Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 35195 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 176(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35195 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 176(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
Caden came in a few minutes later, spotted me, and headed my way. A slight grin was back on his face as he took the seat across from me. “We’re getting comfortable?”
“It was the bartender’s suggestion, and I agree with him. This table has the best view.” I informed him what else the guy had said and Caden was nodding by the time I was done. I asked, “All set for the place?”
“Yeah. The guy didn’t want to talk, but seemed fine with it. We figured it out. It’s not far from here.” The bartender was coming over with my drink, and Caden watched as he did. “I asked Marcus to run this place too, see if anything weird popped up.”
“Did it?”
His eyes narrowed as he shrugged. “Nothing that’ll affect us. Think he was just being helpful, not setting us up for anything.”
That made me feel better, and also the excitement just got even more. I felt like I was a full balloon and floating to the ceiling. Drinking with Caden was my favorite thing, or one of them. Mix in pizza, mermaids, and watching the locals? I was in!
Also, it was close to Christmas so the place was decked out in decorations. A giant palm tree was in the corner with little flamingos hanging from it.
2
The pizza came over. A second beer for Caden. A third fruity drink for me.
I was buzzing when the locals started showing up, and there was a whole other buzz coming from them. They were excited as well, and I was feeding off that. We were getting a few looks, mostly the women were checking Caden out, and I could not fault them. A few middle-aged ladies were giving him looks, but also giving me smiles because whatever I was doing, they were enjoying.
Not that I thought I was doing anything. Maybe they could just see my excitement levels because I was not hiding that.
After eating, Caden and I played darts. It was heated and competitive. The heat level kept getting stoked because Caden would stand behind me as I threw and I wasn’t about to push him away. We’d been together all through college, been living together since, and we married five years ago. We also had two little girls, twins. Caden was doing his business, a tech company, but it was growing massively and I’d been busy going to graduate school. I was now doing post-graduate work, which I got paid for, but it wasn’t much. The last couple years had been hard so this trip had been a welcomed adventure.
We were reassured that the girls were good with my dad. Repeatedly reassured. The last I heard they were going gnome hunting in the backyard.
“Babe.”
I’d been picking out music, but looked back. Another couple was at our table, standing next to Caden. It took a second for it to click who they were, but once I did, I was across the room in a heartbeat. Shay and Kennedy Coleman.
Caden and Shay had been friends first. Each knew of the other through university events, or knew of each other because while we didn’t go to the same colleges, both were in the same social circle. Also, everyone at our school knew Caden and it was similar with Shay. He’d been the starting quarterback of his football team, and one time at a conference, the two hit it off over a beer. They’d been tight ever since.
Kennedy and I became friendly later. I heard about Shay, but it was a couple years before I met him, until one time, he and his wife were driving through and they stayed at our place for the night. I liked Kennedy, but I was also a little scared of her. You didn’t mess with Kennedy Coleman. Though, she was hella loyal. But fierce. I was sure that came in handy with her career since she was a broker. Shay, I wasn’t quite sure what he did. It was some sort of liaison person between colleges and professional football teams. He did a lot of traveling. Kennedy mentioned that a lot, if Shay was home or not.
Seeing them now, as I wrapped my arms around Kennedy for a hug, I had to wonder if Caden did this as a second surprise. “What are you guys doing here?”
Kennedy held me a little longer before stepping back, blinking rapidly. She tucked a piece of my hair back for me, a soft wistfulness flashing over her face before totally stepping back. “We’re–”
Her husband moved in, bending down to give me a hug too. A strong hug. And firm. He murmured while he was there, “We’re so sorry about the baby.”
That had me choking up because that was so sweet of him. I stepped back, brushing a hand over my face, and moved right into Caden, who wrapped a hand around me, going to my hip. He tucked me close to him.