Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 91434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“How long have you been up?” I ask, starting the coffee, and she shrugs.
“I was reading my book in bed,” she states, taking another bite, frosting on the tip of her nose.
“What do you want to do today?” I ask as I take a sip of my coffee and walk back to my bedroom to grab my phone and check the weather.
I see Everleigh texted me at seven.
Everleigh: Crashed on the couch at six. Moved to my bed at eleven. I’ll be at the shop today trying to paint. Have fun today!
“Want to go to the park?” I ask Saige when I walk back into the kitchen, making a plan to pass by the bakery and see if Everleigh will come with us.
“Yeah,” she agrees, and I make her breakfast. We walk out of the house close to eleven, after I start the laundry and tidy up the house. I remove a couple of steaks from the freezer for dinner.
I drive toward the shop, pulling up not too far from the bakery and seeing a couple of construction workers walking into the shop. “Want to go and check on the bakery?” I ask, taking her hand in mine and walking over. I spot Everleigh right away talking to one of the contractors, and Saige walks up and knocks on the window.
Everleigh looks up and spots us and has a huge smile on her face. She walks over to the door and opens it. “Hey, you two,” she chirps, “what are you doing here?” She’s wearing a pair of jean short overalls with a white tank top with black stripes.
“We’re going to the park,” Saige tells her.
“Oh fun, would you like a little tour of the bakery?” She holds open the door. Saige doesn’t even wait for me; instead, she walks in. I follow her and squeeze her hip as I walk in, and I’m in shock at the progress that the shop has had in two weeks.
“It’s so big,” Saige says, turning around in a circle.
“It is, isn’t it?” Everleigh agrees. “This is going to be a little seating area.” She motions to the front where they made it bigger. “And then this is where the cases are going to be for the donuts.” Her eyes light up as she discusses it all.
She looks around. “What do you think, Saige?” She walks over to the wall at the end. “Should we do the walls a cotton-candy pink or a baby blue?”
“I like the pink,” she declares, and Everleigh smiles as she nods.
“Me too,” she says, folding her arms over her chest.
“Want to come to the park with us?” I finally get the courage to ask. “And then after, ice cream?” I don’t even know I’m holding my breath.
“I don’t want to intrude on your time,” she says softly.
“It’s fine,” Saige says. “Dad usually sits by himself, so you can sit with him.”
I raise my eyebrows. “And then we have ice cream from Wild Billy’s.”
“Well, I can’t say no to Wild Billy’s,” she says to her. “Only if you promise to try out all the new donuts that I’m going to make this week.”
“I can do that,” Saige assures her, making me laugh.
We walk out and over to the park. Saige runs to play while I sit on the bench with Everleigh beside me. I want to lean in to kiss her, but I’m not sure it’s the right time. So instead, I put my arm on the back of the bench and rub my thumb up and down her bare arm. We sit quietly as we watch Saige run around with friends of hers, before she comes over and asks Everleigh if she ever did the monkey bars. Everleigh laughs at her as the two of them go off, and then back and forth on the monkey bars.
“My whole body is going to hate me later,” Everleigh complains when she finally walks back over to me. Watching the two of them spend time together is something I didn’t know I needed in my life.
We don’t stay at the park long enough for my liking, and after ice cream, she gives Saige a hug goodbye before walking back to the bakery.
I ache to kiss her. I ache to hold her. I ache to be with her, with the both of them at the same time. I make dinner with Saige on the couch reading her book. A shower is next and then she goes to sleep at around nine thirty.
I pull out my phone, and instead of texting her, I call her, and she answers after two rings. “Hey,” she says, and I close my eyes and lean my head back on the headboard.
“Want to come and make out with me?” I whisper and hear her laugh. “We have to be quiet. We can make out on the couch or my bed.”