Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“I would follow you home, but my sisters enjoy having me come over and watch their kids. They might fight you for me, and there’s four of them and they fight dirty.”
“Been on the bad end of that dirty fighting, have you?”
“You have no idea.”
“I would love to meet them.”
“Where do you live?”
“Green Bay. You?”
“Chicago. We’ll have to arrange a visit.”
She took hold of my hand then. “I would love that. Let’s exchange numbers.”
And we did, which made me happy.
“You know, don’t Orson and Bitsy sound like some creepy couple who live in the crumbling house at the end of the block that you ran by superfast when you were little?”
“Stop,” she scolded.
“Bitsy always wants to give you stale cookies, and Orson has a lot of knives.”
“Stop,” she warned me, using her mom voice. “I mean it. You’re gonna make me pee.”
I started laughing, and then she did, and we were both done.
Another hour later, and along came Jeffrey Cushing, appearing far older than his thirty-seven years, with two boys in tow, one four, the other five.
“He looked better this morning when we left the house,” Ainsley commented. “But so did I.”
“You look radiant,” I assured her.
“I certainly feel better than I did when I got off the plane,” she said, smiling at me. “You really are a lifesaver.”
“As I told you earlier, I’m a fixer.”
“You most certainly are.”
Ainsley turned from me and waved, and the boys flew across the terminal to reach us, with Jeff carrying the same size backpack as she had, rolling one large suitcase and two smaller ones. The boys crashed into their mother, happy to see her, climbing all over her and explaining, in great detail, talking over one another, the things their father didn’t know how to do, from playing their shows on their tablets, to giving them their snacks, to not telling the lady on the plane that they didn’t drink grape juice or cranberry, only apple.
When they noticed me holding Gemma, who was passed out on my shoulder, I held out my hand to each and introduced myself. Joey, the oldest, met me first, and then Timothy. Once Jeff reached us, he flopped gracelessly down into the seat beside Ainsley.
“You all right?” she teased him.
“I’m sorry for not realizing you’re a rock star. I apologize wholeheartedly for anything I might have ever said that led you to believe you’re not amazing.”
Her smile was radiant.
I thought, Attaboy, Jeff. He was utterly redeemed in my eyes with a few simple words.
“You have stores of patience I do not possess. Like, at all.”
She was chuckling as she took his hand. “No more boy trips unless I get to take girl trips. Fair is fair.”
“Oh yes. Agreed. Without question,” he acknowledged sincerely. “And I’m sorry for those too. It’s you and me from now on. Lots of weekend trips together, just the family. We can go on adventures up at my sister’s cabin.”
“That sounds really good.”
He sighed deeply and kissed her. The boys made disgusted noises, like they were going to die. Once the kiss was over, they both turned to me.
“You must be the amazing Cooper.”
“I’m amazing?” I asked Ainsley.
“Ohmygod, without question. Completely. I mean, you bought lunch.”
“I did. I did buy lunch.”
She tipped her head as she grinned at me. “I don’t suppose you want to take that one with you?” she offered, waggling her eyebrows at me.
“I might. Let me think about it.”
“Well,” Jeff said, “since we’re all going to the same place, shall we grab one of the inn shuttles?”
“Yes, please,” Ainsley agreed. “I mean, I’ve grown fond of this airport, but a bed sounds good, as does a shower.”
“It’s only an hour away,” Jeff told her.
“What?” she whined.
“Maybe longer,” I chimed in. “There’s a lot of rain out there, and fog.”
Her groan was loud.
Gemma woke up then, was very happy to see her daddy, but had to pee. Once all the children had gone to the bathroom and Taylor’s diaper was changed, we got ready to go.
Jeff was surprised when his daughter refused the stroller and walked over to me, arms lifted. Picking her up, I put her on my suitcase and zipped the parka.
“That’s amazing,” Jeff told me as Timothy, the four-year-old, got into the front seat of the stroller, ready to be pushed, worn out from the flights.
Joey was happy to take his mother’s hand, and we were off.
Once we reached the shuttles, I stood with them as people who knew Ainsley greeted her. I noted that they kept their distance from the children. I suspected no one wanted any part of Ainsley and Jeff’s more-than-likely-sticky kids. That’s what my sisters always told me.
On the shuttle, Gemma wanted to sit with me, and I made sure she could see out the window. There were comments about the ocean and fish, the rain, which, with a booming clap of thunder, began coming down in sheets, and then she asked me if I had any more crackers.