Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 98345 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98345 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
“Okay, let’s do this,” I said as I grabbed my small purse. I’d texted Lacey earlier to tell her I’d meet everyone there. I wanted to be able to leave when I wanted to. It had been a while since I’d hung out with any friends from Hamilton. Most of them didn’t really know me anymore, and vice versa. They were Lacey’s friends more than they were mine.
Heading downstairs, I found my mother and father in the kitchen. They both looked up from the island where they were making pizzas.
“You look cute. Is Lacey picking you up?” Mom asked.
“No,” I said, grabbing a pepperoni and putting it into my mouth. After chewing, I swallowed and added, “I’m meeting them there. I didn’t want to be stuck there all night.”
Dad laughed. “You sound like you’re thirty-eight, not eighteen.”
I shrugged. “I had to go to so many parties in France, and it got old quick.”
They both looked at me, my father’s brows nearly up to his hairline. “What kind of parties?” he asked.
I shrugged. “Just parties. Some were after fashion shows, some thrown by designers hoping to get the best models possible. Some were just parties that Juliette invited me to. Those were fun. Those were the ones that made me feel normal, because I was around people more my own age who weren’t interested in the industry.”
Mom faced me, leaning her hip against the counter. “Avery, you talk about Paris as if you didn’t like it there.”
Another one-shoulder shrug. “It was okay, but I think the glamour wore off when I realized fashion wasn’t for me.”
Folding her arms over her chest, she asked, “Why didn’t you tell us that? You could have come home anytime, you know.”
“I know,” I said, taking another pepperoni. “But I made a commitment, and I wasn’t about to back out of it.”
“Spoken like a true Littlewood,” my father said with a smile. Then it faded. “Although, I would have gladly had you come back home earlier if I’d known you were unhappy.”
“I wasn’t exactly unhappy. And it doesn’t matter anymore. I’m home, and thanks to you and Mom—and an anonymous donor—the next phase of my life is about to start.”
“And what an exciting phase it will be!” Mom said with a huge smile.
I nodded. “Yes, it will be.” I glanced at my Apple watch. “I’d better get going. I won’t be out too late. I’ll text when I get there and when I leave.”
Dad rolled his eyes. “Avery, you don’t have to text us. You lived on your own in France without us there. I think we can trust you.”
“Well…do text us when you leave,” Mom added.
Smiling, I walked over and kissed them both. “I love you. Have a fun evening!”
“You as well,” Mom called out.
Thank goodness the snow had stopped falling, so the drive into town wasn’t bad. I pulled into The Blue Moose and parked my mother’s Subaru Outback. I loved driving her car and had already decided I wanted one as well.
There was a small line at the door, and I waited patiently. Lacey and everyone were already there. Once I got up to the bouncer, I showed him my driver’s license. Those who were over 21, got their hands stamped.
“Enjoy yourself and be safe,” he said, motioning for me to walk in.
Once inside, I glanced around. There was a mixture of people there—some older, some my age, and some in between. It wasn’t the first time I’d been in the bar. I’d gone once with my father to pick something up, but the bar was closed at the time. My father had smiled fondly and told me he and my uncles had had some good times in this place.
I scanned the bar for Lacey, and finally found her on the dance floor, dancing with some guy I didn’t recognize.
Her gaze caught mine, and she let out a little scream that I, of course, couldn’t hear over the music. She left the guy on the dance floor and made her way over to me. I looked over her shoulder to see him frowning before he headed toward a table with a bunch of other guys.
“You’re here! You’re here!” Lacey said, pulling me in for a hug. She stepped back—and her smile faded. “That’s what you’re wearing?”
Glancing down, I looked at my outfit and then back at her. “What’s wrong with this?”
She curled her lip. “I thought you’d be in some amazing outfit from France. Like the ones you wore on the runway.”
I laughed. “Nothing I wore on the runway would be appropriate for a bar in Montana, Lacey.”
“I’d wear it,” she argued.
I rolled my eyes. “Do you have a table?”
“Yes! And guess what? Your cousins are here!”
Frowning, I asked, “My cousins?”
She wrapped her arm with mine. “Yep. Don’t ask me how they got in—probably because they’re with your uncles—but Josh and Nathan are here!”