Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
A large, warm hand gently landed on my wrist, halting me. I looked at his face.
“You’re perfect. Just like they said you were. They knew. And I hoped. But they were both right. You’re perfect for them.”
Tears filled my eyes. I tried to hold them back, but they fell out anyway.
I almost told him my dilemma. I came really close, to get his advice, because I knew already that this man who raised Zane was a good man, an intelligent one with a big heart, but Ollie bounded into the room with a look on his face that made me almost certain he’d overheard us.
“I got to go to Marko’s and Daylin’s for a minute. Can I do that? It’s very important.” He was looking at me with a funny smile.
I blinked the tears away and smiled, hoping he wouldn’t see what I could tell he did see. That I was weepy.
“Um… I don’t know, sweetie pie. What does Granddad think?”
“I think it’s fine. Go play with your friend, Ollie. Did you brush your teeth?”
“I did, Granddad. I’ll be back in five minutes only. I’m not going over to play.”
“Oh. Five minutes? What’s happening over there that it’s only going to take five minutes?”
“It’s top secret,” Ollie told him, folding his arms across his chest with a look that spoke of stubbornness. He didn’t want to be questioned; that was crystal clear.
“Go ahead. Be good.”
Ollie threw his arms around me and looked up at my face. “It’s going to be okay, Tanya,” he whispered.
I frowned. Did he see that I’d been a little weepy?
“I’m fine, sweetie.”
He smiled big and nodded, then ran off.
“That was a little odd,” Ollie Sr. observed.
“It was. Do you think they’re up to something?”
“Boys that age often are.” He shrugged and put his mouth to his coffee mug. “But he looked to you for permission; he already views you as a parent.”
I had no reply to that. It’d only been not quite three days since I got here and I’d spent less than 24 hours around Ollie, but it was what he wanted, so to me, he was trying to will it to be true.
“And it suits you,” he added.
I smiled shyly, pressing the commands to send the breakfast dishes away to be cleaned.
What a life. No washing dishes. No cooking meals. Not even making your own bed if you don’t want to. Crazy stuff.
***
At the tail end of a Chili feeding, Zane was strolling in, eyes on me.
I was wearing a pair of yoga pants from home with my black hoodie and red tank top underneath. My hair was in a messy bun and I hadn’t put makeup on yet, forgetting to bring some from next door.
“Good morning.” I perked up.
Chili let out a long coooo sound, pounced, bouncing off the table, the back of an empty chair, and then landing on Zane’s shirtsleeve.
He looked down at Chili who was hanging off his wrist and lifted his arm to eye level. My belly flipflopped.
“Don’t kill him, Daddo,” Ollie said, not looking up from his little kid tablet. I couldn’t tell what he was doing as it was just strings of symbols each time I’d glanced at it, but my guess was that it was text messaging between him and someone. But he’d been on the thing almost constantly since he’d come back from his mystery trip next door.
“It’s tempting,” Zane said, glaring at the tiny animal.
“Cooo,” was Chili’s reply.
“Go see granddad,” Zane pointed at his father and Chili hopped directly to Ollie Sr. as if he understood.
I stared at Zane questioningly. He stared directly at me and I wasn’t sure what his mood was.
“Father, can we have a minute?” he asked. “Tanya, Ollie, you two can pack up. We can go home.”
“Okay, Daddo,” Ollie replied, not looking up from what he was doing on his little tablet. “But, I… I need to go back to Daylin’s in a little while, for a little while.”
“For?”
“Top Secret.”
Zane snickered. “What are you hooligans up to?”
“If I told you, it wouldn’t be Top Secret.”
My body shook with silent laughter. Ollie Sr. and Zane disappeared out of view, Chili still on Ollie Sr.’s shoulder, as I headed up the stairs to pack up.
My heart was racing, too, because I knew that I had no choice but to talk to Zane as soon as the opportunity presented itself.
According to my mother’s watch on my wrist, I had approximately six hours until I’d been here 72 hours. I sure was cutting it close.
***
We were in the lounge on the bottom floor and Ollie said he needed to do something in his bedroom as he set Chili’s crate down. These Zenith men wouldn’t let me carry anything back.
“Go ahead,” Zane told him.
Ollie smiled big and took off running.
“Is everything good with the repairs?” I asked.