Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 69025 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69025 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
“You’re the only one who likes Pissy Missy,” DJ taunted.
“What did you say young man?” Brandi’s eyes locked with DJ’s in the rear view mirror. Lord, save me from strangling my kids tonight. Being the mother of two active eight-year-olds wasn’t easy. At times they were angels and they could do no wrong, but other times she wanted to send them both off to boot camp, especially when they argued as they were doing now.
DJ looked like a deer caught in the headlights. “Mom, she’s always having accidents and that’s why all the other kids call her that.”
“Just because everyone does, it doesn’t mean that you should join in. If everyone else jumped off a building, would you do that, too? Don’t roll your eyes at me, mister, unless you want to lose them. I better not hear you talk like that again.” Her expression softened when she caught the sight of his contrite expression.
“Look, baby, this girl may have a medical condition that she can’t help. If there was something medically wrong with you that made you different, would you want people to make fun of you?”
“I guess not. I’m sorry.”
“Okay, but the next time I hear you talk like that, it’s no television for a week,” Brandi warned.
“Yeah!” Mya smirked.
“Mya, I don’t need comments from the peanut gallery. I’m a little disappointed in you, too, young lady.”
“What did I do?”
“Your comment about Mr. Collins’s hair wasn’t very nice.”
“She said that about Ben, too!” DJ seemed glad that the heat was off him, but apparently saw no problem with throwing his sister in the line of fire.
Brandi shot her son a glare before turning back to the road. That silenced him.
“I know, but I don’t like redheads,” Mya said.
“Why not?”
“They all have gross freckles and their breath stinks.”
Brandi sighed. Unlike her son, her daughter sometimes didn’t know when to stop.
“See! I told you, she was listening to Missy Reynolds.”
Brandi ignored DJ’s comment. “Don’t you think judging someone based on something they can’t help is just as bad as making fun of someone with a health condition?” She addressed both children. “Remember that movie we watched about Dr. Martin Luther King? How would you feel if someone didn’t like you because your skin is brown? I didn’t teach you kids to treat people that way. What do you think your father would have said if he were here?”
Both children were silent for a moment, before DJ spoke first. “He would say we should treat people like we want to be treated.”
“Yeah,” Mya agreed. There was another long silence.
“I miss Dad,” DJ said.
“Me, too,” said Mya.
“We all miss him.” Brandi sighed and her eyes filled with tears. She wore Rodney’s ring, but she couldn’t stop thinking about Damon. She didn’t have the heart to put Damon’s wedding ring away, so she now wore it on her right hand. She wondered again if she was doing the right thing by marrying him when her heart belonged to a dead man.
Later that night when the kids were in bed, Brandi flipped on the TV. She surfed through the channels until she came across a commercial with a familiar face: Mason Collins. She knew she had seen him somewhere before! He was the slick car salesman that Damon used to laugh at. Judging by his flashy commercials, he seemed more cocky, brash, and totally unappealing. She would never have guessed that she would be drawn to someone like Mason. What made him so different in person?
As she lay in bed, she still wasn’t satisfied about the enigma of Mason Collins. Brandi just couldn’t shake the feeling that she knew him better from somewhere else. Her dreams that night were filled by the images of a handsome man with startling green eyes, red hair… and Damon’s face.
CHAPTER FOUR
“Mom, I think this is the place.” DJ pointed out to the large stone mansion.
Brandi gaped as she slowed down to take in the magnificent structure. She glanced at her directions. 218 Crawford Road. She already knew Mason Collins was probably wealthy since he owned a couple of car dealerships, but she still didn’t expect such splendor. Turning into the driveway, she gave her son the speech.
“Remember what I said when you go in there. You will thank Mr. Collins for having you over and you will behave yourself. If I hear that you’ve misbehaved, no more sleepovers. Do you understand, mister?”
“Yes, Mom. This place is sweet! I bet Mr. Collins is real super rich.” DJ echoed her earlier thoughts.
“I would imagine so if he lives in a place like this,” she agreed, bringing the car to a halt. When her son came home earlier in the week to say that his new friend invited him for a sleepover, Brandi could hardly say no. DJ was a good kid who always got good grades, but she felt wary about seeing Mason Collins again. There was something about him that nagged at her. Since the night they met, she couldn’t get him out of her mind; it was disturbing.