Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 117494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
“Who was that? Kali, which one was that? They’re down to come here and dance with your Pops?”
8
KALI
We didn’t fly, and to this day, I couldn’t tell you why that didn’t happen. We just didn’t. Aly offered her SUV, so after she and Harper made their plans (I didn’t know what those were), we piled our suitcases into the vehicle. Then Harper brought out a cloth grocery bag of food, and Aly started bringing out the coolers.
Not one, or two. Three coolers.
Those were just the food.
The beverages filled up another two. I didn’t want to look at what she’d put in there, but I knew Aly liked her alcohol. I just hoped none of it was open.
But the next morning at ten, we were ready to go.
Aly wanted to drive. Harper wanted to ride shotgun—“the navigator,” he said. He looked the part with actual navigator sunglasses on and a huge map spread over his lap. I sat in the back, and when Aly started off, she handed her phone to me.
“Okay.” Harper smoothed his map, finding Friendly on it. “What route are we taking?”
Aly didn’t answer, she just looked at me.
I programmed Frisco, California, into her GPS app, hit the fastest route, and handed it back up.
The lady said, “Turn south onto US-50 W.”
Harper put the map down and gave us a look. “Fine. I was going for fun and adventurous, but if you two want to be bored out of your minds so early on, who am I to object?” If he’d sniffed, he would’ve sealed the whole thing.
He didn’t. Instead he slumped down in his seat and pulled out snack bag #1. As it crinkled, he popped two gummies into his mouth and lounged back. “So, Aly. You’re up.”
She tensed, her hands tightening on the wheel. “Why are we starting with me? Who needs coffee?”
She didn’t ask what the whole “up” thing was about. Those two knew.
I was missing out. “What’s going on?”
Harper ignored me, staring at Aly. “Your tank is full. We have beverages to last us for days. We both know Kali isn’t going to open up about her decision to go after her sister, when she just quit on Otis and she’s still digesting Foley’s cheating-capade, so the way I’m thinking, you’re up.”
“Keep on US-50 W for nine miles, where you’ll use the right lane to merge onto I-65 S using the ramp toward Louisville.”
Harper started laughing.
Aly groaned. “We talked about this last night.”
I leaned forward. No one had talked to me. “What talk? What’d you two talk about?” My hand curled over the back of Harper’s seat.
He continued to ignore me, his eyes on Aly. “We got her in the car for thirty-two hours, at least. We got time to grill Kali. You’re up. You might as well just start telling us about Mr. Hot and Sweaty Fireman.”
Aly’s eyes threatened to bulge out. She shifted in her seat, squirming.
I frowned. “I thought you wanted to date a millionaire farmer?”
“I do!” she burst out. “That’s my plan.”
“It’s not happening,” Harper said. “You’re almost forty—”
“I’m thirty-six.”
Harper shook his head, grabbing more gummies. The bag crinkled. “Let’s talk about who’s warming your sheets, and I heard you the other night. The floors aren’t that thick, not to mention the whole…” He hit the palm of his hand against the dashboard in a soft, tapping rhythm.
I fought off my laughter.
Aly looked ready to burst. Her face was all red.
Harper laughed and gestured to her hands on the steering wheel with his bag. “Hope you didn’t grip his dick that hard.”
“Agh!” she yelled, throwing herself back in her seat and releasing her hold on the wheel for a moment. One hand slid to the bottom as she took a more relaxed driving stance. “No one’s talked about Justin since he left—”
Harper sucked in his breath.
“If we’re blasting everyone, and saving Kali for last…” she continued.
“Hey,” I protested half-heartedly.
At least I now knew why they’d both come on this trip with me. To an extent, I owed them some conversation. I’d really not talked about Foley, and I knew I needed to start or that dick would be inside me forever.
I shuddered at the literal meaning of that last thought.
“My age has nothing to do with me spending time with Scott,” Aly added.
Scott! We had a name—oh holy shit!
I jerked forward. “Scott Campinah?”
“Exactly,” Harper confirmed.
“The Campinah fireman from the Campinah family who basically own Vernon?” I asked.
That was our neighbor town, and it was well-off. Unlike Friendly, which didn’t have a ton of businesses and was truly a dying small town, Vernon was not. It was a tourist town that was thriving, with six production warehouses there. They had a brand new hospital, a new high school, and their biggest debate was what color to paint the water tower. The fights on social media were nasty.