Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 20136 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 101(@200wpm)___ 81(@250wpm)___ 67(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20136 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 101(@200wpm)___ 81(@250wpm)___ 67(@300wpm)
“No I won’t. I’m a great helper!” He blindly swatted at the cups again, nearly knocking one off onto the floor.
“I bet you are a great helper,” Hunter chimed in, and Brady turned toward him to nod proudly. “But I bet you’re even better at playing games.”
“Games?” My son’s eyes widened. “I love games.”
“Me too,” Hunter replied with a heart-stopping smile. “Would you like to play one with me while your dad works?”
“Yes!” Brady zoomed around the countertop while I chewed my lip.
Hunter caught my eye and assured me, “It’s okay. I’ll stay right here with him so you can watch us.” He soothed my fears without me having to voice them. He shot me a wink just as Brady reached his side. “Okay bud, take a seat here next to me. My name is Hunter, by the way. These are my friends Talon and Brandon.”
Brady smiled and waved at all of them; the kid didn’t know anyone as a stranger, which wasn’t always a good thing.
Hunter lifted Brady onto the barstool next to him. “So, for the first game, I’m going to try to guess your age. But you have to tell me if I get it right, deal?”
“Deal,” Brady nodded.
“Okay. My first guess is that you’re…fifteen?”
Brady giggled and shook his head. “No way!”
“Oh, my mistake. You have to be at least twelve though, right?”
My boy snickered again. “You’re getting closer.”
“Eight?” Brady shook his head. “Five?”
“Almost,” Brady, exclaimed, nodding wildly.
“Hmm…could you be four?”
“Yes!” Brady clapped before holding up four fingers. “You got it! I’m this many, but I’m almost five. Now let me guess how old you are.”
“Go for it,” Hunter smiled.
“Hmm…” Brady tapped his chin while he thought. “Thirty.” It was a good guess, and similar to my thoughts, but Hunter shook his head. “Forty?”
“Nope, but you’re going in the right direction.” Damn, he looks great for his age.
“Fifty?” Brady asked, but got a head shake. “Fifty five?” He sighed and said, “I give up.”
“Already? Okay, I’ll tell you.” Hunter leaned in close but whispered loudly enough that I could hear him say, “I’m sixty eight.”
I rolled my eyes through a smirk as Brady giggled again. “You’re teasing me!”
“I would never,” Hunter insisted, pushing his nose up into the air. “Ready for the next game?” At Brady’s nod, the man dug a quarter out of his pocket. “Try and guess which hand it’s in,” he said as he put his fists behind his back to hide the coin before extending them in front of him. Brady slapped one of his hands and squealed when Hunter revealed the quarter.
The duo played that game for quite some time while I waited on tables and filled the orders of the people who fluttered in and out of the shop. When my boy got tired of that, he and Hunter challenged Talon and Brandon to a competition of stacking all of the coins in their pockets on the countertop.
Hunter and Brady built the highest tower and won, but I was pretty sure it was cheating when Hunter reached over and flicked his friends’ tower over, to Brady’s delight.
Hunter taught my son how to play tic-tac-toe on a napkin, and then the three men took turns playing ‘I spy’ with him, guessing every item of every color in the dining room.
Before I knew it, all of the patrons had cleared out of the cafe and it was time to close up for the afternoon. I wiped down all of the counters, placed the mugs in the dishwasher, and flipped the door sign to ‘closed’.
I walked up to the bartop, where Hunter had Brady laughing so hard that I was worried he may fall…until I noticed that Hunter had his hand floating behind my boy, at the ready in case he tottered.
“Thank you so much for keeping an eye on him so that I could finish my shift,” I told Hunter as I approached. “That was a huge help.”
“It was our pleasure,” he replied while Talon and Brandon nodded their agreement.
“Aw, you’re done already?” Brady whined, making me chuckle.
“I’m all finished.” I dramatically placed the back of my hand on my forehead. “I guess that means you’ll be forced to play with your chopped liver Daddy.”
“You’re not chopped liver,” Brady argued. “I just really liked playing with Hunter.” He looked at the man and asked, “Can you come play with me again tomorrow?”
“If it’s okay with your dad,” Hunter told him before he looked at me. I swear the pair of them gave me matching puppy dog eyes.
How could I say no? For one thing, I doubted that Hope would be feeling better by the following morning. She was my only babysitter, and I had to work to pay the bills. Hunter had been a godsend, and Brady looked the happiest I’d ever seen him.