Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 68524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
“You keep saying that, but it’s just not true,” she insisted. “You’re adorable, Collie.”
“And he’s hot.”
“Yeah, he is. You know who he reminds me of? That chef from that TV show.”
“That’s what I told him! He had no idea who I was talking about.”
She said, “I know what you should do. Kiss him and see what happens.”
“I definitely should not do that.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t want to make things awkward between us. I have weeks of recovery ahead of me, and I’m going to be living under his roof while that happens. That’s already a lot.”
“What if both of you are waiting for the other guy to make a move? You’ll never get anywhere at that rate.”
“He’s not.”
“How do you know?”
“I just do.” She shot me a look and took a sip out of a Chicken Bucket cup. I changed the subject by asking, “Is that a strawberry shake?”
“Of course. We both know it’s the only decent thing they sell at the Bucket.”
“Where are your kids right now?”
“At my mother-in-law’s. I told her I was going to get my hair cut in Boise, so she’s not expecting me back for a couple more hours.”
“Where’d you actually get it cut?”
“Darlene Woodbury did it for me.” Darlene had been running an unlicensed salon out of her trailer since the 1970s.
“I thought we agreed going to Darlene was a bad idea, after she caught Shirley Johnson’s hair on fire with her cigarette.”
“I told her she couldn’t smoke around me, since I’m eight months pregnant. See? Problem solved.”
“Kind of.”
“I should let you go, because I really want to take a nap before I pick up the kids. Do you swear you’re doing okay, and that you’re telling me everything?”
“I swear.”
“And do you swear my hair looks alright?”
“It’s adorable, Jeannie.”
She sighed and muttered, “I guess I’ll get used to it. What choice do I have?”
After we ended the call, I pulled up my blanket and hugged my toy alligator to my chest. Miller had bought it for me. It was about a foot and a half long, and it was meant as a stand-in for Hubert Humphrey, since he was way too big to bring to the hospital. I’d named this one Adlai Stevenson, continuing my theme of twentieth century Democratic Vice Presidents. When Miller asked me why I’d chosen that theme, all I could really say was, “Why not?”
He returned a few minutes later with a strawberry-banana smoothie for each of us. I thanked him and clinked my paper cup to his. “Cheers.”
We both took a sip, and then he asked, “How’s Jeannie?”
“She traumatized herself by cutting all her hair off. Other than that, she’s fine.”
“Her due date must be getting close.”
“Yeah, it’s less than a month away. Her last three were all late by a few days though, and—oh shit, Miller! I just realized we missed your almost-married-a-douche date!”
“My what?”
“When you first mentioned that the one-year anniversary of your wedding date was coming up, I told you I’d spend the day getting drunk with you. But then, all of this happened and I forgot about it.” I gestured at our surroundings as I said that.
“I forgot too, which was great,” he said. “I only remembered two days later, when I happened to glance at a calendar. I thought that anniversary was going to be painful, so I love the fact that I skated right through it.”
“So then, I guess I did help in a way, because my medical shit was such a massive distraction.”
He reached out and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear as he told me, “You helped in a lot of ways.” Then he stroked my hair, and his fingertips trailed down to lightly brush my cheek.
I loved it when he did things like that. I wanted to believe he was looking for excuses to touch me, but maybe it was just the human equivalent of petting a cat.
“I’ve always wanted to ask,” I said, after a minute. “What did you see in Bruce?”
He grinned at me. “I always wanted a Ken doll as a kid, but my parents wouldn’t get me one.”
That made me grin, too. “I knew it.”
He thought about it before saying, “I guess the real answer is that he made me feel special. He was the kind of guy who could have anyone, but he chose me.”
“I get it.” I took another sip of my drink before asking, “Do you feel like you got closure after your relationship ended?”
“The answer was no for a long time, but I think I actually got it the day I ran into him in the hospital cafeteria. It was a short conversation, but it provided a lot of clarity.”
Once we finished our smoothies, I told him, “I know you’re nervous about the meeting with your art director tomorrow, so you should go home and work on your sketches.” As much as I wanted him to stay with me, I felt guilty for taking up so much of his time, especially because he was under pressure at his job.