Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 82282 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82282 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
His smile was infectious, and I smiled back at him in return.
“I’ll get right on that, Ronald.” I answered.
“How’s the new baby doing? Did your sister get the flowers I sent from the administrative office?” He asked.
I nodded my head. “Yes, she called to tell me they were beautiful. Saylor is doing wonderful. She was seven pounds even when she was born.” I beamed.
Adeline had called early this morning to tell me she’d gotten zero sleep, and that she needed some caffeine. I’d told her to wake her lazy husband up, but she’d refused and told me he’d stayed up the entire night with them.
Although I’d thought it was nice of him, I still didn’t feel bad for calling him minutes after hanging up with my sister to tell him Adeline needed coffee.
I was on the way to work and he was just lying there. It was time to get used to it. Babies were one hell of a commitment, and being sleep deprived was only one of the new responsibilities they’d have.
Although I did promise to sneak a beer in my purse when I came to check on them later.
“Excellent. All right, well you brainstorm on what you’d like to do, and get back to me.” He said standing and holding the door open for me.
As I walked out of the office, I thought long and hard about what to do with Sandra and her inability to pass my messages along.
In the end, I decided that maybe I should just wait to say anything. It really wasn’t a hanging sentence what she’d done, so I would give her another chance. I wasn’t a total shrew, but if she kept it up, I damn sure wouldn’t let her get away with it.
After three more stressful hours at work, I decided to stop early since my head was pounding. Not to mention that my eyesight had dwindled down to just barely twenty-five percent.
Sandra had been even more of a rude cow than usual. Thankfully, it was my slow day, so I was able to get out of there with minimal juggling of my workload.
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I called Trance only for it to end up going straight to voicemail.
The same went for Adeline and Kettle.
Then, I called the cab company only to find out that the two usual cabs were both busy on assignments and couldn’t come pick me up, which led me to either stay here or walk.
Sandra chose that moment to start bitching about how I was doing my reports incorrectly, which made the decision for me.
“Leona, honey, I’m going to go early. I’m not feeling well. I’ll be back tomorrow, though, okay?” I said as I started shoving my things into my bag.
Leona looked over at me worriedly, but the small smile I sent her seemed to appease her concern, and she waved as I exited the CE rooms.
I was surprised to see Falco in the parking lot when I finally made it out the front door. Falco was on work program, which allowed him to leave half way through the day to go to work.
“Hey, Falco. What are you still doing here?” I asked.
The bells that signaled the end of third period had rung nearly ten minutes ago, and the work programmers didn’t waste any time high tailing it out of the parking lot, regardless of whether they actually had to go to work or not.
“My truck won’t start. Again.” Falco sighed.
“Well, that just sucks.” I said sincerely.
“Yeah, looks like I’m going to be walking to work today.” He groaned as he turned and headed in the direction of the guard shack and front gate.
“Where do you work again?” I asked as I fell in step beside him.
He looked at me curiously, but didn’t protest my company.
“I work at a pattern shop off of Highway 80.” He said.
The guard wasn’t in the shack that checked the comings and goings of the traffic, so we sidestepped the gate and proceeded walking down the paved road.
“That’s not too far, is it?” I asked.
“No, about a mile or so. Why are you walking with me?” He blurted.
I giggled and asked, “Sterling Patterns?”
At his nod, I continued. “I’m in need of a ride myself, but no one is picking up their phones. I believe The Dixie Wardens have a clubhouse around that area, correct?”
“Uh, yeah. A couple blocks down from there. At the dead end.”
“Excellent. I’ll just walk with you then, and then I’ll head on to the clubhouse. Maybe I can find a ride there.” I said, happy that I’d come up with a workable plan.
It was only lunchtime, and there was no way I was waiting another two hours for Trance to come pick me up.
We walked in companionable silence, and I was struck anew with how good of a person Falco was. He was everything I would hope for in a teenager. Strong, courteous, caring. He worked his butt off. Got good grades.
“You ready for the football game on Friday?” I asked to break the silence.
He smiled down at me.
Did I mention he was a handsome young man that made all the young girls swoon?
His smile was killer, and made him never run short of female company. It didn’t hurt that he was the running back for the football team, either.
“Yeah, I think we are. Why, are you coming?” He asked.
“I was asked by Jade to come. She said that the homecoming was the best one to come to.” I explained.
Falco snorted. “Yeah, it is. We’re playing Kilgore. They’re one of our biggest rivals.”
“As in Kilgore, Texas? You play a team a state away?” I asked in surprise.
He shrugged, hefting his bag further on his shoulder. “Yep. They used to be 2A like us, but they raised districts, and now they’re 3A. We still play them in scrimmages at the beginning of the season and at our homecoming game. It always turns out to be a really good game.”
“Well that’s nifty. I’ve been here how many years now, and I haven’t heard about it.” I joked.