Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 86126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
As dinner came to an end, I started scooping up any leftover food from our plates so I could stack them.
“Don’t worry about it,” Mick said, waving me off.
Then, almost at once, the men got up and I watched in shock as they started clearing the long picnic tables. Even Rhett and Asa had jobs, picking up empty cans and juice boxes.
The women at the other table moved to ours while I sat there in confusion.
“We cooked,” Nova explained as she dropped down across from Emilia. “So, they clean up.”
“I know,” Esther told me as she sat down in Titus’s spot. “I was super confused the first time I saw them do it, too. Is Diana okay? What happened?”
“She choked on some fruit salad.” I grimaced.
“And Titus sprung into action,” Emilia added wryly.
“Someone had to.” I swallowed hard. “I wasn’t paying attention.”
“You looked away for a second,” Emilia replied consolingly. “Happens to all of us.”
Heather’s hands dropped down softly on my shoulders. I hadn’t even seen her get up. “I’m so sorry. I thought I was being so careful.”
“It’s okay.” I shook my head and looked up at her. “It was an accident.”
“Still.” Her eyes were on Diana.
Ariel squirmed on my lap. “I wanna help Asa.”
“Well,” Heather said dryly, her hands sliding off my shoulders as Ariel ran toward the kid table. “Someone needs to tell her that she’s ruining forty years of training.”
Emilia and Nova snickered.
“She’ll learn soon enough,” Myla said, turning to smile at me. “Don’t clean up when it’s their turn, because they definitely won’t be helping when it’s your turn.”
“I don’t know,” Emilia replied, watching the kids. “I’m betting Asa will be helping the next time Ariel’s cleaning up.”
“Look at Flora’s face,” Esther said, chuckling.
Flora was scowling as she watched Ariel following Asa across the yard, plates in their hands.
“Flora come sit with auntie,” Myla called out.
The conversation turned to pregnancy and all the things that came along with it. Myla was completely uninterested and played with Flora at the other end of the table, but Nova sat listening to us quietly.
“You don’t have any children yet?” I asked quietly.
Nova shook her head. “No, but I raised my brother,” she said with a smile. “Me and Rum would like to at some point, it just hasn’t happened yet.”
“It will,” Heather said firmly, smiling softly at Nova. “Where’s Ash tonight?”
“My grandma lives with us,” Nova explained. “She told me to tell you she’s sorry she missed it, but she had to work tonight.”
“She needs to retire,” Heather said with a huff.
“I don’t think she knows what that word means,” Nova said, laughter in her voice. “She likes being around people. She says it keeps her young.”
“What does she do?”
“She works at an ice cream shop, actually,” Nova said happily. “She loves it. She gets to give little kids treats all day.”
“That does sound like a fun job,” I said, smiling back at her.
“I told her to come work for me, but—” Nova shrugged. “She likes where she’s at.”
“Nova owns a spa,” Esther told me.
“Calling it a spa is stretching it a bit,” Nova joked. “It’s just a little shop.”
“And it’s doing really well,” Heather added proudly.
“That’s really cool,” I murmured, trying to ignore how intimidated I was being surrounded by such successful women. Nova owned her own business and Emilia was a real estate agent. I wasn’t sure what Myla did, but Otto had mentioned that she’d graduated from college, so I was sure she had some fancy career, too.
“Do you know what you want to do?” Myla asked me. “There are a lot of people hiring right now.”
“She doesn’t have to worry about that yet,” Esther said, cutting her off.
“I’m not sure,” I replied. “I’m not really qualified for anything.”
I barely noticed as men started streaming out of the house carrying plates of some kind of dessert.
“There are a ton of places that will train you,” Myla said. “All you really need is a high school diploma.”
Esther’s jaw was tight as she looked at me. She’d tried to shut down the subject and it hadn’t worked. I appreciated the loyalty more than I could’ve expressed. I just shrugged.
“I don’t have a high school diploma,” I said, smiling tightly. “I got married my junior year.”
“Oh, shit,” Myla mumbled. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry.” I shook my head. “I had Ariel less than a year later, so it was worth it.”
Titus cleared his throat behind me and I froze as he set plates in front of me and Emilia. It looked like some kind of chocolate and whipped cream trifle.
“Thank you,” I croaked.
“Does anyone want coffee?” Emilia asked brightly. “Titus will get it for you.”
The rest of the women gave their orders, but I sat silently staring at my plate. Life was life, and I wasn’t ashamed that I hadn’t finished high school—but it was a little embarrassing. I’d loved school and I’d hated when I had to drop out, but there hadn’t been much of a choice. Caleb was adamant that he didn’t want me surrounded by boys all the time and we hadn’t been able to afford the girls only private school in our area. I’d tried to homeschool, but without any support it had been pretty disastrous. Once Ariel was born it had been virtually impossible.