Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 65083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
“That won’t get you out of helping with the dishes,” she teases him, and we all laugh.
When we were kids, Mr. Sanchez always did the “tell me one thing you learned at school this week” question. Gage was very dutiful about always having an answer ready; he would tell me, at some point during the week, and I would write it down in the little notebook where I’d recorded my own response. I was always the organized one, even then.
Thorn usually had an answer, too. He didn’t love school, but he didn’t mind it.
Kai was the one who struggled.
He hated school; it was too confining for his restless nature. I always thought he would have liked it more if he could have had his classes at the same time as he was dismantling a car engine, or if all the books could have been set to music, or if he’d been able to listen and draw what he heard.
Despite Kai’s distaste for formal education, his father wouldn’t let him get away with sarcasm at dinner (“I learned that Bobby Wilcox cries like a baby if you hit him. No, not me! It was Pedro!”). He had to give a genuine answer. So we kids would have a little huddle, every week before dinner, to help him figure out what his response could be.
It’s those memories, combined with a sudden mischievous impulse, that have me asking, “So, what did everyone learn this week?”
LEXY
Mr. Sanchez smiles, quietly pleased. Thorn grins. “I learned that cinnamon and thyme taste amazing together.”
“Really. Who would have guessed that?”
“They make a great marinade, along with a few other ingredients. I’ll make it for dinner some night.”
“Sounds like a plan.” I smile at him, knowing that I’ll be here at least a little while to share meals and other moments. The certainty wraps around me like a soft, warm blanket.
Gage says, “I learned that I prefer bamboo sheets to linen or cotton.”
Thinking about Gage in a bed, regardless of the type of sheets, makes my face go warm. I curse my tendency to blush and say brightly, “Okay then! Would you like to share with the class your research into the different fabrics?”
Thorn snickers. Kai is too quiet for comfort.
Gage smiles, shrugs, and says, “They’re all good fabrics, but I find that bamboo gives me the best combination of comfort, softness, and durability.”
This makes me think about activities that are hard on sheets, which has me blushing again. Dammit! I turn to Kai, willing him to play along. “Anything?”
He eyes me, and I know he wants to say something about what he and I learned together this afternoon in my hotel room. But he’s not going to say that in front of his parents, or they and I will all kill him.
Finally, he says, “I learned that people can surprise you, even when you think you know them.”
I don’t ask for details. “Okay, that concludes our quiz for tonight. Thanks for playing along, everyone.”
“Wait a minute,” Thorn says. “You didn’t go.”
“Oh, right. Umm …”
I could say the same thing as Kai did. Scott certainly surprised me today, although I think part of me knew all along that he was like that, and just pretended otherwise. But I don’t want to talk about him.
“I learned … that true friendship doesn’t end, no matter how long you’ve been apart.”
“To friendship,” Gage says, and we all toast again.
Of course, Kai is now a friend with benefits. Huge, fulfilling benefits. But I don’t dare think about that right now, because his parents have excellent radar.
He rescues me by telling us about a ditzy former client and the saga of them getting their tattoo. He keeps us all in stitches, and Gage shares stories about some of his clients, too. Mr. Sanchez, who runs a garage, gets in on the act by describing a man who kept trying to tell him how to fix his car, but had no idea what he was talking about.
“Surely changing the brake pads affects the carburetor,” I tease him.
“Exactly,” he says drily. “But you must have some stories to tell yourself, being an event planner.”
I laugh. “Oh, yes. I’ve seen everything, especially the weddings—from the young and starry-eyed, to people who have been married multiple times before.”
“And which were your favorites?” Mrs. Sanchez wants to know.
The question turns me unexpectedly serious. “You know, it’s funny. I got into event planning because I’m naturally organized—”
“We remember,” Gage says, prompting more laughter.
I elbow him gently. “When my work shifted more into wedding planning, I was still pretty skeptical about relationships. I kept my feelings separate, of course, and just focused on the actual tasks involved. But the more weddings I did, the less hardened I got. It’s not easy to stay cynical when you witness the power of love in so many lives.”