Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 96512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
“Hi, you two. Thanks for inviting me. I could eat a cow.”
“A cow?” Riley says. “Like really? Are you going to order a cow? I don’t even know if they have it on the menu.”
“He’s not eating a whole cow,” I say.
“Also they have four stomachs, and I don’t think they’ll taste good,” Riley says, screwing up her face like someone’s suggesting she eat cow stomach.
“Yeah, I’m not going for the cow stomach. But maybe a plate of waffles as tall as a cow?” he suggests.
“That sounds good,” she says, her grin back. “I want pancakes but I won’t eat a stack as high as a cow.” Riley’s expression turns serious.
“What about as high as a mouse?” Fisher asks.
“Oh no. I can do more than a mouse but less than a cow.”
“Hmmm,” Fisher muses, and rubs his hand along his jaw. He’s really good at playing along. It’s like I’m hanging out with Riley and one of her friends. It’s the kind of weird conversations they have together.
“What about a cat?” he suggests. He raises his hand up over the table to about cat height. “That’s at least twenty pancakes. Could you handle it?”
“Yeah,” Riley says, nodding enthusiastically. “I’m really hungry. I think I could do twenty.”
“Is this helping?” I say, mock glaring at Fisher. “Are you going to clean up the vomit when she eats twenty pancakes?”
“If she vomits, I’ll clear it up, but I believe in her. If she thinks she can do it, I think she can do it.”
I laugh. This is all I need. “Now I know why you wanted Fisher to join us for brunch—so you two could gang up on me.”
Fisher winks at Riley and we’re interrupted by Donna.
“Riley would like a stack of pancakes as tall as a cat,” Fisher says. “Juniper would like…”
“I’m going to take the scrambled eggs on sourdough.”
“And I’ll have the waffles, please. And let’s get a fruit salad and three Oreo shakes.”
Riley grabs the table. “Really? An Oreo shake?”
“Is that okay?” Fisher asks me.
I shrug. What can I say? I’m not going to say no now that Riley’s excited. We might be having soup the rest of the week, given each shake is ten dollars.
“I’ll just stick with tap water,” I say.
Fisher doesn’t say anything.
“How are you feeling, Riley?” Fisher asks.
“Good. I have one of my teeth coming through at the back. It’s called a molar. Mom, what are the front teeth called if the back teeth are molars?”
“It’s a good question,” I ask. “I have absolutely no idea. The ones at the side are incisors. But these front teeth… we could do an internet search.”
“Anterior,” Fisher says.
“Anterior teeth?” Riley asks.
“Yup. And if I wanted to be a tooth pedant, your incisors are also anterior teeth.” He glances at me. “I was big into teeth as a kid.”
I grimace. “You were into teeth—like in a hobby kind of way?”
Fisher chuckles. “Yeah. It was weird. I was obsessed with oral hygiene. When we came to America, none of the toothpastes tasted the same and I was obsessed with not getting a filling. I read up about stuff and fell into a teeth vortex there for a while. It didn’t last long, but here we are. The front teeth are anterior teeth.”
“That’s cool,” Riley says. “Maybe I should be more into teeth.”
This brunch is going a whole direction I wasn’t expecting.
Luckily we’re interrupted by our food arriving at our table.
“Will says you can have half a cat now, and if you eat everything, you can have another half of a cat. That work for you?”
Riley nods. “Thank you, Donna.”
“You’re welcome, honey. And I’ll just get the Oreo shakes.”
“You can share mine,” Fisher says to me.
Donna comes back and sets one shake in front of Riley and one between Fisher and me, and it has two straws in it. It’s like the entire town is trying to get me laid.
“Is Vivian making her album now?” Riley asks.
Fisher puts his finger over his lips. “Remember, it’s a big secret that she’s up there.”
“Oh no it’s not,” Donna returns with a jug of maple syrup and some whipped butter. “We all know Vivian Cross is up at the Club.”
Fisher’s mouth falls open. He looks stunned.
“Haven’t you learned that you can’t keep a secret in Star Falls?” she says, before heading off.
I laugh at Fisher’s expression. “I hadn’t heard it, if it helps. And the first person who would hear it is Donna. It doesn’t mean the entire town knows.”
“Oh god. I should inform her security team,” Fisher says.
“You really don’t need to. The people of Star Falls aren’t going to start stalking her and running up to the Colorado Club for autographs. They just like to know what’s going on. Especially at the Club. That way it feels more like part of the town.”