Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 77793 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77793 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
The oven door slams in the kitchen. “I’ll shamboozle your bamwoozle!”
The room is so silent that I feel obligated to continue just to banish the awkwardness. “In the end, I had a friend of a friend of a friend, who slept with a friend, who knew the sister of a friend, who did me a solid. They checked the system for guys who looked like Cody but weren’t Cody. I got a hit back on twin brothers who got in trouble for hacking on a public library computer and were then pulled from the justice system just like that and adopted by a lovely older woman. After that, I, um, might have had that name from the…well, not the police or anything because that information is confidential and classified. Anyway, after that, there were quite a few early mornings and late nights, and a lot of days where there were both because I didn’t sleep, but I finally figured out Cody wasn’t Cody but Orion, and I tracked him down.”
I guess that’s kind of a mic drop moment because there is a heck of a lot of unhinged jaws around the room. I think everyone has an unhinged jaw, to be exact. Except for the baby. The baby is just grinning at me.
Orion makes a noise that is half a grunt and half a hiccup, and there might be something seriously wrong with me to think that noise is actually kind of hot. “What’s your name?” He swallows hard. “If we’re married, I think I should know my wife’s name.”
I extend the divorce papers, which I’m still clutching, and pass them over. He takes them, his hand trembling, and checks out the first page. “Echo? Your name is Echo?” he asks incredulously.
Oh, really? Seriously? We’re going to do the whole pot calling the kettle thing here? I cross my arms. “You have a badass name that’s not your real name but is basically your real name because it’s now your legal name, so why can’t I?”
“Can we take turns guessing your real name?” Orion’s twin brother asked.
“Can we guess spirit animals after that?” The guy with the beard also chimed in.
“We don’t have to guess,” the woman next to him said. “There are quizzes you can take. They’re online, and they must be true because I’ve used the internet for all other major life decisions, and it hasn’t steered me wrong yet.”
“That’s like the magic eight ball I got when I was seven or eight,” the lady with the baby says, smiling widely at the memory. “I don’t think those can give you bad advice.”
“So true. That’s very true.”
I’m starting to feel a little bit overwhelmed, a pit in my stomach opening up and weighing me down. I can’t keep up with the voices around the room. I feel like everything is coming at me from a foggy storm cloud. All of a sudden, there’s a huge crashing noise from the kitchen, then an angry voice grouching, “It’s straight to the rubbish heap for you! The bins, I tell you, the bins outside are calling your name. Can you hear it? Mixerrrrr, mixerrrrr, we’re waiting….”
Orion sighs beside me. “Granny, I think we should come and give you some help.”
There’s a clatter of pans and what sounds like an oven door banging shut. Then, soft footsteps sound on the floor, and Orion’s granny appears in the living room. She walks right up to me, appraises me boldly and honestly quite rudely, then crosses her arms. “What did I miss?”
“Granny!” Orion groans.
“Grannyyyyyyy!” the chorus goes up through the room.
She grins, thrilled at having one on with the younger generation. “I heard everything, don’t worry. Plus, your cookies are coming right up. The mixer might have given me some trouble, but I have the first batch in. You’ll start smelling them soon and race to the kitchen to get them when they’re too hot, and I’ll be there to swat you away from the stove like flies so they can cool.” Her eyes narrow when she looks back in my direction. I try very hard not to squirm, but there’s something about a granny staredown that makes it quite hard to hold your ground. “So, you bonded over hacking, did you?”
“I…I guess so,” I stammer.
Her brow crinkles. “And you tracked us down all on your own?”
“Well, not totally on my own, but I did find you. I have to say that San Diego is really nice. Nicer than I thought it would be.”
“Hmm.”
I don’t know what ‘hmm’ means—if it’s a good thing or a bad thing or somewhere in between. I decide to wait it out. I can be patient. I’ve been patient for a year, haven’t I?
“I know,” she says at last. “You should come to the wedding.”
“What? Granny! That’s a bit hasty. We don’t even know her. She could be anyone. Those papers could be fake, and a marriage license from Vegas? That’s hardy legit.” Orion’s protests are immediate, and I’m not sure if he’s protesting the fact that I’m a stranger, if he’s still overwhelmed, or if he really just doesn’t want me there because he suddenly remembered why he tore his shirt off and ran out of our wedding in the first place.