Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 121210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
“It’s a Halloween party, Jose! You gotta!”
One thing is for certain. She might’ve convinced me to go to the party, but she can shove the costumes up her ass. Josie Ellis will be going to Earl’s party as Josie Ellis, and that’s that.
…
“I love that we decided to go with a Disney Princess theme,” Norah says as we get out of my SUV and walk toward The Country Club.
“I didn’t decide shit,” I mutter and sling my purse over my shoulder. “I was forced into this costume.”
“I didn’t force you,” she says through a snort, and I glare at her.
“Norah, you brought a bag of fifteen different costumes you got from Darlene’s shop, and when I told you I wasn’t wearing one, you sobbed…and sobbed…and sobbed.” Not even kidding. She lost her shit.
“Maybe I was a little dramatic.”
“A little?” I laugh. “In a matter of seconds, you went from smiling to the fetal position.”
“Must be the hormones.” She shrugs and runs one affectionate hand over where her pink Princess Aurora costume covers the small roundness of her belly. Norah is nearing the end of her first trimester, just over eleven weeks, but she is starting to show a little bit.
“Goodness, this is going to be a long pregnancy,” I mutter, and she just laughs and locks her arm with mine.
“C’mon, Snow White, how about we go inside and get this party started?”
“Pretty sure I don’t have a choice.”
“No, you don’t.” She flashes a grin at me. “But you do have a choice on whether you get some wine to help you survive this night.”
Okay. Yeah. If some wine is involved, I guess I can handle hanging out at my should-be-my-ex-husband-but-isn’t-my-ex-husband’s bar. Fingers crossed he’s too busy bartending to even notice.
54
Clay
Sunday, October 31st
My bar buzzes with noise and chatter and DJ Mikey blaring “Thriller” from his Bluetooth speakers while several townspeople dance. I pour two beers for Sheriff Pete and Mayor Wallace, sliding the pint glasses over to them with a smile. They offer a nod of thanks and proceed to go back to whatever town gossip they’re whispering about.
Earl’s Halloween party is in full swing, and Marty and I are busy behind the bar making sure everyone’s drinks are filled and refilled.
I move over to Fran and her husband Derrick, taking their orders and making quick work of their drinks, but once their Long Island iced teas are in hand, the air shifts in the room.
My eyes dart to the door, and that’s when I see her.
Josie walks inside my bar, arm in arm with her sister Norah. They’re both dressed like Disney Princesses, but it’s Josie’s costume that catches me off guard the most.
Snow White. She showed up to my bar dressed like Snow White.
Instantly, a visual of Summer’s coloring book page that Charlie gave us floats around inside my head, and my heart grows tenfold inside my chest. Did she wear that on purpose? She knows what that costume means, and she knows I know what that costume means.
That can’t be a coincidence, right? I shoved that paper in her pocket just two months ago, the night we said goodbye to Summer together.
Both she and Norah walk up to the other end of the bar, but before Marty can take their orders, I all but shove him out of the way with a smile. “I got this.”
He just shrugs and goes to the opposite end of the bar to take Harold Metcalf’s order, and I flash a big-ass smile in Josie’s direction. “Fancy seeing you here. At my bar.”
She rolls her eyes. “I’ve been here before. Quite a few times, in fact.”
Oh, I know. I hate like hell that Ben was having the kind of hard time he was, but seeing Josie in my bar those nights was the highlight of my year.
Josie might come across as having a tough shell, but on the inside, she’s soft and gooey and warm. That tender heart of hers has always been one of my favorite things about her. And it felt like a fucking honor when I got to be one of the few people she showed it to.
“So…can we get a drink or…?” Josie questions, and I grin.
“What can I get you, ladies?”
“I’ll just have a water,” Norah says, and it’s a brief reminder of the conversation I had with Ben a few weeks ago, when he told me his now-fiancée is pregnant.
“And I’ll have a glass of white wine,” Josie says, but I don’t miss the way she pointedly averts her eyes from mine.
I don’t take it personally, though. Again, she’s in my bar. In a Snow White costume.
It’s not long before their drinks are in front of them, and Norah practically downs her entire glass of water before Josie can take a sip of her wine.
I smirk, take Norah’s empty glass, and refill it. She smiles gratefully at me when I hand it back to her.