Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 86068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“Tough crowd. I would ask you to come to me, Stella, but let’s be honest,” I tell my niece. “You don’t really want me either.” I lean in to kiss her cheek, and she whines and tries to push me away. “I’m going to go see my other favorite niece.”
“Don’t threaten her like that,” Franny scolds, pushing me away. “Come and see Mommy.” She holds her hands out.
“Ask her to wash her hands first,” I throw over my shoulder. “Chances are she had your dad’s pickle in her hand.”
“There you are,” my father says, coming out of the kitchen. “I’ve been waiting for you.” I just laugh at him.
“Dad, there are about a hundred people here.” I look around, seeing kids running everywhere.
“Yes, but I missed my baby.” He grabs me and brings me in for a hug. “It pains me that you don’t use your bedroom here.”
“It pained me to see you naked,” I counter back, and he laughs.
“Are we still leaving after dinner?” I ask, and he nods his head.
“Plane leaves at seven,” he says. “Should get in about eleven local time.”
“Sounds good. I have something to do tomorrow,” I tell him and walk away before he asks me what. I step into the kitchen, stopping to kiss a couple of the kids and say hello to my sister-in-law, Erika. “Where is my favorite niece?” I look around. “Who just turned four.”
“Good save.” She laughs. “She was in the backyard discussing why we should get a dog with your brother.”
“Aw,” I say, putting my hand to my chest. “You’re getting a dog?”
“Immediately, no.” She shakes her head. “I said they were discussing it.”
“You know he’ll just say yes.” I laugh, grabbing a plate and walking over to get some food.
“He says yes, and I’m leaving him,” she huffs. “We already have a million kids. I don’t have time for a dog.”
“You think he’s going to allow you to leave him?” I throw my head back and laugh. “How far do you think you’ll get before he drags you back?”
“What are you two talking about?” my brother, Cooper, asks, coming beside Erika and pulling her to him. The two of them were best friends who then fell for each other when he got divorced.
“She said she’s leaving you if you tell Felicia that you can get a dog,” I fill him in, and he laughs.
“Never.” He shakes his head. “It’s not that bad. I asked Dylan.”
“Cooper Grant,” Erika warns. “I’m not kidding with this one.”
“I know,” he says. “I sent her to ask my dad.” We both gasp. “Let him say no to her.”
“That’s low, even for you,” I say, turning and walking outside, where round tables are set up everywhere. Most of them are filled with people eating, and I spot an empty place at my brother Chase’s table. “Hello, lovebirds.” I sit down and look over at my brother and his new fiancée, Julia.
“I didn’t think I’d see you today.” Julia smiles. “You hit the wine really hard last night.”
I laugh. “Just following your lead.”
“Next thing you know, you’ll be in love,” Julia teases, and I glare at her.
“Bite your tongue,” I retort, eating my food. Now, it’s not to say that I don’t want to be in love. I know that love exists because it’s all around me, all the time. I look at Chase putting his arm around Julia and kissing her lips. Cooper comes over and sits next to me, followed by Erika, who he pulls onto his lap. Michael, my other cousin, is the next to join us with his wife and Julia’s twin, Jillian. Franny, Wilson, Dylan, and Alex are the last ones to crowd the table.
“When are you coming back?” Jillian asks me, and I shrug.
“I’m not sure,” I say, taking a bottle of water on the table and opening it. “I sort of am making plans for the summer right now.”
“Really?” Franny says. “Like what?”
“Um.” I look around to make sure my father won’t hear this. “You can’t tell Dad yet,” I inform her.
Cooper already shakes his head while Chase looks up at the sky and mumbles, “Dear God.”
“I like where this is going already,” Alex says before she shouts out, “Oh my God, are you going to spend the summer in Europe?” She puts her hands together. “That was my dream.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Dylan says from beside her. “We did that ‘summer in Europe’ shit. You don’t remember all the fucking Instagram pictures we had to take. You only booked hotels you found on Instagram. A whole month of switching hotels because the other one had better views. Do you know how many freaking steps we went up in Italy?”
“You’re welcome.” Alex glares at him. “Besides, who invited you on that trip?” She rolls her eyes at him, and he leans in and kisses her. “Yeah, whatever, I can hate you and kiss you all at the same time.”