Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 96850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
I’ve got this.
Allowing herself a few extra minutes in bed, Eve scrolled through her emails, deleting advertisements and moving invoice reminders to her work folder, to be dealt with later.
When? It was anyone’s guess.
Her fingers paused on the screen when she came across an email with the subject heading: You Have New Test Results. Sent from the urgent care where she’d taken the twins.
Her pulse started to thrum a little faster when she opened the attachment and saw the word asthma.
“What the . . .” She sat up in bed, reading from the beginning.
Presence of wheezing in the patient’s lungs. Follow-up appointment with pulmonologist recommended. Asthma likely present.
Asthma. Landon had asthma.
Had her sister been aware of this? What did this mean?
How dangerous was this condition for her nephew?
Eve got out of bed and pulled on a robe, doing her best not to overreact. “Pulmonologist. Okay.” She’d just started googling local results for pediatric pulmonology when there was a knock at the door of her apartment, and for a split second Eve was dead positive it was her sister standing out in the hall—and she had no idea how to feel about that. Dread over losing the kids and their presence in her life. Relief that she wouldn’t have to figure this scary shit out alone. Dread, relief, dread.
“Who is it?” Eve called, approaching the door.
“It’s me. It’s Veda.”
Eve stopped in her tracks, frowning . . . yet, still decidedly more relieved than she’d been when suspecting the knocker was her sister. “Oh.” She opened the door and stepped back to let the young woman inside, smiling absently at her saddle shoes, high-waisted jeans, and polka-dot tube top. “Did you leave something here last night?”
“Nope, I’m just being the go-getter my parents always wanted.”
Eve stared at her blankly.
Veda let out a small huff. “I’m here to present my business idea, bro. I was going to drop it on you last night, but you seemed tired and distracted.”
Understatement. “That I was.”
“Any better this morning?”
“No, but there’s coffee for that. Have a seat.” Eve scrubbed at her face on her way into the kitchen, hitting the button to heat up her single cup brewer, taking two mugs out of the cabinet while Veda hopped onto one of the stools at the breakfast bar. “You mentioned your parents. Do you live with them?” Eve asked.
“Much to their dismay, yes. I’ll be the last to leave.”
“How many siblings do you have?”
“Three. My younger brother is in his first year of college at Tulane. The middle one is backpacking through Europe, as we speak. And my older sister is the real estate queen I mentioned last night.”
“Right, the one with her face on the benches.”
“Yup. I can’t even go to the store without being reminded I’m the slacker sibling.”
Eve snorted. “Slackers don’t get up this early.”
“Actually, I haven’t gone to sleep yet.” Veda covered a yawn. “My friend had a late gig in Providence. I made it in time for the last set.”
“Damn.” Eve stared down at the steaming coffee as it filled the mug. “I’m only twenty-two and somehow you’re making me feel old.”
Veda hooted. “All right, I’m going to shoot my shot. Are you ready?” She shook out her hands as her coffee mug was set down in front of her, along with the milk jug and some sugar packets. “You’ve got that acre of space behind the club, right? It’s sitting there, unused. But what if you could turn it into something that would offer a whole new revenue stream?”
“Big words for seven a.m.” Eve blew on her coffee, which she took black. “Go on.”
“Like I said, I had to drive to Providence last night for a gig. We don’t have any music venues around here. And there are plenty of musicians in Cumberland and the surrounding areas—you just don’t see us because we’re all sleeping in our parents’ basements. Not to mention, everyone is looking for somewhere to go on Friday and Saturday nights. As of now, there are only two options in this town. Bar one or bar two. Sad, right?” She wet her cherry-red lips. “We could put an addition on the back of Gilded Garden. For shows. And maybe have an outdoor venue option as well, for summer nights.” Veda shifted in her chair, excited by her pitch. “Picture blue lights in the woods, the low pluck of my bass. We’ll put down pavers for the tables and chairs. Like a half-moon patio. A stage. The bar could be inside, but have a walk-up window to serve the outside customers. Realistically, the venue would only open two, maybe three nights a week, but you’d have that space to rent out for parties. Or whatnot.” Veda paused for breath. “I can’t read you. What are you thinking?”
Eve hid the dreamlike expression that was trying to take command of her face. Remodeling the Gilded Garden and decorating it to create a timeless escape had been her favorite part of the last four years. Because she’d been building toward something. Something she’d dreamed would be a success. Had that happened, though?