Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 95756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 479(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 479(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
“Now, you need to spend some time in the corner to reflect.”
She groaned. “If I ever win the lottery, I’m going to build a house.”
“Are you?”
“Yep, and it’s not going to have any corners, so I won’t have to ever spend time in the corner again.”
Duke just laughed.
4
Two weeks until the wedding . . .
Sunny raced for her phone, frowning when she saw it was an unknown number. “Hello?”
It was Saturday afternoon. Duke had gone to work today to finish off a couple of big tattoos for clients, but she was home with Hatter, taking care of some wedding stuff. Although, since she’d delegated a few of her jobs, she was feeling a lot less stressed and rushed.
Probably should have done that right from the start.
“Sunshine?”
She froze as she heard the familiar voice. “Mom?”
“Sunshine, I told you a long time ago not to call me that,” the other woman chided. “I don’t like to be labelled.”
“Sorry,” Sunny muttered. Never mind that she’d asked her mother countless times to call her Sunny, not Sunshine. “Are you calling to RSVP for the wedding?”
Kind of late to RSVP. But then that was her mother. She probably didn’t even know what day it was.
Be nice, Sunny.
And they were having the wedding and the reception in the backyard, so it wasn’t like they couldn’t add two more guests. Sure, it might take a bit of shuffling and she’d have to speak to the caterers, but she should do it for her parents.
Even if she wasn’t allowed to call them Mom and Dad.
They might have been absent parents who showed little interest in her life, but at least they were calling about her wedding, right?
“What wedding?” her mom asked.
Sunny stood there and took the hit. It could have sent her to her knees. But she wasn’t going to let it happen.
Darn it.
She closed her eyes and sucked in a breath.
Maybe her messages hadn’t gotten through. Her mom was calling on an unknown number, so perhaps she’d lost her phone. It wasn’t like she was very good at checking it.
“My wedding, Serenity.”
“You’re getting married? I thought you were already married to that Jeff guy.”
Seriously? Why had she even bothered her in the first place?
“It was Greg. And we got divorced. I’m marrying Duke. The man I now live with.”
“Oh. I don’t remember you talking about a Duke.”
“That’s because we never talk,” Sunny bit out.
Don’t let her get to you.
“You know that Phoenix and I don’t like to be shackled to technology. The Government is listening to you through your phones and computers and CD players, you know.”
CD players?
Was she for real?
Sunny sighed. “I know, Serenity. So, if you’re not calling me about my wedding, then why are you picking up the Devil’s instrument to call me?”
“Honestly, Sunshine. We didn’t raise you this way. You know we don’t believe in the Devil. Phones are an instrument of the man.”
Nobody said ‘the man’ anymore.
Then again, no one really used CD players either, so . . .
“What do you want?” Sunny asked. She was fast losing patience with the other woman. Why should she give her any of her time, when she obviously never thought about Sunny at all?
“Really, Sunshine, when did you get so snappy? You weren’t like this when you were with us. You were always so serious as a child. So rule-driven.”
“I’m surprised you remember what I was like as a child.”
“Of course, I do. You had the sweetest smile and these huge eyes. And the best hugs.”
Okay, so that’s why she never completely wrote her parents off.
Because sometimes they showed hints of being the parents, she always hoped they would be.
“Why are you calling?” Sunny asked.
“Ah, well. It’s about the RV.”
She frowned. “What about it?”
“It broke down.”
“Oh, no, are you both all right? Are you stranded somewhere?” Why hadn’t her mom led with that?
“No, of course not. We called some friends who didn’t live far away, and they came and got us. They opened up their home to us. Such amazing hospitality.”
Right. Sunny rubbed the top of her nose, feeling a headache coming on. There were a lot of things she could be doing right now that were far more productive than this phone call.
“What happened to the RV?” she asked.
“Some Government officials towed it. Can you believe that? And impounded it.”
“Government officials, huh?”
“Yes, and to get them to release it, you will not believe the hoops they want us to go through. There are forms!”
She was definitely getting a headache. Moving to the sofa, she sat.
With a whine, Hatter hopped up onto her lap. Considering how huge he was now, he was too heavy to be a lap dog, but she appreciated the comfort he was trying to offer.
“There are always forms,” she told her mother.
“I can’t put my name on official documents. Who knows what they’ll do with that information?”