Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 85399 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85399 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
“Ha.” I pour myself a glass of tea. “That’s all Maddie. She makes me look a lot more interesting than I really am.”
“I’d love to see your craft room sometime.”
“Aww.” I smile at her. “We’d love to have you over for dinner once the summer ends and we all go home.”
A flash of sadness streaks through her baby blues.
I take a seat at the table and invite her to sit with me. She goes to a chair across from a dirty plate that someone didn’t put in the sink this morning.
“What do you have planned for the rest of the summer?” I ask.
“We’ll be here until the end of July. Or, I will, anyway. I think my parents are heading back in the next couple of weeks, but I’m staying with Grandma. It’s a lot for her to close up the cabins for the fall, since we won’t be back up here until almost Christmastime. Besides, I like hanging out with her. She’s fun.”
I smile.
“But I’ll miss Mike when you guys leave,” she says.
I take in the vulnerability in her eyes, the genuine emotion in her voice. I remember that feeling.
“There’s little doubt Michael will come to see you,” I say. “He thinks you’re pretty special.”
“Really? I mean, I think he is too. He’s really smart and funny. And, you know, cute.”
I laugh. “He is pretty cute.”
“I worry about what will happen when we leave,” she says, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I hope he doesn’t forget me. I’m sure he has a lot of girls trying to get his attention.”
It’s hard to know what to say to that. After all, I don’t want to get involved or speak for my son. But I do know one thing I can say that’s safe.
“Michael is a lot like his father,” I say. “You can’t take him anywhere without him catching the eye of bystanders.”
She smiles nervously.
“But, like his father, Michael is very loyal. I have no qualms with saying that, if he tells you not to worry about things, you shouldn’t.”
Ava sighs in relief. “Thank you for saying that.”
We jump at the sound of the door opening and turn to see Michael walking in. He looks surprised to see us too.
“Hey,” he says, his cheeks splitting into a grin. “What are you doing here?”
Ava’s smile couldn’t be bigger if she tried. “I was looking for you.”
“I went and got us sandwiches.” He holds his arms out, with bags dangling from them. “I thought we could take the boat out and have lunch.”
“Where’s Snaps?” I ask.
Michael grins. “You’re starting to like him, aren’t you?”
I give him a look, making him chuckle.
“I let him out to go to the bathroom and then took him to Pops,” he says. “He likes to lie in the window and look at the birds that gather in the backyard.”
Ava gets to her feet. “You are so sweet, Mike.”
He blushes.
“You two be careful,” I say.
“We will, Mama.”
“Thanks for talking with me, Mrs. Reed,” Ava says. “I’ll tell my parents to come over and say hello.”
“You do that.”
Michael steps to the side so Ava can get to the door.
“Ava?” I say.
“Yes?”
“You are welcome here for dinner, too, you know,” I say.
She grins. “Thank you.”
Michael tosses me a quick wave before they disappear through the door.
The cabin is quiet once again, and I enjoy the silence while I finish my tea. I need a shower to rinse the sweat off me, but I’ll just get gross again, so why bother?
I bet Ava would take a shower if Michael was coming by and she was sweaty.
My brain scoots through my relationship with Jack as I grab my computer from our bedroom. It’s entertaining to think about our relationship mirroring Michael and Ava’s. Did it ever resemble Maddie and Daniel’s?
We’ve had the sexy honeymoon phase. Romance. The exhausted new-parent phase. Adjustment. The struggle of dealing with a thousand things. Distress.
What comes next?
I sit at the table and open my social media accounts. “Maybe it’s reality,” I say out loud. “Maybe the next stage of life is accepting reality and . . . commitment.”
My brows pull together.
If we go forward together now, the commitment will be different. We won’t be promising to take care of each other during new love and lust. It’ll be us promising things, knowing every bump, bruise, and failure the other has to offer.
I smile softly.
My likes and follows have continued to increase despite my not being online for the last few days. As I sort through a few mentions, I stop in my tracks—and burst out laughing.
Almost every post, one after another, has some variation of the same comment.
From @jackreedauto: I’m so proud of you. You made this? I love you. You’re so beautiful.
I blink back a wash of tears and keep scrolling.
“Things just might work out, after all.”