Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 64337 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 214(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64337 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 214(@300wpm)
“Because you went to school with him for years after that. Petey was older than I was and homeschooled,” I say, before adding beneath my breath, “And I’m pretty sure he ate playdough and his own boogers.”
“See! I knew you remembered him,” Mom says. “He’s a doctor now, a pediatrician! Well, nearly a pediatrician. He’s doing his residency in Minneapolis, which isn’t that far to drive for a date. Especially if you do something fun on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. He’s moving home to join his brother’s practice after he finishes his residency next year.”
“Mom, no, stop,” I say, my cheeks heating. “I don’t need you to set me up with a booger eater.”
“Well, goodness, I’m sure he doesn’t eat them anymore,” she says. “And it’s not like you were the perfect child. I remember one time I came outside to check on you in the sandbox, and you’d taken off your socks, filled them with sand, and were bonking poor Petey on the head with them.”
“I was probably trying to stop him from eating his boogers,” I say, earning a hiss from Mom and a swat on my wrist.
“Lower your voice,” she says. “His parents are here. The whole family is close with Seven’s mother. Apparently, they’ve been frequenting her establishment for decades.”
Mom says the word “establishment” like she’s talking about a crack house filled with feral, unwashed dogs, but that’s not a surprise. She’s come a long way in the months since Binx and Seven first got together, but it’s hard to teach an old snob new tricks.
At least she’s friendly with Seven and his mother, and she’s taken a genuine liking to Sprout. She even made the flower girl dress Sprout’s wearing and added extra fabric to the skirt so it would have the “twirliness” her new granddaughter requested.
My mother is, at her core, a good person.
Even if it’s hard to remember that when she’s being a bossy matchmaker who can’t take a hint to save her life…
“I could reintroduce you,” she adds. “I saw Petey talking to Barrett by the bar just a little while ago. I’m sure he’d love the chance to get reacquainted, and you look so nice tonight. Your hair’s hardly frizzy at all.”
The woman must think I don’t have eyes. My hair is a frizzed disaster, and it’s about to get worse as soon as I head out into the summer heat.
No way in heck am I sticking around the ballroom to be forced upon Petey. I’ll wait until everyone’s dancing and sneak back in later, once it’s easier to disappear into the crowd.
“Maybe later,” I say vaguely, already backing toward the balcony doors. “I have to check on something.”
“Check on something?” Mom’s brows pinch together. “Check on what?”
“A thing I promised Christian and another thing for Mel,” I say, trusting that my siblings will back me up if Mom questions either of them. I smile and wave, promising, “Be right back!”
But I have no intention of “being right back.”
As soon as I close the door to the balcony behind me, I hurry past the few other people hanging out in the steamy July air and down the staircase at the far side. In just a few minutes, I’m on the path leading to the boathouse by the lake, leaving the raucous sounds of the party behind.
Mom can say what she wants about Seven and his “wild and rowdy” relatives, but it’s the McGuires that turn every social gathering into a sound pollution situation. There are just too many of us. Eight kids are a lot to begin with, but now there are spouses and grandchildren and friends of the spouses and pets and friends of the pets…
It’s just…a lot.
Especially for a person who wants to be left alone to read in peace most of the time. It’s one of the many reasons I love my new job as a remote data analyst, working with a social science department on the East Coast. Sure, Zoom meetings are the worst, but that’s only two mornings a week. The rest of the time, I’m left blissfully alone to pour through data, write papers, and make graphs.
Ah…a graph, now there’s a thing you can put your faith in.
Not like people. People are far too confusing and hard to read.
Which, sadly, means my own matchmaking days are probably behind me. I loved the rush of helping two people find love way more than I thought I would, but I’m not usually good at spotting a perfect match. I only knew about Binx and Seven because she’s my sister and closest sibling.
Even with my other siblings, I often don’t understand what’s in their hearts.
Barrett, for example. I had no clue that he and Wren would be ever be anything more than friends and colleagues. Their romance took me completely by surprise. Same with Christian and Starling. To be honest, I thought they disliked each other right up until the moment Mom started having a coronary because some jerk had leaked their sex tape to the internet.