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)
As she would.
Because Tom rescued kittens.
Not only rescued them, but he was going to adopt four of them.
Four.
And he’d tricked Brayton into letting him pay for our brunch, doing this by giving the money to Clay, who then decreed he was going to pay for brunch, something Brayton couldn’t find it in himself to refuse.
“You’re on, man,” Brayton had warned Tom, indicating the new relationship would continue, which was probably one of the reasons Tom had smiled so big at the warning.
But it was cute and sweet and funny how Tom and Clay were bonding over their traumatic morning and how Brayton and Priscilla were encouraging it.
He’d also let Clay and Cadence name his cats.
The ginger was Ace (obviously).
There was some discussion over the girls, and for a while it looked like it might be Steffi and Marti (for Martina, my suggestions). But Brayton threw in alternates which couldn’t be denied, and they ended up Venus and Serena.
The final boy was Boris, after Boris Becker, Clay’s third favorite player of all time (Tom held the number two spot).
It was discovered Clay was a tennis fan (Roger Federer was his number one), and plans were made for the Davises to go to Tom’s house the next weekend to see how the kittens were faring (as we all hoped they’d be recovered and closer to being in their forever homes by then). After, Tom and Clay were going to go to the courts at Tom’s club, since Clay’d been taking tennis lessons for a couple of years and was at the courts where Tom was that morning to volley some balls against a backstop.
Dream come true for the kid, showing up at his local courts, and finding Tom Pierce practicing his serve there and ending that morning out to brunch with him.
Watching Clay live that out was pure magic.
Tom got a call from his youngest daughter while we were waiting on the sidewalk for our table, and he left our huddle to take it, which was very polite.
He also got a call from Paloma after we were seated (he told us Sasha was calling, he didn’t mention Paloma, I saw her name come up on his screen).
And he left the table to take it.
Again polite, though I wasn’t a huge fan of how my heart twitched when I saw her name on his phone.
But I learned something profound in that moment.
My heart had been banged around pretty good in my life.
So I could take it.
After the drama of the morning, the brunch was an easy and fun getting-to-know-you between us all, with definite indications that those roots of friendship would take hold and dig deeper.
I’d given Priscilla my number and we made plans to go out for drinks.
Brayton and Pris had given theirs to Tom.
Cadence had given hers to Clay (and Tom…Christ).
Worst part?
I feared I’d let the cat out of the bag.
My daughter was astute and observant.
But even someone who was not would read correctly into a woman who one minute, was sitting outside, enjoying a cup of morning coffee in the sun in her courtyard while making a phone call. And the next she was in a flurry, looking up a veterinary hospital and preparing to haul ass into town because a man she knew sounded upset regarding some kittens.
Cadence had asked where I was going, foolishly I told her, and she jumped in my car.
So now, she wasn’t beating around the bush.
She understood there was something there for me with Tom, and she wanted me to explore it.
And I needed time and space to try to understand why I’d heard Tom was in the midst of rescuing kittens, his urgent tone registering somewhere deep inside me that would not be denied, and I thought of nothing but finding him and getting to him.
As for Tom, I didn’t get the chance to apologize for being a judgmental bitch. I also didn’t get the opportunity to warn him that Nora was coming and find some way that didn’t include telling him about Paloma and Roland to share Nora was intent on breaking him and his girlfriend up.
Tom had someplace to be, it ended our party, he’d said to me, “I’ll call,” and then he’d sauntered with his athlete’s grace to his sleek, dark silver Jaguar SUV. A car so perfect for him, I had a physical reaction to watching him fold into it.
The result of that morning’s activities?
The drive from Arcadia back home was over an hour, we were almost there, and on and off through that hour, my daughter had been pestering me about Tom Pierce.
Thus, I’d pulled out the Zzsts.
They never worked.
I never quit trying.
“He’s good-looking and he’s got a great voice, and did you see how Ace just curled up by his hip like Daddy just showed up and all would be well?” she demanded.