Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 72196 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 361(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72196 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 361(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
“I think that she doesn’t want to go back,” he answered. “I happened to overhear her and Hannah talking, and she asked if she was going to get her own room now.”
Right now she shared a room with Reggie when she came over. We didn’t have enough rooms for them all to have their own room, and since at the time Alex hadn’t lived with us, I hadn’t seen a reason to buy a house with the extra bedroom.
But if she was staying with me permanently, then I’d definitely start looking for somewhere else to stay.
“Be back,” I muttered.
Chapter 21
Boyfriend & boy friend. That space is the friend zone.
-Fact of Life
Hannah
I waved at Wolf as he dropped me off beside my car and said, “I’ll see you in a couple weeks. What does Nathan want for his birthday?”
Wolf shrugged his large shoulders. “Baseball stuff…Star Wars shit. I don’t know.”
I rolled my eyes and waved at him one more time. “Go. Let me know when you get home okay.”
He gave me a thumb up.
“Oh, and tell Raven to make sure she gives me an idea of what I need to bring.”
He gave me an ‘okay’ sign with his thumb and forefinger, then gunned his motorcycle and drove away.
Before I could get into the house, though, my phone rang.
I looked at the caller ID, which said it was the daycare.
“Hello?”
“Umm, Hannah, are you okay?”
I frowned. “I am, why, what’s wrong? Did Travis forget to get something?”
TJ’s daycare teacher snorted. “You could say that. Was he supposed to be getting TJ today?”
My stomach sank.
I looked at my watch and saw I was running late.
“Yes,” I moaned. “He didn’t, did he?”
“No,” Angel said. “And Reggie’s here, too.”
I frowned. “Alex?”
“No, not Alex. She didn’t get off with Reggie. Reggie said that Travis picked her up.”
I clenched my back teeth together and angrily yanked open my car door. “I’ll be there in five minutes, tops.”
I didn’t wait for her to hang up as I backed out of the driveway, going a little too fast.
My tires squealed in protest as I slammed on the brakes and accelerated down the road at a speed probably not meant for a neighborhood.
Regardless, I drove at least ten over the speed limit the entire way to the daycare and arrived within eight minutes, not ten.
My kids were the only ones left in the entire building, and I started apologizing the moment I pulled the front door open.
“I’m so, so, so, so sorry,” I apologized. “I didn’t know that Travis didn’t get them.”
She waved the apology away.
“I know. And it’s truly not a big deal. However, since you’re late, the daycare owner won’t let me get away with not charging you the late fee. It’s two dollars a minute.”
I looked at the clock. It was six thirty-three. That was sixty-six dollars that I didn’t have. I pulled open my purse and unzipped the secret compartment that I used to hold my extra petty cash for a rainy day. After counting off sixty-six dollars, I handed it to her and shoved the last five that I had back into the pocket.
“I’m so sorry,” I repeated. “I know you say it wasn’t a big deal, but I still feel like shit.”
She smiled gently at me. “No big deal, honey. Everyone does it.”
Not me, I wanted to say. Instead, I just smiled. “Thank you again. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Reggie reached for TJ’s diaper bag as I reached for TJ, who was strapped into his car seat, asleep.
Asleep.
I winced.
That would mean that he’d be wide-awake here in the next few minutes or so, and that would also mean that he’d be late going to bed. Which would make me late going to bed.
Wonderful.
“What happened, Mom?” Reggie asked as she walked at my side out to my Jeep.
I swallowed the words that threatened to come out and controlled my emotions before saying, “I don’t know, honey. I’ll figure it out, though.”
That was for damn sure.
Travis was also supposed to make dinner. My guess was that he forgot to do that, too.
Hence the reason for swinging into McDonald’s and ordering two Happy Meals for the girls before driving home.
By the time I pulled back into the driveway, TJ was well and truly pissed off and very much awake, and I was on the verge of tears.
After the day I’d had, I was convinced the day couldn’t get any worse.
I was wrong.
Chapter 22
Some things in life are better left unsaid. Which I generally realize after I’ve said them.
-Face of Life
Travis
“I’m hungry, Daddy.”
I looked up from the motor I was tinkering with and let my eyes move to the clock.
Then my stomach dropped.
Six forty-nine pm.
Holy fuck.
I dropped the wrench I was using to tighten a bolt and reached for Alex’s hand. “Come on, we have to go get…”
The door of the garage was kicked open, and Reggie came barreling inside, two Happy Meals in her hands. “I got food!”