Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 103621 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103621 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
“And root beer for me,” Mimi chimes in before I can answer. “I’m exhausted.”
Elly rolls her eyes with a laugh. “Oh, yeah? That twenty minutes of work after school before Gee’s surprise arrived wore you out, huh?”
Mimi nods seriously. “It did. Deciding which stuffed animals would be good travel buddies was a hard job. You know some of them don’t play well with others.”
I laugh and give a little shake of my head. “Girl, you crack me up. Are you telling me you have misbehaving stuffed animals?”
Mimi nods. “My squirrel, Mr. Crackers, is very cranky, and my stuffed rhinoceros is always causing trouble.”
“He has a history of violent outbursts,” Elly confides with thinly contained amusement as she hands me a beer and slides a root beer over to Mimi. “We’ve tried to get him to go to therapy, but he refuses to admit he has a problem with anger management.”
“Well, admitting you have a problem is a big part of the battle,” I say, loving this silly exchange. Elly and Mimi have a special rapport, and I feel honored to have been included in their circle. “But you finally got them sorted out?” I ask Mimi. “All the animals have a safe travel buddy?”
She nods. “Yes, all the good animals are in a pile to go into one box, and all the bad animals are in a pile to go in another box with Henry, my whale. He’s very sweet, but he’s so big, none of the bad animals will misbehave on his watch.”
“Thank goodness,” I say, popping the top on my beer. “I can’t wait to meet this crew. They sound like a good time.”
“They’re all characters,” Elly agrees with a fond look at Mimi. “Just like their mama.” She lifts her beer into the air. “To our new adventure and being our friend Gee’s new roommates for a while.”
Mimi lifts her root beer to clink her mom’s bottle and then mine before adding, “And to Gee’s pool!” Beneath her breath, she adds, “Can I swim as soon as I get out of school tomorrow? Or do I have to wait until you get home from practice like Mama said?”
“Hey,” Elly cuts in. “I didn’t say that. I said I’d ask him if it was okay, and if not, we would wait until he got home. Don’t start going behind my back to get your way, girl. We’re moving in with Gee, but I’m still the boss, baby girl.”
“Yep, your mama’s the boss,” I say with a nod. “I can’t be trusted with a job that important. I’ve never even had a dog, let alone a kid. I have no idea what I’m doing.” I glance Elly’s way before adding, “But if your mama is okay with you swimming right after school, I certainly am. I wouldn’t want you to have to wait for me. We have another meeting and—”
Before I can explain about Torrance and his endless questions, a sharp thud echoes from the hallway, followed by the sound of furniture scraping against the floor.
“That’s the movers, they said they were going to move everything away from the wall to check for—” Elly flinches as she’s cut off by a woman’s scream shrill enough to shatter glass.
“Oh my God! Oh my God!” A blonde woman in a Moving Pros T-shirt practically sprints out of the bedroom, her ponytail whipping back and forth like she’s being chased by a serial killer. “The wall—they’re in the wall! Behind the dresser, there’s a—” She makes a vague, frantic gesture with both hands. “A nest! With bodies. And tails!”
An older man emerges behind her, looking significantly less traumatized but still deeply uncomfortable. “Yeah, sorry to say, you’ve got a pretty substantial rodent infestation back there. Looks like they’ve made themselves at home in the wall. There’s insulation everywhere. As soon as we moved the dresser, it all just…” He makes a spilling out gesture with his fingers that makes the blonde shudder and clutch at her throat.
“Rats,” she hisses. “God, I hate rats.”
“Oh no.” The color drains from Elly’s face so fast that, for a second, I’m worried she might faint. But almost immediately, color floods back into her cheeks, that particular shade of shame-red reserved for when life jerks your pants down around your ankles in public.
“God, I’m so sorry,” she continues, dragging a shaking hand through her hair. “I never— I mean, we had a problem once before, under the sink. The people downstairs leave food out all the time, but I thought I sealed all the holes. And the rats have never been in her room before, I swear. I never would have—”
“In my room?” Mimi squeaks from the middle of the island, catching on to what’s happening. “There are rats in my room?”
Elly stiffens, but her voice is reassuring as she turns to her daughter, “It looks like there might be a few behind your dresser, baby. But it’s okay, they’re in the wall and—”