Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Thirty minutes later, Rachel arrived with her boyfriend, Straub, who she had been dating for years. Neither one of them was interested in getting married again, both having been divorced. They got along really well, and Rachel was enjoying her new career as a jewelry maker—she had a booming business on ETSY—and Straub was a veterinarian. They brought garlic bread and an enormous Caesar salad.
Jen arrived next, with Doug, her second husband, but it was weird to say that since they’d been married longer than her first marriage had lasted. They brought a caprese salad, along with apple pie for dessert.
Regina and Thomas came with sausage and peppers, which was nice of her, because they were amazing, but it was beginning to be a lot of food. Michael arrived moments after his folks with Sandy, who preferred that to Sandra. They had known each other only a month, but when you knew, you knew.
Now, I am a romantic, as you all know, so to me, a month is plenty, especially when you’re older. Michael is fifty-two, which seems crazy, but it’s true. So when he and Sandy hit it off like peas and carrots, he was sure she was the one. She is forty-six and absolutely stunning. Honey blonde hair, blue eyes, flawless tan complexion, and a great voice with a husky laugh. She has three kids, ages twenty-three, twenty-one, and fifteen. The youngest is the only one at home. Her eldest, Oliver, works in IT in San Diego, where he went to college. Her daughter has another year at Purdue to finish up a degree in marketing, and her youngest is a sophomore in high school.
“I was going to bring Kitty with me,” she told me when we were in the kitchen together as she was putting the ricotta and roasted tomato bruschetta with pancetta that she brought on a platter. “But it’s Friday night, and she had plans with her friends.”
I nodded. “Understandable.”
“She likes Michael so much, and since he’s moving in with us in Winnetka, the transition will be seamless for her.”
Maybe. Maybe not. New stepfather? I had to wonder if Sandra and Michael had discussed things like what discipline would look like? What were the expectations of him? Hard to imagine that they had everything wired in just a month.
“Where does your daughter go to school?” I asked her.
“She goes to Lake Forest Academy, which she loves.”
I would have loved for my kids to go there, but it had not been in the budget of a law enforcement officer and a graphic artist. But what was nice was that Sandy and her ex had prioritized the education of their children. It did not hurt that Sandy came from money and her ex-husband was a successful corporate lawyer.
After I tried her dish, I told her how good it was.
“I will give your compliments to our chef,” she told me. “We just love her.”
She was very nice, met everyone, shook hands, gave Regina a lovely bottle of wine, and explained that she’d brought one for every family. She had discovered it the last time she was in Piedmont. I had to ask her where that was, and she explained that it was in Italy.
“Well, thank you so much.”
She seemed so pleased, and I could see what Michael saw in her. She was lovely and kind, and again, just beautiful.
Later, after we opened some chianti to have with dinner, she gave me some recommendations for some I might like even better.
“You’ll have to write them down for me,” I suggested and got her a pad.
She was beaming at me. “You’re so kind, Jory, and your home is just lovely. I always wanted a small, cozy house.”
My house is cozy, but I never thought of it as particularly small. There are four bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms, a basement, an enormous attic, a living room, a dining room/kitchen—we knocked the wall out that was between them years ago—and a huge screened-in back porch and deck. There is also the front porch that is big enough for a swing on the left and chairs to the right. The difference of course is that Sandy lives in a mansion in Winnetka. She got it in the divorce; her husband got the penthouse in Streeterville. Her idea of small and mine are not the same. But she was giving me a compliment, so I graciously accepted and thanked her.
Also, quick point. There has been some question about Hannah’s and Kola’s bedrooms that I need to clear up. Some of you have pointed out that years ago, Kola had the bedroom that looked out on the street, where you could sit on the roof over the porch, and Hannah had the next one over, beside the guest room that eventually became Jake’s. I want to say that when Hannah turned either ten or eleven, they switched. Kola preferred not to have a window, whereas my daughter wanted it open all the time. The reading nook Sam built her as well was a huge plus to the room. Kola got built-in bookcases, so it all worked out.