, a little slower in the winter, and it all works out fine.
This place was a hardware store before it was Iron Brewery, so Brody and I didn't go into it wanting to change everything. It's got old bones that stood the test of time but new tables, booths, chairs, and flooring. We refinished the bar and made sure it was set to go for another twenty years. Most of the bar stools are original to the place, but we had a few new ones made to match the ones that were on the way out.
“How's it just the right size?” she questions with a tilted smirk that makes me think she knows something.
“I don't know, it just...” I put my hands up, but there are really too many things to list. “It's a nice place to live. There’s everything I need right here. You should see the sailboats, Mom. There's something going on every weekend during the winter. If you need something, you can talk to your next-door neighbor, and that's true for the businesses, too. That is what I mean by just the right size.”
“Is everyone from here? Renee?” she asks, and I can see right where this line of questioning is headed.
Luckily, I'm saved by the bell.
“It's the kind of small town where everyone knows everyone, and yup, they all grew up here,” Brody says, joining us at the table. He slides into the seat next to my mom, and she kisses his cheek, brightening up even more.
He looks like he could use a shave and like he threw on whatever shirt was closest just to get out of the house but thank fuck Brody’s here. My mother has started calling him her adopted son, and honestly I could use the distraction. “How was your trip over?” he asks her.
“Just as uneventful as I could've hoped for,” she answers. “I almost listened to a whole audiobook.”
“Good. I was worried about the roads,” Brody says. “It looked like it might storm. I don't want you driving in that.”
“Oh, stop it. It almost never snows around here.” My mom waves him off, blushing. “How is Magnolia?”
“She's...” Brody takes a deep breath and smiles before he lets it out. “Pregnant.”
She slaps him lightly on the arm but laughs playfully, and Brody laughs with her. He talks to my mom almost as much as I do, mostly because my mother is a busybody and I stopped answering her questions about Brody. So she went right to the source. I’m glad he has my mom. He’s been through a lot and his family is farther away.
“Is she liking pregnancy?” My mother pushes and I can’t help but notice how she leans in. The back of my neck feels hot knowing how much my mother wants grandbabies. It’s all she ever talks about now.
“She’s doing okay,“ he goes on. “Due in a month, though, so she’s tired and uncomfortable and ready for the baby to come. She’s been great most of the time, no problems, so I hope that won't change.”
Brody goes on about Mags and how great she is and how beautiful she is when she's pregnant. I lean back, happy for my friend as his eyes light up every time he says her name. It takes me back to when the two of us were friends in high school. Back then, we had no idea what we'd end up doing with our lives. My main plan was to go to college, but it felt like the world was wide open. I could have landed anywhere from here to California. I spent a lot of time thinking about starting a new life in a new town that nobody had heard of.
Then Brody would flick a paper football at me, and I'd stop thinking about all that stuff. He always had a smile on his face back then. He was the kind of guy who could do anything with his life, and for a while after high school, he did.