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)
“Enough about my love life. I want to talk about the kids.”
Miri nodded. “I don’t want Cutter to miss out on anything, like prom. He’s such a good boy. Smart. Respectful.”
Moody. But I chalked this up to the fact that his mom was dying, and his teenage emotions were all over the place.
“We’ve talked about college, so I know he wants to go, and Weston thinks he can get a scholarship, but he’ll have to do the travel stuff.”
I nodded. “Weston mentioned it. We’ll sit down and figure it out.”
“It’s a financial burden,” she said, her voice breaking.
“None of this is a burden, Miri, except that we won’t have you.”
Tears welled in our eyes. My vision clouded, making it hard to see my best friend.
“And for Nova?”
Miri lifted her shoulder again. “Her personality is just starting to shine. I’ve been waiting for her to tell me if she wants to take dance classes or play sports. I suspect she wants to follow Cutter, but she should do whatever she wants, ya know?”
I nodded and swallowed the lump in my throat.
“They might need some help.”
“I’m already on it, Miri. For all three of us.” They were losing their mom, while I was losing a part of me.
Another knock sounded. I stood and this time wiped my tears away, not giving a shit about my makeup. A trio of women walked in. I only recognized Samira.
“Hi,” Miri said excitedly. “What are you ladies doing here?”
“Well, Toni told us we’d have book club today, and since you’re here, we brought it here,” Samira said as she gave Miri a hug.
“Shit. Sorry, I forgot,” I said.
Samira waved my apology off. “It’s not like you’re not busy. Toni, this is Vera; she owns Petal and Vine, and this is Edith; she owns the General Goods store in town.”
“It’s nice to meet you both,” I said as I shook their hands.
“I don’t have my book,” Miri said.
“When was the last time we actually read a book, cover to cover?” Edith asked.
“Besides, we have more important things to talk about,” Vera added.
“Like what flowers I want at my funeral?”
“Miri!” I said, shocked at her statement.
Everyone went silent.
She shrugged. “What? It’s not like it’s a secret. Why can’t I plan things out?”
“You can, honey,” Vera said as she patted Miri’s leg. “You just left us speechless for a moment. We’ll do whatever you want.”
Miri eyed me with one of those “Now what are you going to say?” looks. I shook my head slightly and left to get some more chairs. At the nurses’ station, I asked for two more because I would just sit or stand by Miri.
When I came back, the four of them were in a fit of giggles, which was nice to see but also broke my heart.
“What’s so funny?”
“Oh, nothing,” Miri said gruffly.
“Yes, something,” Samira said. “She’s trying to convince us to set you up with our resident coach.”
I found myself rolling my eyes again where Weston was concerned. “Stop.” I covered my face as soon as I felt my cheeks heat up.
“See, she’s blushing because she knows he’s a fine, fine man.” Miri laughed and reached for my hand.
“Have you ever seen a picture of him in his younger days?” Edith tapped on her phone and turned it to show everyone. I leaned in closer to take a good look, and Miri was right: Weston was definitely good looking.
“Ah, you’re interested,” Edith said as she took her phone back.
“He’s been a good coach,” I pointed out. “Cutter needs that right now.”
“Well, I heard from Jerome that Weston has eyes for someone,” Samira said.
“See,” I said to Miri as I pointed toward Samira. “He likes someone, so whatever you’ve conjured up in that mind of yours is wrong.”
Miri laughed. “I still think it’s you,” she said and then proceeded to tell the women about him coming over to the house on more than one occasion, when he’d never been over before, other than to pick up or drop Cutter off.
I lost count of how many times I rolled my eyes and had never been more thankful for work interruptions. Having the four of them, three of whom I barely knew, discuss my love life as if I weren’t in the room was a bit unnerving. You could easily tell they were all out of the dating game. Weston was being neighborly and hadn’t once put it out there that he was interested in me.
Not that I was looking. A week ago, I had a boyfriend. Weston wasn’t even on my radar, and I had no intention of putting him there, despite Miri’s insistence. This would have to be one of those deathbed requests I’d ignore.
The ladies left when Miri started to fall asleep. We hugged in the hallway, and I thanked them for coming. They each volunteered to bring dinner for us while Miri was in the hospital, but I assured them we were fine since my mother was in town.