Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 78085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
“So did mine.”
I smiled. Brax had stopped writing his weekly column, Friday’s Catch, last week. He’d enjoyed it, but once I’d told him our little news, he knew it was time to hang it up.
Sutton walked into the kitchen with her five-month-old son, Granger, on her hip. “Palmer wants to know if you have any saltine crackers.”
“Yep,” I said as I turned and headed to the pantry. I pulled out a sleeve and handed it to Sutton. “Morning sickness again?”
She nodded. “Charlie asked Palmer why it’s called morning sickness when she seems to be sick all the time.”
I chuckled. Brax and I hadn’t yet shared the news of our own little bundle of joy, since I was still pretty early in my pregnancy. Palmer had told everyone at Thanksgiving. She was due May 27th. My due date was August 10th. I’d been feeling a little queasy, but nothing bad so far. I was thankful fishing season was over, though. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t have been able to take being on the rocking boats during the first trimester.
“Thanks!” Sutton called out as she and Granger headed out the door.
I focused back on the food.
“I don’t like it,” Brax continued. “I want to know who in the hell it is.”
“Who who is?” Barbara asked, walking into the kitchen to grab more items to put on the large table in our formal dining room.
“No one,” Brax said with a huff.
Barbara gave him a look, a green bean casserole in one hand and mashed potatoes in the other. “Don’t tell me you’re searching for her again.”
He rolled his eyes.
His mother let out a frustrated sigh. “One day. I want one day where no one in this family talks about Ms. Seaside. One day, Brax.”
Ms. Seaside still wrote about the Bradleys, though not nearly as much. But when she did an article about Barbara and Keegan—being caught by the police making out in their car down at the pier—well…Barbara’s attitude toward the gossip columnist had quickly changed, and not for the better.
Holding up his hands, Brax replied, “Fine. I won’t say another word.”
“Besides, she hasn’t written about any of you kids in weeks. I think she’s moved on.” And with that, Barbara turned on her heels and marched out of the kitchen.
Brax started to say something, and I shook my head. “There’s no talking about her, Brax. Let it go.”
He reached for the ham and started out of the kitchen. “I’ll let it go, but only for today!”
Grinning, I turned and peeked at the rolls. I took them out, placed them in a basket, and covered them with a cloth. Pushing all thoughts of Ms. Seaside from my head, I smiled wider, ignored the urge to throw up, and headed into the other room with the rest of the family.
Little did I know, on the other side of Seaside, a woman sat at a desk, making a list of newsworthy things to talk about…and at the very top of that list, underlined in red, was Harlee Bradley’s pregnancy.
The End…or is it?