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)
Since Cadence was there, in that time they couldn’t make love, which was disappointing. They’d had nowhere near this long of a break since their beginning.
More disappointing, Cadence wouldn’t be there for long, and neither would Mika. Cadence’s spring break was the next week, and then she and her mom were heading back to New York.
This was not something Tom was looking forward to.
That said, he already had plans to spend two long weekends with them next month and his assistant was clearing his calendar so he could spend a good portion of time with them around Cadence’s graduation in May before he had to head to Paris for the French Open.
But Mika was going to be in New York at least until Cadence graduated.
The long-distance thing was not something Tom was looking forward to, but if they couldn’t handle a few weeks apart, they were doomed before they’d really started.
Since neither of them was going to let that happen, he reckoned they’d handle it just fine.
Nevertheless, as time was running out, he wanted to get there early and have some of it with them.
He’d been all about Matt during his son’s visit. Rebuilding their relationship, rediscovering common ground and making up for time lost. Matt had been all about it as well, spending nearly all of his time with Tom, not his mother or sisters.
They understood this, considering recent history. And Genny herself had mentioned it was Tom’s turn, since she’d had most of him since their breakup.
However, Matt and Sasha, at Genny’s invitation, had gone up to Prescott for brunch that day. Since they’d already made plans to spend the afternoon at Mika’s and have dinner there, they were turning right back around to come back down after brunch.
Matt would be leaving the next day. Tom would miss him. It was the first time since the divorce he felt a sense of bonding with his son.
But more, it was the fact that these times would be few and far between as Matt got deeper into vet school, and living his own life.
If something like this ever happened again.
A fact of life.
One Mika was imminently facing.
She now had Tom.
It was still going to be a blow, and Tom wasn’t about to fuck it up this time.
He’d missed facing an empty nest was just one more thing weighing on Genny’s mind, taking it away from her marriage and Tom.
He wasn’t going to miss supporting Mika through it.
“Are Chloe and Judge on their way too?” Tom asked.
“They left Mom and Bowie’s when we did,” Matt said.
His phone buzzed with another call.
He took it from his ear and looked at it.
Not Chloe.
A number he didn’t recognize.
He declined the call and went back to his son.
“We lost them somewhere around Bloody Basin,” Matt was finishing.
Bloody Basin was maybe ten miles down I-17 after leaving Route 69 half an hour out of Prescott.
In other words, they barely hit the highway before Matt put his sister and future brother-in-law in his dust.
“This is because you have a lead foot,” Tom joked, though it wasn’t entirely a joke.
Matt was quiet and levelheaded unless there was a risk to take. He was a wild man on a tennis court, completely unpredictable with his game. He was an athlete, and an academic, but he didn’t date the cheerleaders, debate team members or sorority girls, he dated the emo girls, and later, the local bartenders. He’d hike deep into a forest or jungle to ride a zip line before he’d contemplate a game of golf.
And he drove too fucking fast.
“If I have somewhere to go, there’s no point dicking around in getting there,” Matt joked in return.
Once a dad, always a dad, so Tom didn’t hesitate in replying, “Just remember two of the most important people on earth are in that car, so behave accordingly.”
“Right,” Matt replied, sounding amused, a tone he’d assumed whenever Tom pulled the dad card after Matt turned eighteen.
Tom’s phone buzzed again.
He glanced at it, same number, so he declined.
“I’m headed over to Mika’s now. I’ll see you when you get there,” he said.
“And this Brayton and Priscilla and Clay are coming too?” Matt asked.
“They’ll be there later. For dinner.”
“I can’t wait to meet them!” Sasha chimed in. “Cadence says they’re the bomb!”
“They are,” Tom confirmed.
“Great. Cool. See you soon,” Matt put in, and Tom could now tell by his tone Matt was done talking.
Tom wasn’t.
“It might be nice to have some clue as to how things went with your mother and Duncan,” he noted.
“They’re fine, Dad. And Mom was super honest with us. They’re all good. We’re all good,” Sasha said.
“Matt?” Tom prompted.
“They’re lovey-dovey again. I think they worked it out,” Matt shared, now with a tone like he was about to vomit, which meant Tom heard Sasha’s giggle and Tom himself smiled.
Genny and Duncan were very affectionate. They tried to hide it in front of Tom, but he’d caught it a few times.