Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71110 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71110 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
He’d thought he would let the whole thing go. After all, it wasn’t his place to watch after Lou.
But then he’d heard her trying to rearrange her life so she could take care of her kid. Then he’d heard her mother-in-law. At least he thought that’s who the Amelia person was. It was either her mom or her mother-in-law. He was going with in-law because Daphne hadn’t called the woman on the other end of the line Mom.
Daphne also didn’t believe in holding the phone to her ear. Every conversation had been on speaker, so he’d heard how Amelia had coldly put her in a corner. He’d been around a lot of manipulative people, and Amelia wanted something from Daphne. Likely more control. He wasn’t sure. He would need to hear a bit more.
Not that it was his business. Though he kind of wanted to make it his business.
Puddles was cuddled up on a blanket on the couch, his big body surrounding Sprinkles. The Chihuahua’s head rested on the pit bull’s muscular leg, and she barely opened her eyes as he walked back in. That warmed his heart because when he’d first brought the Chihuahua home, she’d nipped at anyone who got close to her, barking and warning everyone off. And Puddles had hidden in the bathroom for two weeks. Boomer had spent a lot of time sitting with the scared pup before he’d finally started exploring. Now they could find comfort in each other.
The cat was curled up on MaeBe’s lap as she closed her laptop and turned his way. She’d set up her gaming laptop on his kitchen table along with all the miscellaneous stuff that went with raiding online dungeons and taking down other guilds.
He liked having her around. He had to admit that living alone had gotten kind of boring, but he was too old to do the roommate thing. At least that’s what everyone told him. “Good raid?”
She shrugged. “It was okay. Mostly I talked to Kraven.”
“Is he a guy in your guild? Or chick. Kraven could be a chick.” He was not a big MMORPG guy. He preferred sports games or first-person shooters. He’d liked playing Call of Duty but forgot which side he was on enough times that very few people wanted to play with him.
MaeBe’s hand stroked over Sheba’s back, causing the cat to purr. “Kraven is a dude. At least he is according to the pronouns in his bio. He joined up a couple of days after I did, so we’re kind of newbies together. He seems nice, and he’s going through a bad breakup, too. I guess sad attracts sad. Were you talking to someone out there? I thought you couldn’t find your phone. I’m putting a tracker on it, by the way.”
He would let her do whatever she needed to because he often forgot to charge the sucker, and that was inevitably when Puddles decided to hide it. The dog was creative. He’d found the phone behind the trashcan, buried under covers, tucked away in the bathroom towels Boomer had let fall to the floor. That particular one had felt a little like judgment, and he’d picked up the towels from then on. “I was talking to Daphne. She was out on her balcony.”
“Did you give her your second beer?” MaeBe’s eyes had widened.
He shrugged. Second beer was a thing with him. “She was having a rough night.”
“That’s practically a declaration of love, Boom. What is happening?”
He was serious about his two beers. He only got two a day, and he took them out on the balcony after dinner and sat and watched the night and thought about stuff. Mostly he let himself be. Usually he had one or two of the pack with him, but they’d opted to huddle in with MaeBe this evening.
“I’m only trying to help her out. I liked Lou,” he hedged. “She doesn’t have anywhere to go after school, so I thought while Daphne is looking around, Lou could hang around the office with us. Well, with the other kids. Brianna is her age.”
Brianna was Adam, Jake, and Serena’s daughter, and she often came up to the office after school when her mother was on the road. He was pretty sure Serena was in New York meeting with her publisher this week, so Bri would be hanging out. Technically her dads didn’t work for MT anymore, but they shared the day care with Miles-Dean, Weston, and Murdoch.
MaeBe stared at him for a moment as though trying to figure him out. “How long have you had a crush on the mom?”
He didn’t have a crush on her. Not exactly. “I think she’s cute.”
“She’s kind of a raging bitch.”
“No, she’s not.” Daphne had come on strong earlier, but she’d been worried and hadn’t been able to get anyone on the phone. He would have been worried, too. “She’s just a little high strung, and I can’t blame her for that. I would be if I had all the responsibility she does.”