Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 108362 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108362 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
“Oh, shit, twelve?” he replied, sounding impressed. I giggled that he had no qualms swearing in front of me. “Well, that’s just perfect. My son is twelve. You should come meet him. I bet you two will hit it off. Besides,” he went on, “we’re going to need some help eating all this pizza.”
My stomach gurgled at the mention of food. I’d never actually eaten pizza before, mainly because Mam was strict about my diet, though I’d seen people eat it on TV. Without a second thought, I stood from the step and walked around the bushes between the two houses. “You live here?” I asked when I reached him.
“For the last ten years,” he responded before opening the door. “I’m Jay, by the way. Jay Fields.”
“Shannon Guerin.”
“Nice to meet you, Shannon,” he smiled kindly, then called into the house, “Pizza’s here, and I’ve brought a guest.”
A second later, a little girl appeared at the top of the stairs. She was much younger than me, maybe five or six. She had long brown hair the same shade as Jay’s, so he was obviously her dad. She ran to him and hugged his side before turning her attention to me.
“Hello, I’m Francesca. What’s your name?”
“I’m Shannon. Pleased to meet you, Francesca.”
The little girl grinned. “You sound funny.”
A flush broke out over my skin. “I know. My accent is odd. I’ve lived in a lot of different places.”
“Like where?” came another voice, and I turned to see a boy my own age standing at the other end of the hallway. When had he gotten there? He looked like a miniature version of Jay, the same hair and eyes, even the same facial features. It was uncanny. The only difference was the dad had a normal haircut, whereas the boy’s hair was styled into a Mohawk, with the middle section dyed electric blue. It was the coolest thing I’d even seen. My parents would barely let me choose my own outfits, never mind let me dye my hair such an outlandish colour.
I fidgeted with the hem of my cardigan, then answered, “I was born in Hong Kong.”
The boy came closer until he was standing right in front of me. “Really? You don’t look Asian.” He tilted his head to the side, surveying me like he was trying to solve a maths problem.
His dad groaned behind him. “Jace, my guy, we talked about this. You can’t tell where someone’s from just by how they look.”
The boy glanced at me with an apologetic wince. “Sorry.”
“I promise he was raised better than that.”
I shrugged. “It’s okay. My parents are Irish, but they lived in Hong Kong for work.”’
Jay nodded. “Very cool. This is my son, Jason Junior, but he prefers to go by Jace. Jace, this is Shannon, our new next door neighbour. Now, let’s eat this pizza before we all starve to death.”
The little girl ran ahead while I walked with Jay and Jace down the hallway and into a large kitchen where a dark-haired woman was setting the table. Jay put the pizza boxes down and went up to her, placing his large hand on her hip before bending down and pressing a kiss to her neck. She laughed affectionately and shoved him off. Just from the momentary interaction, I could tell they really loved each other. I’d never seen my parents be that way with one another, so easy and tender. Jay said something to her, then gestured to me, and she turned to take me in. She had the loveliest blue eyes I’d ever seen. They were full of kindness as she came and introduced herself.
“My husband tells me your name is Shannon and that you’ve just moved in next door. I’m Matilda, and we’re delighted to have you join us for dinner.”
“Thank you for having me, Miss Matilda,” I replied, dipping my head to her.
“Aren’t you just so sweet and polite,” she exclaimed. “But there’s no need for the Miss. Matilda will do.”
I nodded, a little embarrassed. Good manners had been drilled into me from the etiquette lessons I’d attended from ages seven to ten. It was second nature now.
“Shannon’s sitting next to me,” Jace announced as he pulled out a chair at the table and gestured for me to sit.
I lowered into it, feeling a strange fluttering in my chest that he wanted me next to him. I studied him while Jay and Matilda opened the pizza boxes and began sharing out the slices. The scent of melted cheese and fresh dough hit my nose, and my mouth watered. I’d barely eaten anything all day because I couldn’t stop worrying about Valerie’s son and praying he was okay. I’d only known my new nanny a short while, but she was kind to me, and having had a number of nannies over the years, that wasn’t always the case.