Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 106772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
“You’ll be there someday.”
“Nope. No way.” She shook her head. “Boys have cooties.”
Funny, I used to think the same thing.
“Go get a snack and start your homework. Cutter has a game tonight.”
“Toni, where’s my mama?”
And there it was, the question I hoped we’d avoid because her uber-cool aunt was there, but I knew I’d never be able to.
“Your mom had to go out of town for the night.”
“How come she didn’t tell us this morning?”
“It was a last-minute thing.” I hated how the lie came so easily.
“And you had to come here?”
“Nah, kiddo. I was already on my way for Cutter’s game.” Another lie. I rarely made it to any of his games unless they were on a Saturday or in a town closer to Boston.
Nova gave me a suspicious look. I deserved it and couldn’t handle the scrutiny, so I used the excuse to go check on her brother to get away. The staircase leading to the three bedrooms and bathrooms was painted black to contrast with the white railing. Two or three summers ago, Miri had sent the kids to Boston for a week while she sanded and repainted the stairs. According to her, she’d rather clean gutters than have to paint.
At the top of the stairs and to the immediate left was the shared bathroom. Along the wall were built-in cabinets, with an old-fashioned laundry chute leading to the basement. On the right side of the railing, Nova’s room was first, then Cutter’s, and at the end of the L-shaped hallway was Miri’s room, where she had her own bathroom.
At Cutter’s door, I rapped my knuckles against the wood, hoping it wouldn’t take much to get his attention.
The door swung open, and he stared, dumbfounded. “Why are you here?”
“Nice to see you too.” I reached out to ruffle his hair, but he leaned away from me. I tried not to let this hurt my ego, but it did. We used to be close, inseparable when he was younger, and then he became a teenager, and everything changed.
“Mom had to go out of town to see a client,” I told him. “I’ll take you to your game.”
“I can walk.”
I shook my head. “We’ll leave at five.” I turned and walked toward the stairs, where I stopped and glanced at him standing in the doorway. Every moment he and I had shared flashed in my mind, from the moment he was born, and I held him for the first time, to him learning his first word—“Mama”—to him crawling, walking, and trying to give us heart attacks when he began hanging from everything. And then there was his first day of kindergarten, with Miri and me holding back tears as he confidently walked in to meet his new friends, and the day he officially turned into a teenager and suddenly grew taller than either of us. I smiled softly before heading downstairs.
Miri had to be okay. No, she had to be more than okay. These kids depended on her. They were all she had.
Thirty minutes before we had to leave, Cutter came downstairs, dressed in khaki slacks and a red polo shirt. He only dressed up for special occasions and for game days. I knew the latter was a rule his coach had put in place. If Cutter had his way, he’d wear sweatpants, T-shirts, and sneakers everywhere.
He stepped into the living room, looked at us briefly, and then turned toward the kitchen. I got up from the couch, where Nova and I had been sitting while she practiced her reading, and went into the kitchen.
“Do you need dinner?” I asked, knowing full well I wasn’t the best at the home-cooking thing. Brendan and I rarely cooked. We either got something out, ate leftovers, or had one of those already-made meals we just had to heat up.
Cutter grimaced.
I didn’t fault him one bit for the look.
“Right. How about something from the snack bar at the game?” Something told me this wouldn’t be enough for him.
“There’s a sub shop in town. If we leave now, I’ll still make it to school on time.” Cutter sounded hopeful.
I nodded, fully in agreement. “Nova, grab your coat and make sure you have all your stuff for the game.” I spoke loudly enough for her to hear me in the other room. She let out a resounding “Yes.”
“Where’s Brendan?” Cutter asked. The two of them had an okay relationship, especially when it came to sports. For Cutter’s fourteenth birthday, Brendan had taken him to see the Celtics. They had courtside seats, and I think LeBron James was there or something.
“He’s working. It didn’t make much sense for him to come up if this is just a quick trip for me.”
Cutter nodded. “It’s too bad he isn’t here. We’re playing our rival tonight. It’s going to be a good game.”