Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 91461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Sandra was on the patio when I found her with a glass of wine staring out at her enormous and manicured backyard. She had a stunning home in Winnetka, which had become solely hers in the divorce.
“Heya,” I greeted her cheerfully.
Her face told the story.
“He was excited to be a partner at a firm,” I told her.
She nodded quickly.
“He’s always wanted that.”
“Yes,” she agreed.
“But…Kitty is going to be a junior this year and will not want to leave her friends, all her clubs and activities, and especially not her father. Right?”
Sandra put her glass down on the railing, turned and rushed over into my arms. I held her tight, and minutes later, when Sam joined us, she went from me to him, and he hugged her too.
“He wants to give you the best life he can,” Sam said, which was, I was certain, partly true. When my gaze met his, I noted how dark his stare was.
“I know,” Sandra said with a long sigh.
“Don’t worry,” Sam soothed her. “You’re always welcome at our house.”
And she was, as were, now, Thea and Kitty.
Over the summer, both of Sandra’s daughters had made peace with Hannah. I understood why the rift had originally happened, and I also understood the reason for the thaw, and it wasn’t, as most people thought, that they’d been bowing to pressure. Originally, they each thought that they could say things about my daughter, on TikTok and Instagram, and there would be no repercussions. But Hannah had a large following, and both girls had run into trouble. The thing was, Thea, especially, was jealous of quite a few things about my daughter, mainly her platonic relationships with many eligible young men who were in both her and Hannah’s orbit. Kitty had simply gone along with her sister and written some unflattering things. Hannah, of course, had never responded, and there had been no traction on their comments, but when my daughter’s followers had questioned them, that was when it got a bit ugly. Hannah had thanked everyone and told her people to simply ignore them, but Thea lost people by the day, and the bleeding continued, and was still going on apparently, because everyone knew the internet was forever. It was best to never be caught doing something stupid. Screenshots always told the tale.
Thea had put up apology posts on Instagram and TikTok that had fixed the online trolling but not the follower situation. That would take longer to restore. But Hannah and Sandra’s daughters were okay. They weren’t friends, I doubted they would ever be, but it was a bit more than cordial. They were friendly acquaintances in Hannah’s book. What was interesting was that the women that Hannah was friends with were all scary strong like her. And there weren’t many of them. I saw Coretta, who she’d shared a dorm room with, and now Portia, who was her cousin Robert’s girlfriend, constantly. I really hoped Robert and Portia got married one of these days, because Hannah was not giving her up. She also had her friend Lucy, out in Oregon, but Hannah had a lot of guy friends as well. She tended to collect rock-steady people in her inner circle.
“Tell me,” I prodded my husband as soon as Sandra went back inside.
“Apparently asshat, I mean Michael, is going to move to Boston and get a small place downtown where he will live and then fly home every other weekend or when time allows.”
“Wow,” was all I could think of to say.
“Sandra can fly out during the summer, take Kitty with her, and she can spend the holidays with asshat—I mean Michael.”
I made a face.
“You’re wondering, how will that work with sharing custody of her daughter?”
“My understanding is that Grant and Sandra co-parent pretty well, and even better now that her ex and the woman he thought he loved have parted company.”
“Wait,” Sam said, taking a step away from me and squinting. “Sandra’s ex, the very handsome man that she shares custody of her youngest with––”
“You think he’s handsome?” I teased him.
“We both saw his picture on Hannah’s phone when she showed us, and yeah, handsome. Not a lot of guys look good in a mustache and beard, but he makes it work.”
I chuckled.
“May I finish?”
“Yes, please,” I said, slipping a hand around the side of his neck to make him lean down and kiss me.
“This is a chore,” he muttered, which made me laugh more.
Once I got my kiss, I asked him to please continue about Sandra’s ex.
“All I’m saying is that if Grant is suddenly available, and repentant, and Michael is gone…that perhaps there is a second chapter with her first husband for Sandra.”
“No. He left her,” I reminded him.
“No,” he countered. “Grant was honest with Sandra and told her he was attracted to another woman. He didn’t cheat, and they got divorced.”