Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 115288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
I refocus my attention on Harley. “I don’t mind at all, and you’re not overstepping. Peyton and I love spending time with you. And you being here is obviously a good thing for her.” It also means she’s not hanging out with the boyfriend, which irrationally makes me feel better.
“I’m glad you feel that way. I have a little something for Peyton after the assembly, so I’ll meet you in the foyer when it’s over?”
“That sounds great.”
Mrs. Horton calls out to Harley for some help, so I head back to the hall where I find my parents and my in-laws waiting outside the auditorium. Unlike her previous school, where all the assemblies were held in the gym and we sat on plastic chairs, this school has a real theater with plush seating.
“This is better than movie theater seating,” Kyle says as he relaxes back into his chair.
“There seems to be a strong focus on the arts in this school. Will you be encouraging Peyton to try out for any of the sports teams? How are the academics here?” Karen asks.
“If Peyton wants to try out for a team, I’ll support that, but she seems to have her mom’s artistic flair, so she’s been very excited about the drama club, and there’s a yearbook club here. She’s still young, and with the move being new, I want her to feel settled before I fill her schedule up too much.” I don’t know if it’s just me projecting, but I feel like I’m under Karen’s parenting microscope.
“I didn’t realize that Harley was volunteering in her class,” Karen says.
I was waiting for this. “She knows Peyton’s teacher personally, and she’s great with kids. I think it’s pretty selfless that she’s giving up an evening to help out a friend and be a familiar face for Peyton.”
The lights go down, ending that conversation. For now.
An hour and a half and some pretty cute performances later—I’m ridiculously impressed they were able to put all of this together in under two weeks—we meet up outside the school. My parents have to leave because they have a brunch with friends in the morning, but we’re supposed to see them tomorrow evening for dinner.
Harley appears a few minutes later, one hand tucked behind her back as she approaches us, her smile widening as her gaze moves from me to Peyton. “You were amazing up there! Even better than during rehearsals!”
Peyton grins shyly. “We practiced really hard this week.”
“I heard! And I have something special for you.” She pulls out a bouquet from behind her back. But it’s no regular bouquet. It’s made of cookies.
Peyton’s eyes go wide. “Oh wow! This is better than flowers!”
“You should probably save those for tomorrow. Too much sugar before bed will keep you up late and that’s not good for your teeth,” Karen says, raining on both Peyton and Harley’s parade.
“I don’t think one cookie would hurt. And it’s Friday night. Peyton is allowed to stay up a little later,” I say with a wink at my daughter, hoping to keep Karen from saying anything that will offend Harley or upset Peyton. I know she’s particular about parenting, but I feel like I’ve been under attack since I walked in the door after work.
“She hasn’t even had dinner yet,” Karen reminds me.
“Oh!” Peyton tugs on my sleeve. “Can Harley come with us?”
“Honey, we haven’t seen you in almost a month. This should really be just about family.” Karen gives me an imploring look.
Peyton’s face falls, and Harley, bless her kind, thoughtful soul, smiles brightly. “We have an event tomorrow, and I need to stop by Spark House to give my sisters a hand, but we can do dinner later next week. Sound good, kiddo?”
Peyton’s lips twist in disappointment, but she tries to cover it with a smile. “Oh, okay. Thank you for the cookie bouquet.”
“You’re so welcome and it’s so well-deserved.”
Harley hugs Peyton and says goodbye to everyone, getting yet another frosty response from Karen.
I don’t want to say anything in front of Peyton about how rude Karen was to Harley, so I wait until she’s asleep in bed. But by then, Karen’s already in bed too, leaving me with Kyle, who’s watching the highlights from tonight’s game.
Obviously it’s a conversation that’s going to have to wait.
Eleven
WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING?
HARLEY
“Well, that was a level of awkward I’d rather not experience again,” I mutter to myself as I get in my car. I try not to read into the way Karen reacted to me, but it’s difficult with how frosty her reception was, even after all these years.
While we do have an event tomorrow night, we’ve already finished setting up. So I don’t need to be at Spark House until later tomorrow morning. And that’s a good thing, because I could use a couple of drinks right about now, not just one.