Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 97577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Both women stared each other down, and for some reason, I heard the sound of two lions about to attack, even though it was silent. After far too long a silence, she turned to me. “And who is your friend?”
“Edgar—”
“He’s a volunteer I met here,” Odette lied, cutting me off before I could speak. Turning to me, she said, “Edgar, this is Yvonne. My half-sister’s mother.”
“Yes, stepmother, how do you do?” She outstretched her hand to me.
I wasn’t sure what to make of this situation, so I just nodded and shook her hand. “Well, thank you.”
“Where are you from? I pick up a slight accent?”
“Yvonne, we’re sort of busy here...you know, volunteering. If you’d like to help, there are hairnets and gloves in the back.”
I picked up another bag and began to pack.
“Right, keep up the good work,” she said, and before she stepped forward, she paused and looked back at Odette. “Odette, please answer Augusta’s call. You’re her big sister, so you should take the high road. You wouldn’t want her miserable because of a little misunderstanding.”
Now I was starting to see why this woman was clearly an enemy in Odette’s eyes. Odette inhaled deeply, glaring into the back of the woman before yanking up the bag.
Rippppp.
I snorted, trying to hold back my laugh.
“I think you’re right. We should invest in better bags before Christmas,” she muttered, bending down to pick up everything.
Bending to help her, I asked, “So, you have real-life evil stepmother problems?” I asked.
She looked at me for a moment and just laughed. “Apparently. Are you going to come in on a white horse and save me?”
“Would you let me?”
She shrugged. “How good are you at rescues?”
“I’m sure I can handle it.”
“Odette!”
Both of us jumped at the sound of Jeremy, who poked his head over the table to stare down at us. I couldn’t help it, I glared. This kid was something else. Did he fly over the tables to get here? Had he been watching this whole time? How deep was this little crush?
“How can I help you, Jeremy?” Odette asked, standing taller, her voice sweet. Wasn’t she annoyed?
“Will you play Uno with us?” he nearly begged.
“Sure, come on.” She outstretched her hand to him.
“What happened to volunteering?” I asked as she left me, literally, holding the bag.
She just winked at me.
“Are you jealous of a kid, sir?” Wolfgang questioned, coming up beside me almost out of thin air.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“And by that, he means yes,” Iskandar muttered, handing off his perfect bag to the volunteer who came to grab it. She frowned, looking at the bag in my hand.
“This one was Odette’s,” I said quickly, but she didn’t seem to believe me, which only made Wolfgang chuckle.
“Shut up.”
“Yes, sir.”
I tried to focus on my work, but I found my eyes drifting back toward Odette. She sat surrounded by children, completely at ease, laughing and playing alongside them. In fact, she was even more animated than they were, doing a little dance when she threw down a card. I wasn’t used to seeing her like this.
She had so many different sides to her.
Each day, she showed me a new one.
Since officially starting this romance of ours, I’d found out she actually loved to dance, and when I said dance, I meant, jump up and hop onto the couch, whip her head in every direction, air guitar solo, dance. She loved anything sweet but fought with herself not to eat it. Apparently, her mother traumatized her as a child with all the lectures she got. She could be loud and carefree one moment, and the next, she was huddled on the couch, barely saying a word, just watching the rain while drinking hot chocolate. Each and every time, I found myself watching her instead of anything else.
Even after days of just talking and talking and still talking, we found more to talk about, to laugh about. I was so used to having Odette beside me now that it was a little odd when she wasn’t there anymore.
Wait—was this love?
I hadn’t even known her for a month.
I couldn’t be in love yet.
Right? Right!
“Sir. Sir?”
“Hmm?” I looked at Wolfgang.
“If you already have something planned, I think we should be aware of it. We are cutting it a bit close,” Wolfgang stated, though I had no idea what he was talking about.
“Planned?”
“Odette’s birthday tomorrow?”
“That’s tomorrow!”
Rippppp.
I waved to Jeremy—a little bit relieved—as he and his foster family left. That was wrong, wasn’t it? But truthfully, I sort of couldn’t wait for the whole day to be over, simply because I wanted to go back and hide away with Gale.
“You seem happier lately.” Her voice was like spiders on my skin lately, and to make matters worse, she refused to leave me alone.
I wasn’t sure what she wanted—maybe it was to drive me crazy. “Were you hoping I’d be sad?” I asked, turning to face the one and only Yvonne. Each time I saw her, I felt like I better understood my mom.