Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 78011 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78011 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
“This is crazy,” she starts to say, and I can only agree with her. “What are the chances that he would come and work for your dad? Do you think he knew?” She turns and asks me.
I shake my head. “There is no chance in hell he knew. His face was in utter shock, utter disbelief,” I say. Her phone rings, the sound bouncing out of the speakers, frightening both of us. The screen shows us that my father is calling.
“Hello,” she answers.
“Is everything okay?” he asks. “Where are you guys?”
“Yeah, I needed gas,” my mother says, looking around. “Where are you?”
“I just pulled up to the house. I’m going to go in the backyard and wait for you.”
“We’ll be there soon, honey,” she says, disconnecting and turns to put her seat belt back on and pulls out of the parking lot. “This is crazy.” She looks over at me, then back at the road.
“No, crazy is meeting him in the supermarket while I got groceries,” I tell her. “Meeting the man I had a weekend affair with at a welcome home party at my parents’ house and then to find out that he now works for my father is one step past crazy.” I exhale. “There is no word for that.”
“I’m going to have to agree to that,” she says and continues to drive to my new house. We pull onto a street where the houses look the same. Both sides of the street have the same houses, just different colors, and then I spot my father’s Range Rover and look at the house. “This is it,” she says with a smile, and I look out at the house in awe.
The two-story house is a light yellow with a gray roof. An awning covers the front door that has five steps in front of it and a little sitting area on the side. The windows are all big and white with a two-car garage on the side. I walk up the front path and the steps to get to the front door. I see that a sitting area is already set up on the side with two huge chairs and a round table between them. I look at the door while Mom puts the key in and opens the door. “Welcome home.” She smiles at me.
I smile at her as I walk in and see the walls painted a light beige. Looking to my right, I see what looks like an office. Peeking in there, I see that the walls are painted white and that the windows give off great light. The desk is also white, and everything is clean and sharp. “We left the decorating up to you,” my mother says, and I just nod. “You can return any furniture you don’t want and swap it out,” she says, walking to the right which is the dining room. A long brown table for eight sits in the middle of the room. The chairs are gray and white and look like velour. Fresh pink peonies sit in the middle of the table under the chandelier. A mirror on the wall makes the room look just a touch bigger. A mirrored hutch sits against the wall with a bucket of champagne and a tray with glasses. The house was definitely staged for me. We continue to walk in, and I have a little closet right in front of the stairs leading to the bedrooms.
My eyes open in delight when I step into the huge family room. The back wall is all windows with a view of the backyard. To the right side is the big white kitchen. A huge island with six stools separates the open room.
The family room couch is a light gray, and it looks like at least twenty people can fit on it with lots of throw pillows all aligned. A white antique square table is in the middle with a tray and the remotes for the big ninety-inch television that hangs on top of the fireplace. “If you walk this way”—my mother goes to the door—“it leads to the backyard.”
I walk outside with her, looking at my backyard. It’s huge and to the side is a play structure like they have in parks. Aiden is going across the monkey bars as my father stands under him just in case he slips, cheering him on. “This is so beautiful.” I look at my mom, who comes to hug me.
“We are so happy you came home,” she says as we watch Aiden go around and around again.
“Can we sleep here tonight?” Aiden asks when he finally sees me standing on the patio. I place the side of my hand over my eyebrows so I can see him with the sun out.
“Sure,” I say, smiling at him. “We don’t have our clothes, though,” I tell him, and he looks just a touch disappointed.