Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 132464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 662(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 662(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
“When do you leave?”
“Tomorrow night.”
“Oh. Well, if you need help shopping for a ring when you get back, I’d be happy to go with you,” Louise says. “I know Kat’s taste like the back of my hand.”
“Thank you, Lou. I’ll definitely take you up on that. We can make a day of it. I’ll take you to a nice lunch, too.” I motion to her champagne flute. “With plenty of champagne.”
Louise squeals—oh yeah, she’s definitely looped—and leans forward excitedly. “From now on, you can call me Mom if you want, honey. I mean you don’t have to, of course, but you can. Or Momma? Or, hey, maybe Momma Lou?” She giggles again.
“Momma Lou?” Thomas asks, incredulous. “Louise, Josh isn’t gonna call you Momma Lou. Do you think you run a soup kitchen in the South, for cryin’ out loud?”
Kat’s Mom throws her head back and laughs like a dude. “Sorry. I was thinking about what I want the baby to call me and I thought maybe Gramma Lou? Wouldn’t that be adorable? So then I guess my mind just wandered to Momma Lou.” She takes a swig of her champagne, giggling happily to herself. “Gramma Lou—isn’t that darling? Or maybe Grammy Lou?” She sighs. “Gah. I can’t wait.”
“Slow down, Gramma Lou,” Thomas says, rolling his eyes. “You’re spinning out of control, honey. First things first—let the boy ask her.”
Louise laughs heartily. “Well, anyway,” she says, poking her fingertip into the top of my hand. “The point is, Josh, as far as I’m concerned, I just now birthed my fifth son.” She guzzles down the rest of her champagne.
“Louise.”
Louise giggles. “Oh, Josh knows what I mean. All I’m saying is Josh is now one of my sons, every bit as much as the others. That’s all I meant. What’s your full name, honey?”
“Joshua William Faraday.”
“Joshua William,” Louise says reverently. She makes a trumpet sound. “Doo doo doo doo! Birth announcement! The Morgan Family has just adopted a fifth son. There’s Colby Edwin, Ryan Ulysses, Keane Elijah, David Jackson, and now Joshua William. You’re now officially a member of the Morgan family, honey. Welcome.”
Thomas rolls his eyes. “Maybe slow down on the champagne, honey.”
Louise giggles and waves him off. “Oh, you’ll benefit later, old man, so hush up.” She puts her hand on my forearm. “We couldn’t be more thrilled, Josh.”
“Thank you,” I manage to say, my heart leaping.
Louise flashes me a truly lovely smile. “No, thank you. You obviously make our Kitty Kat very happy.”
Speak of the she-devil, Kat sidles up to our table, a bottle of water in her hand, her face covered in a light sheen of perspiration. “You guys look like you’re plotting the invasion of a small country,” she says. “What’s shakin’, bacon?”
I leap up and give Kat a kiss on her rosy cheek and guide her to the seat next to mine. “Hey, babe. I was just giving your dad a taste of my uncle’s Glenfarclas 1955.”
Kat shoots me a look of chastisement. “You just couldn’t resist, could you, Playboy?” She looks at her parents. “Josh always says I’m the blabbermouth who can’t keep a secret but look who’s the blabbermouth now. Ha!” She snorts and swigs her water. “I told him it was too extravagant, but I guess the Playboy just couldn’t control himself.”
Kat’s mom and dad look utterly confused.
“What are you talking about?” Thomas asks.
There’s a beat as Kat realizes she’s just blabbed yet another secret. “Oh. You... didn’t give my dad the bottle?” she asks.
I shake my head.
“Damn,” Kat says. “Whoops.” She grins sheepishly. “Well, Dad, surprise! Josh is giving you that bottle of that Glenfarkity-fuckity-fuck-whatever. Do you like it?”
I shake my head again. “Kat, no. My uncle brought his own bottle of Glenfarclas tonight—he has several bottles of it in his collection. I just brought your dad a glass to taste from my uncle’s bottle. I’ve still got your dad’s bottle—which I didn’t tell him about and was still planning to give him later as a surprise.”
Kat’s face turns bright red. “Oh. Well, oops again.” She snorts. “Well, Dad, Josh got a bottle of the stuff for you but I wouldn’t let him give it to you because I said it was too extravagant a gift.”
“Oh, wow,” Thomas says. “Really? Thank you, Josh. But Kat’s right, that really is too extravagant.”
“Can I get all the single ladies onto the dance floor?” the lead singer of the band calls over the microphone on the far side of the restaurant. “It’s time for the bouquet toss!”
“No, Thomas, I insist,” I say. “I’ll have the bottle delivered to your house this week.” I shoot Kat a scolding look. “There’s no sense in waiting now, is there?”
Thomas looks elated, but he nonetheless says the polite thing. “No, I really can’t accept.”
“Too late. It’s yours. If you feel too weird about it, then open it for a special occasion—maybe when the baby’s born?”