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)
“Sure,” Jonas says to the reporter, but then he looks at me with desperation in his eyes, clearly hoping for some backup.
But he’s shit out of luck. For once, Jonas’ ever-reliable brother is going rogue.
I smile and wave at Jonas and, much to his obvious shock and annoyance, quickly slip into the crowd. Deserting him is a chicken-shit thing to do, probably, especially today—but I’ve got some important personal business to take care of before my bathroom date and only a limited opportunity while Kat’s distracted on the dance floor. Plus, there’s no doubt Jonas can handle that reporter on his own—she’s a woman, after all—which means all he needs to do is smile at her and she’ll throw her panties at him and offer him the lead-off spot on the six o’clock news.
I scan the crowd looking for Louise, and quickly locate her standing next to Thomas, Ryan and Colby (who’s leaning on crutches), all of them watching the band and looking festive.
“Hey, everyone,” I say when I reach the group. “Thanks for coming.”
“Lambo!” Ryan says. He bro-hugs me. “Congrats. This is awesome.”
“Thank you.”
“Congratulations, Josh,” Colby adds, shaking my hand. “Really impressive.”
“Thanks. You’ve all got lifetime memberships, if you want ’em,” I say. I motion to Colby’s leg. “Standing offer for you, Colby, whenever you’re up to it.”
“Thanks,” Colby says. “Gimme three more months and I’ll definitely take you up on that.”
“Fantastic. I’ll personally climb with you whenever you want.”
“I’ll join you guys,” Ryan says. “Best work-out, ever. Hey, Dad, you should try it with us. I think you’d like it.”
“Maybe I will.”
“You’ve never climbed a rock wall?” I ask Thomas.
Thomas shakes his head.
“Gimme a call. I’ll give you a private lesson.”
“Thanks. That sounds fun,” Thomas says.
“Sure thing.” I glance across the room, making sure Kat is still dancing. “Hey, Louise, can I talk to you for a second?”
Louise’s face lights up. “You bet, honey. Excuse us, fellas.”
Kat’s mom and I move several yards away from the group, both of us looking furtively toward Kat on the other side of the large room. The band is playing “Brown Eyed Girl” and Kat’s twirling Sarah around and singing the song to her.
“Did you get it?” I whisper. “Hey, that just sounded like we’re doing a drug deal, huh?”
Louise giggles and looks covertly across the room at her daughter. “It came in yesterday—and it’s gorgeous.” She fishes into her purse and pulls out a ring box and then palms it to me like she’s handing me a kilo of hashish. “It’s sized and polished and ready to go.”
“Thanks for picking it up for me. I’ve been crazy-busy this past week.”
“Oh, honey, it was my pleasure. Plus, it was safer this way—it would have been terrible if Miss Busy-Body somehow intercepted the delivery at your house.” Louise glances at Kat across the room again. “Just a little warning for you—Kat’s peeked at every single Christmas present I’ve ever gotten for her. She unwraps the gift and then rewraps it and puts it back under the tree.” Louise rolls her eyes. “Kat doesn’t know I know she does that, by the way, so don’t tell her I know. This year, I’m gonna beat her at her own game and put a wrapped box of hemorrhoid cream under the tree for her to peek at—that ought to teach her a lesson about peeking.”
I chuckle. “Now I see where she gets that little dash of evil I love so much.” I slip the box into my pocket. “Thank you again.”
“Aren’t you gonna look at it? It’s beautiful, Josh. Gives me chills every time I look at it.”
Carefully, taking great care not to let anyone around me see what I’m doing, I open the box a tiny crack, just enough to confirm it contains the engagement ring Louise and I picked out for Kat on our highly enjoyable shopping trip together last week.
“Wow,” I say. “It’s incredible.”
“Just be prepared—Kat’s gonna lose her mind when you give this to her. Like, seriously, honey, she’s going to go completely ballistic on you. Just be ready to scrape her off the floor.”
“Oh, God, I pray you’re right,” I say. “If Kat says anything but hell yes, you’ll have to scrape me off the floor, and not in a good way.”
Louise touches my forearm. “Why on earth would Kat say no? She loves you.”
I shrug. “Unexpected things have happened to me before, Lou. Bad things. I’m kind of used to getting blindsided by life.”
Louise’s face melts. “Oh, honey. No. Kat loves you. She’s having your baby. For God’s sake, she’ll say yes.”
“But you heard her: ‘Marriage just isn’t in the cards for us.’”
Louise snorts. “Oh, please. Kat’s full of it and we both know it.”
I grin. “I sure hope so.”
“Josh, I know so. I’m her mother. Trust me.”
I give Louise a quick hug. “Thank you again.” I pause. “Momma Lou.”