Total pages in book: 157
Estimated words: 161899 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 809(@200wpm)___ 648(@250wpm)___ 540(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 161899 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 809(@200wpm)___ 648(@250wpm)___ 540(@300wpm)
The solidity.
The serenity.
The oasis.
No.
Our mountain.
I moved to the kitchen, to my tea and to my daughter, seriously at one with this thought.
I did this having no idea, in just a couple of hours, and onward from that, how significantly that concept was going to be tested.
Chapter Nineteen
The Goal
Auggie
If Pepper’s earlier phone call hadn’t shared the intel with him, his greeting not quite at the door of her place that evening did.
He’d parked in her drive and the door to her house opened before he’d closed the one on his Telluride.
And Juno was racing to him.
He saw her mom in the doorway.
But he had no choice but to give her daughter his full attention.
She shuddered to a halt in front of him and almost shouted, “Hey, Auggie!”
“Hey, sweetheart,” he replied.
That was when she threw herself at him, hugging his hips.
He rested his hand on her head.
In rank, his favorite was Pepper opening the door like she couldn’t wait for him to turn up.
But this was a very close second.
She jumped back.
“We did all the prep work,” she announced. “Mom said that’s no fun. It’s way more fun to put it together and cook it. Do you like cutting stuff up?”
“I’m down with wherever you are in the process.”
“Yay!” she said, then nabbed his hand.
They headed toward the door with Juno doing a kind of walk-skip at his side that was a lot more than kind of cute.
When they got to the front porch, Juno let him go, stepped back, and stared at him and her mother expectantly.
He gave his attention to Pepper.
And he saw that night, it was at-home gear: black leggings, white tee that fell loosely to her hips, oversized light gray cardigan over that.
She had makeup on, though, and her hair was curled.
The clothes were communicating something for Juno.
The rest was for Auggie.
“Hey,” he said, seeing her, the effort she made, thinking about their morning, the night before and feeling his lips tip up.
“Hey,” she replied, then gave him a slight dip of her chin that said, Yes, we’re in that zone with Juno, but keep it cool.
He did that, bending to touch his mouth to hers, and that was it.
Her green eyes were sparkling when he pulled away.
He grinned at her, and when her gaze started going in that direction, his did too and they looked down at Juno.
Her eyes weren’t sparkling.
She was lit up.
This was going to be a fun night.
“C’mon.” Juno grabbed Auggie’s hand again and dragged him inside.
Like it always did, the place looked good and smelled good, and by the time Juno got him to the kitchen, he knew the second part of that was about the candles Pepper had burning.
“Okay, so the edamame is eeeee-zeeeee, so we’re not gonna mess with that now,” Juno declared. “That means you have your choice. You can make the teriyaki sauce. Or you can put the dumplings together with me. Which way are you gonna go?”
“Totally dumplings,” he told her.
She radiated glee and then hopped over to a space at the counter where there was a step stool set up and a bunch of stuff laid out.
“This is our station,” she shared as she stepped onto the stool.
“Are you hungry, Dollface?” Pepper asked, and he looked over his shoulder to see her close.
She demonstrated this closeness further by pressing her hand to his back, somehow making a touch you might do to a stranger something demonstrative and warm and communicative.
It said Welcome to our home.
It said Have fun with my daughter.
It said I’m glad you’re here.
He’d had versions of all that before from other women, from friends.
But he also didn’t miss that this time, it meant more than it ever had.
“Oh no,” Juno said, and Aug turned back to her. “Are you hungry, Auggie?”
“I’m good to cook,” he replied.
“I’m asking that because you’re rushing, baby girl,” Pepper said, moving away from him and toward the fridge. “Maybe Aug might want to start out with a beer or something.”
“Oh my gosh! Sorry!” Juno cried, jumped off the stool and raced to the fridge. She opened it and called it down. “We have beers. And Mom’s wine. And we have grape juice, because that’s my favorite. And cranberry juice, because that’s Mom’s favorite. And fizzy water that tastes like cherries, because that’s Mom’s and my favorite.” She turned to him. “Or we can pour fresh tea over ice. Mom says that tastes heavenly.”
She exaggerated that last word with a roll of her eyes, which meant when she focused back on Auggie, he was smiling.
“Beer, Juno,” he ordered. “Thanks.”
“Grab that bottle of wine while you’re at it, honey,” Pepper said, even though she was standing over her daughter at the fridge.
Juno did the heavy lifting.
Pepper popped the cap on the beer.
Auggie took the beer as Pepper asked him, “Good day?”
It was now.