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)
He sounded emotional when he said, “She named the baby Colleen Susan. Colleen is meant to be a feminine version of my name, and Susan is for my aunt. I can’t even tell you what that means to me, and what it would have meant to Aunt Sue.”
“That’s really cool.”
“It is, and mama and baby are both doing great. Also, Dwight stayed by her side for the entire delivery. I’m so glad she didn’t go through that alone.”
As we took a seat around the table, I asked, “When did you talk to her?”
“About half an hour ago, when I was on my walk. It turns out Brad got there a couple of hours after the baby was born, and he confessed everything when Jeannie confronted him. He apologized, but he also said he’s in love with his girlfriend, and that he’d been planning on ending his marriage after the baby was born.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah. She told Brad she wants him and his stuff out of the house today, before she gets home from the hospital.”
“Does she seem okay?”
“Jeannie was acting really matter-of-fact about the whole thing, but I know she’s deeply hurt,” he said. “At some point it’s all going to catch up to her, and she’ll break down and cry her eyes out. But that might be a day or two down the road.”
“Does she know you’re on the way?”
“Yup. She yelled at me at first, until I told her I wasn’t driving. Also, she thinks I’m just coming for a visit. She’ll be mad when she finds out I’m moving back, but eventually she’ll realize it’s for the best.”
As Collie unpacked two coffees and a couple of breakfast sandwiches, I asked, “Are you sure you should move back if she doesn’t want you to?”
“Definitely. Jeannie’s the type of person who could have a house fall down on top of her and still be like, ‘no, no, I’ve got this. I don’t need your help.’ Uh, yeah you do, sis.”
After we ate, we gathered our stuff and got back on the road. This time, Collie and the cat curled up together on the passenger seat. I was surprised she was so calm about this whole thing. The few times I’d tried to take her somewhere, she’d acted like I was trying to kill her.
Collie fished around in the glove box and produced a mix tape, which he popped into the van’s cassette player. His taste in music wasn’t quite as retro as mine, but it was all older stuff—The Cure, Talking Heads, Elvis Costello. When I commented on it, he said, “I got my taste from Aunt Sue. She always had music playing, and this is what she loved. She got no complaints from me, obviously. This stuff is awesome.”
Then he shifted around in his seat and tucked his feet under him as he told me, “I might end up dozing off again. It happens whenever I’m on the road and not the one driving. If so, I apologize in advance for being such boring company.”
“It’s fine.”
“Could you wake me up when we get close to Boise? We’ll be passing right by it on our way to my hometown, and I want to stop off and buy some gifts for Jeannie and the kids.”
“Yeah, no problem.”
Five minutes later he was sound asleep, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
15
Collie
We rolled into Boise in the early afternoon, and I gave Miller directions to a huge shopping center. “Man,” he murmured, as we parked in the lot, “I haven’t been to a mall in years.”
“I used to come here a lot, especially when I was a teenager.”
Miller grinned at me. “Okay, so clearly, you’re a vampire. You claim to be twenty-seven, but your musical taste and the fact that you were a mall rat in your teens suggests otherwise. Plus, you use a parasol when you spend time in the sun. That’s a real tip-off.”
“This isn’t the first time someone’s accused me of that.”
I climbed into the back of the van and found my messenger bag. As I folded an old T-shirt and stuck it in the bottom, Miller asked, “What are you doing?”
“Building a makeshift pet purse. Kate wants to come inside with us.”
“Does she?”
“Well, we can’t leave her in the van.”
“I mean, we could. It’s not hot out, and we’re parked in the shade.”
“It’s not that,” I said. “She’d be lonely.”
I placed the cat in the bag, and she settled in comfortably with her head sticking out the top. When I reached for the strap, Miller told me, “I’ll carry her. You’re not supposed to lift anything.”
“She doesn’t weigh that much.”
He picked up the cat-stuffed messenger bag and said, “Just let me do it.”
We climbed out of the van, and after I locked up, I turned to him and chuckled. He’d put the strap around the back of his neck instead of carrying it crossbody-style, so the bag was positioned in front of him like a kangaroo pouch. Miller frowned at me when I told him, “You look adorable.”