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)
“Sneak attack too, that little minx,” she groused.
“Mika, honey, I’m fine,” he said firmly.
“I don’t want you to be freaked about the fact I bought a place in Arizona because you were there.”
“I’m not,” he returned. “I’m thrilled.”
She studied him again.
Then her lips twitched.
They stopped twitching when she asked, “Chloe okay?”
“She’s pissed at her mom.”
Mika made no response.
“It’s none of her business,” Tom pointed out.
“I’m not sure daughters think that of their mothers…ever.”
Tom took another sip of coffee because he had no reply.
When he was done, he shared, “She’s scared she’s going to steamroll Judge.”
Mika lifted her coffee cup to him. “And there’s why a girl pays close attention to her mom.”
“I wasn’t steamrolled. I made my choices. That isn’t on Genny either.”
“I don’t know anything about it, sweetheart, except your side of it,” she said as she got to her feet.
She bent over him and gave him a kiss.
When she pulled way, she finished, “I do know I like your girl a whole lot. She has an amazing personality, and she lets it shine, and she doesn’t care much what people think about it. That doesn’t mean she isn’t self-aware. She is. There are those who are doomed to repeat the mistakes of their ancestors. And there are those who are not. The ones who’re self-aware are not. Now I’m going to go get ready. Don’t do the dishes. Just let them soak. We’ll sort them out when we get home.”
She kissed him again.
And Tom watched her walk away.
CHAPTER 19
THE AMBUSH
Mika
Give me a call when you have a second.
I sent that text to Nora, who, since we returned from New York a week and a half ago, had been less available than her norm.
It was strange and gave me an unsettled feeling.
Not that she should be at my beck and call.
Just that she always was, and now that she wasn’t, and I didn’t know why she wasn’t, I was feeling weird about it.
I was also hoping it wasn’t a Teddy situation insofar as she was hurt I had someone new in my life who was getting a good deal of my attention.
Teddy had since reverted to his uber professional self, was doing his job splendidly, doggedly, even pathologically, but doing it while holding a grudge. He’d melt when Faun had had enough of it. As ever, I just had to wait for that to happen. And considering I was a pretty patient person, and Faun adored Teddy and had all the patience in the world for his mercurial personality, that could take a while.
But I’d never had a man in my life during my relationship with either of them.
Not really.
Rollo seemed like a blink in my existence, or more like a brilliant blinding flash, as shattering as that was. My relationship with Nora had bloomed to what it became because she’d been my rock through his loss, but it wasn’t as deep before that.
However, I knew, when a friend who didn’t have a man got a man, relationships could become strained.
I needed to be sure both of them felt my love and attention.
On their part, they needed to understand I was happier than I’d been in nineteen years.
With this in mind, in an effort to keep that love and attention flowing, as well as speed things up in regard to Teddy getting over it, I sent a text to my Teddy/Faun/Cadence group, When are we planning for you gents to come out here?
I got an immediate reply from Cadence, who was at the Heard Museum in the city because her modern art essay had veered toward Native Americans producing modern art with a traditional bent, Yay! Yeah! When?
It took a while, but not long, for Faun to say, We’re looking at our calendars. But soon. We’ll let you know.
Teddy (it was no surprise) didn’t reply.
Still, I smiled.
Then I heard the doorbell.
My smile turned into a frown because I wasn’t expecting anybody.
One could say the situation in New York with the paparazzi and fans had rattled me. I had security systems in both my houses, and they were robust (or at least I thought that at the time they were installed). But it meant a great deal Jamie had one of his security team stationed at the house after that incident, also the man followed us around while we enjoyed our final day there.
Here, I didn’t have that.
My house was remote, but it was accessible.
Practically the minute we landed from New York, Tom had called my security company and demanded an upgrade that included cameras. He also used his Tom Pierce pull to have the installation of those fast-tracked.
Which was why I went to my iPad to check to see who was at the front door.
I stared at Sasha Pierce standing there in all her youthful, glowing, blonde glory.
Yes, she was this even through a grainy feed.