Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 51525 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 258(@200wpm)___ 206(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51525 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 258(@200wpm)___ 206(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
“You need to eat, baby. I need to get you to Grandma’s so I can get to work.” I stand with her, then set her on her feet. I grab my cup of coffee then follow her to the kitchen.
“I wish you didn’t have to work,” she says, climbing up onto one of the barstools and resting her bottom on her calves.
I smile. “I wish that too, but I’ll be off tomorrow for your birthday, then off for the weekend.” I fill her bowl with oatmeal and place it in front of her along with a cup of orange juice.
“Can we go sledding?”
“Sure, if there is still snow on the hill and maybe I’ll see if Grandma and Grandpa want to come too.”
“Yippie!” She shoots up, tossing her arms in the air and making me laugh.
I refill my mug of coffee and add a splash of hazelnut creamer then lean against the counter, watching my baby eat her oatmeal before hustling her back upstairs to get dressed. Once we are both ready, I take her over to Shelby, who’s watching her today, and drop her off.
I make it to the office at twenty till ten, clocking in before heading outside. I walk the five blocks to the docks, where I work as a glorified gas station attendant. I don’t personally fuel the boats that come in to port, but I keep track of how much gas each boat uses, log the information, and bill them at the end of each month. My job is in no way exciting, but I do get to make my own hours for the most part, which is a win for me as a single mother.
When I almost make it to the little shed I work in at the very end of the docks, I see Barry, an older fishing captain, chatting with Lulu, Seaside Petroleum owner’s wife. Lulu and her husband Ben are two of the kindest people around, and you would never know by meeting and chatting with them that they have more money than they could ever spend in a lifetime. Not only do they own Seaside Petroleum, but they also own two of the four hotels in town and a restaurant on Main. I’ve known them both my whole life, which helped me land a job working for them at seventeen, way younger than any of their other employees.
Lulu’s face lights with an annoyed smile when she sees me coming, and I can’t help but smile, because I’m sure she’s annoyed with Barry. She’s always irritated with Barry, because he’s always bitching about his monthly bill. Lulu is only about four feet tall and a hundred pounds, but she has more sass in her pinky finger than anyone I’ve met in my life. I think she’s sassy to make up for her lack of height. Her husband is over six feet tall and two hundred and twenty pounds, and the fishermen she deals with on a daily basis are pretty much the same. If she didn’t have the attitude she has, I’m sure all the men in her life would walk all over her.
“Hey, Lu. Everything okay?” I ask once I join their huddle.
“Everything’s good.”
I look at the captain. “How’s it going, Barry?”
“Same shit, different day,” he grumbles, and I catch Lulu roll her eyes up to the heavens. “About my invoice. Think there might be a mistake.”
“Barry, we go through this every month, and every month, you pay what you owe for fuel. Do we really need to do this song and dance today?” Lulu rests her hands on her slim hips.
“I ain’t made of money, woman.” He huffs.
“Barry, you know I keep the records, and you know I would never bill you for fuel you didn’t use,” I remind him.
“Maybe you messed up this time?”
“I didn’t.”
“She didn’t,” Lulu states, losing patience. “I had her take a photo every time you came in for fuel so I’d have it as proof. Do you want me to show you the pictures?” she questions, raising a brow at him.
He looks at me surprised, and I shrug. It was my idea to take the pictures, because a few months ago, he got away with not paying for over five hundred dollars’ worth of fuel. “No.”
“Thank God. Now, can we end this meeting? I got shit to do today, and that shit does not involve me standing around here debating your bill with you. A bill you’re going to pay one way or another.”
See? Totally full of sass.
“Fine,” he mutters, looking from her to me, and lifts his chin before taking off toward his boat.
“I swear, that guy is going to make me lose my damn mind one day.” Lulu shakes her head, watching him go, and then her eyes come to me and soften.