Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 169272 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 846(@200wpm)___ 677(@250wpm)___ 564(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 169272 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 846(@200wpm)___ 677(@250wpm)___ 564(@300wpm)
“Are you sad you won’t be working with Kat again?”
“Maybe a little. It was a nice fantasy to imagine myself working side by side with her for the rest of my life. But the happiness I feel for Kat far outweighs any selfish sadness I might feel. Plus, the upside is that I’m now one step closer to looking for my dream job, in earnest. Once I know Maddy’s whereabouts in the fall, I’ll have a better idea of where I should look.”
“Cool.” Henn pauses. “So, wait, does that mean, if Maddy gets into UCLA, you’ll for sure move to LA with her?”
I can practically hear Henn’s heartbeat through my phone. “I think it does, yeah. But if she doesn’t get in, then I’d be open to moving to LA one day, regardless. Probably in a few years, after Maddy’s graduation.” I feel myself blushing. “Unless, of course, you’re thinking about moving to Seattle. With Josh living here now, maybe you’d love it here.”
“Uh, yeah, maybe. I think that’s a possibility.”
“That’s not what you’d prefer to do, though?”
Henn is quiet for a long moment. “I’ll do anything to get to live in the same city with you, sooner rather than later. Literally, anything. But, yeah, if I ruled the world, if I had superpowers and could make happen anything I wanted, then you’d move to LA.”
“It’s awfully hard to beat LA’s weather.”
“Very true.”
“But even if we lived in the same city, would I see you very much, given how much you travel? Plus, wherever I live, I’ll have a job, so that will limit our time together, too.”
“Babe, first off, your new job, whatever it is, will be remote. You’re not gonna take any job unless you’ve got that option, at least part of the time, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Which means whenever I travel, you’ll come with me. In fact, when this stint in DC is over, I’m gonna show you the world with all my millions.”
My heart skips a beat. I love you, Henny. The words are on the tip of my tongue, a breath from breaching my lips. I know if I said them now, Henny would say them back to me, so there’s no risk in that sense. But we’ve made it this far without saying the words for the first time in a phone call. At this point, I feel determined to say “I love you” to Henn for the first time in person, so we can seal our love with a romantic kiss.
“Oh, hang on, babe,” Henn says abruptly. To someone on his end of the line, he says, “Americano, with two extra shots.” Returning to me, he says, “I’m at the coffee place. What can I get you?” It’s been our usual joke these past weeks apart. We say it, or text it, any time either one of us is grabbing coffee.
“A vanilla iced latte with oat milk.”
“You’ve got it.” I smile to myself as I await Henn’s return to our phone call, and a few seconds later, he says, “So, what else is new, pretty lady?”
“You mean, besides Kat’s bombshell baby news? Nothing much, really. Oh! Maddy’s UCLA application status changed to ‘received’ on her dashboard this morning.”
“Awesome. My stomach just did a somersault. Was she able to update her application to include—”
“Her big award? Yep! She amended her application two days ago.”
“Yeehaw.”
“I’m so excited, it might as well be my application.”
“Mine, too.”
“Ever since she told me, I’ve been crossing my fingers, toes, ankles, eyes, nipples, and fallopian tubes.”
Henn laughs. “I’d pay good money to see that. Especially the crossed nipples.”
I giggle. “What about you? Any news since we talked last night?”
“Nope. Same ol’ same ol’. Except I’m sad to report I’m pretty sure I won’t be done here before the wedding. There’s still an outside chance, but I think it’s a slim one.”
“Shoot.” I exhale with disappointment. I knew the chances of Henn finishing the project and making it to Seattle long before Jonas and Sarah’s wedding were low. But, still, I’ve been holding out hope he’d come to the wedding and then be able to stay with me for weeks after that. “The good news,” I say, trying to keep my voice from reflecting my extreme disappointment, “is that absence makes the heart grow fonder. Just think how much fun we’ll have when you’re finally free.”
“And hopefully, a whole lot richer.”
“Nipples crossed. Is it looking like anyone else is poised to swoop in and take the money any time soon?”
“I don’t really talk to the other gunslingers all that much, but from what I can surmise, everyone’s bees are every bit as fuddled as mine. Who knows, though. They could be keeping their cards close to the vest.”
“I don’t get why some of you aren’t teaming up. Aren’t several heads better than one in a situation like this?”