Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 131459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 526(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 526(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
However, she was absolutely not avoiding the photographers.
Elsa came back onscreen, sitting in her velvet swivel chair, looking into the camera.
“I mean, Jamie is one of Tom Pierce’s best friends, and the little we know of Ms. Ellington, she’s one of Mika’s. So Tomika segueing into the bestest besties of a Janora might be glorious. Truth, it is time for Jamie to heal after losing his lovely wife, Rosalind. And I’m sure you’ll all agree, my wonderful watchers, we want that for him. Of course, only if the woman he finds is the right one. And one must never discount Ms. Ellington’s delicious wrap and her fabulous shoes. And I do not discount either. The woman’s style is sublime. But as you know, my wonderful watchers, j’adore our New York Oakley almost as much as I love our Arizona Oakley. So I absolutely must be certain who he’s with is worthy of him. Don’t worry. I promise to do some digging into Ms. Ellington. And as ever and always, I’ll report all about how I feel during a future episode.”
Chloe swiped her screen.
I pulled my bag off my shoulder.
“I kinda…love that?” Cadence asked Chloe uncertainly.
“I cherish it with every fiber of my being,” Chloe declared, not uncertain in the slightest.
I had my phone out.
I was about to make a call to Nora when Tom’s fingers wrapped around my wrist.
I looked up at him.
“Judge already connected with Jamie,” he shared. “Jamie says they’re just friends. Dru tends to be his plus one to events he has to attend. There’ve been some concerns, because they lost Rosalind some time ago, and those two seemed to be forming a co-dependency that wasn’t very healthy. Jamie admitted to Judge he was concerned about the same thing, and he wants Dru to feel less tied to taking care of him and freer to do things young women her age should be doing. He and Nora got together after we left New York, he shared this with her, and Nora volunteered to fill that role.”
“She hasn’t told me this,” I pointed out, confused at all I was feeling, but what was winning was hurt.
“Maybe because they are just friends and there wasn’t anything to tell?” Tom suggested.
Oh, there was something to tell.
With Nora, there was always something to tell.
And Nora told me everything, so her not telling me this meant there was seriously something to tell.
I just didn’t know why she didn’t tell it.
“How about we set that aside and you two meet Matt?” Tom asked.
Shit.
That was more important than Nora being Nora.
I started to pay attention to what was happening in Tom’s kitchen, not with my friend, and saw Matt was now close.
He also looked amused.
I didn’t know how to take that because I was horrified I’d gotten sidetracked when both my daughter and I should have been all about meeting Tom’s son the second we arrived.
“Don’t worry,” he said, offering his hand for me to take. “Chloe’s always been about sucking all the attention.”
“Excuse moi?” Chloe demanded in full affront.
“Oh my God, don’t pretend you’re not all about that,” Sasha said on an eye roll.
Chloe opened her mouth.
Before she could say anything, Judge called out, “Not everyone has a drink. I’ll play bartender. Mika, Cadence, what can I get you?”
Chloe shut her mouth.
I glanced at Tom, and with what I saw, I felt a settling in me.
He liked Judge, very much. I knew that from the beginning.
However, I suddenly felt that in a much deeper way.
I’d never really thought about Cadence finding a partner. She dated. She had so much going on, she wasn’t about having anything serious. She’d once had a boyfriend that lasted a few months, and she was bummed when that didn’t work out, but she wasn’t heartbroken.
Seeing Tom’s face, the calmness there, the understanding that he knew his girl had found the man who loved her for who she was and could handle all that was her, and Tom could feel safe in that.
I loved that for him.
And I hoped when Cadence found her person, I’d feel the same for her.
Cadence and I gave our orders, Judge got us our drinks, and we adjourned to the living room to sit around a charcuterie board and nosh while we did some getting-to-know-you chatter.
I watched Matt closely through all of this.
He didn’t appear as comfortable in Tom’s space as Chloe and Sasha (and even Judge) were, but I wasn’t sure that was about his recently ended estrangement with Tom. It was more that the girls lived close, but he’d been away at school, so they’d spent more time there.
I sensed it was also just…him.
He wasn’t awkward, as such.
But Chloe was about oodles of love and drama. Sasha was also about oodles of love and effervescence.
Matt was neither of those.
He might have been like Corey Szabo (I’d never met the man).