Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
“Good morning, sweetie.” I lowered the whisk into the bowl, then went over and lifted her into my arms. “How’s my sweet girl this morning? Did you sleep okay?”
“Um-hmm,” she answered with a nod.
“Are you hungry?”
She nodded once again.
“Good, 'cause I’m making us some pancakes.” I carried her over to the kitchen counter and sat her down on one of the stools next to Skid. She glanced over at him but then nervously turned her attention back to me. Knowing she needed a little reassurance, I smiled and told her, “Skid’s going to eat with us. Is that okay?”
“Um-hmm.”
“Good. How about some juice?”
“Um-hmm.”
“You got it.”
I made her a sippy cup of juice and placed it in front of her, then got back to work on our pancakes. Luna and Skid watched as I poured the batter onto the sizzling skillet. Once they were golden brown, I stacked them on a plate and started on the eggs. Minutes later, we were all sitting at the counter and quietly eating. I couldn’t help but notice that Luna kept glancing over at Skid. Like me, she wasn’t sure what to make of him.
He must’ve noticed that she was unsure of him because he gave her a warm smile and said, “You’re a lucky girl. Your momma is a real good cook.”
She didn’t answer. She just sat there staring at him, so he kept at it.
“Your mom and I were talking about some things we could do today.” Skid glanced over at me as he said, “I was thinking we could watch a movie or something. Do you have a favorite movie?”
“Can-to.”
“Canto?” His brows furrowed. “I’m not sure I’ve heard of that one.”
“It’s Encanto,” I interjected. “It’s a Disney movie.”
“Sounds good to me. We could watch after we eat.”
Luna turned to me with a hopeful expression. “Can we, Momma?”
“Sure, we can do that, but you gotta finish your breakfast first.”
That’s all it took to get her to dive into her pancakes. As soon as we all finished eating, Skid helped me clean up the kitchen while Luna piddled with her sippy cup. She was still in her PJs, so I took her back to the room where we’d slept and got her dressed for the day. It didn’t look like we were going anywhere, so I put on her play clothes and headed to the living room to find Skid.
When we walked in, he was flipping through the channels. “What was the name of the movie?”
“Encanto.”
“That’s right.”
Skid searched for the movie while Luna and I got settled on the sofa. Luna was all smiles when she saw her favorite movie pop up on the screen. She settled back, and it wasn’t long before both she and Skid were wrapped up in the show. I, on the other hand, was restless and couldn’t get into the movie. I was usually working at this time and felt like I needed to be doing something.
I glanced around the room, and I couldn’t help but notice that everything was covered in a thick layer of dust. Grim had a really nice place—much nicer than any place I’d ever stayed, but it needed some TLC. I had nothing better to do, so I turned to Skid and asked, “Any idea where he keeps the cleaning supplies?”
“If I had to guess, I’d say he didn’t have any.”
“Really?”
“Grim’s not the cleaning type.”
“I see. Well, that’s too bad. I was going to try and tidy up a bit to thank him for letting us stay.”
“Ah, man.” He sighed. “Guess that means you want me to make a run, huh?”
“Would you mind?
“After the movie?” I gave him a pleading look, and he quickly recanted, “Okay, I’ll go now.”
Like a kid who’d just lost his lollipop, he got up with a pout and started towards the door. He was just about to walk out when I remembered that Christmas was just a day away, so I shouted, “Hey, Skid! Hold up.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Just give me a second.” I rushed into the room where we’d slept and grabbed my wallet from one of the bags. I took what little cash I had and carried it to Skid. “Do you think you could grab a little Christmas tree and maybe some lights?”
“Yeah, I can do that.” He glanced down at the small wad of cash I had in my hand and said, “Keep your money, doll. I’ll get it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
“Thanks, Skid.”
“No problem.”
He walked out, and I was pleased to see that Luna didn’t seem to mind his absence. I knew he wouldn’t be gone long, so I used the opportunity to do a little snooping. I slipped down the hall and went into the master bedroom and found a nice-sized room with a king-sized bed and a nice dresser.
I stuck my head into the master bath, and it was equally as nice. It was also in great need of a good cleaning. I went and checked the other rooms, and like the one where Luna and I had slept, there was a bed, a few pieces of furniture, and an assortment of unopened boxes—all of which were dusty and had a weird smell.