Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 62737 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 314(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62737 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 314(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
“What’s the likelihood of that happening? Bobbi doesn’t have any living relatives that I’m away of. Jeffrey, on the other hand, does. A great aunt or some such shit who lives in Michigan. Never had anything to do with my childhood.” The woman is older than dirt, lives in a shack, and is on a fixed income.
“Rory would go to you, pending DNA.” Matthew leans against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. I’m sensing he’s been pulling a lot of hours between what’s going on along with his own practice.
“I appreciate it, more than you know.” I swallow down the lump threatening to form at the thought of everything we’ve got going on and how my friends, who are more like family, had no problem dropping everything they were doing to help me.
“Know that,” Matthew replies.
“We all do,” comes from Tysen. “Which leads me to the next order of business.”
“Already working on therapists, for Rory and myself.” I’d balked at the idea, until Rory asked if I would go with her. Then, in bed, Ronnie mentioned it being a good idea, too, even told me she was in therapy several times throughout her life. And while she still has her hangups, Rory said it’s ten times better than it used to be. Our talk went well into the early hours of the morning, and a big part of the ink on her skin helped her face her fears. Plus, Zane would never allow his sister to be a blank canvas. The fact she has work done by other artists not at his studio, well, he gives her hell about it every time he sees the new ink, and that’s without her latest tattoo.
“Alright. Well, then it comes as no surprise to you that Ma said to call. She’s got food to drop off, too, but doesn’t want to bombard you all when we’ve been traipsing in and out.” That sounds like Loretta Vaughn. “This is straight from her mouth. You know as well as I do the situation never sat right with her, so word for word, her statement: ‘I have not one single problem about doing what I have to do to make Jeffrey Ellison sit and rot in prison for the rest of his life. If that means giving depositions or getting on the stand, I will.’ I swear Ma is a force to be reckoned with.”
“Tysen’s mom isn’t wrong. I wouldn’t be able to take them or do any of it due to the conflict of interest, but if we need them to keep Jeffrey behind bars, we’ll do whatever we can.” Matthew moves away from the wall to look at the wall of screens and what I’ve been working on before life happened. An app is simulating on them right now, moving from one frame to the next.
“How long have you been working on that?” Tysen asks. Everyone knew about the government contract, mainly because those cameras were used wherever I could until it was tweaked just right.
“Too fucking long. Any time I turn in what I think will be the finished project, they send it back and ask for the dumbest adjustments. It’s their money, though.” I shrug my shoulders. They’re now paying me by the hour since they ran through the allotted time on our contract.
“Seb is going to have a field day with it.” Matthew is chuckling. The app is as crazy as the owners who reached out for me to put together. It caters to a younger age group with its bright colors, lots of flashing between each sequence, and for every match you make, it gives you higher points. Then you can go into the ‘store’ and design your character, a house, and landscape.
“No doubt about it. Good thing Winnie and Johnny put a time limit on his tablet.” I grunt, remembering I’ll need to go to the store at some point today. Rory needs a new phone and a laptop since she’s decided to take the rest of the school year off in class and chose to go the online route.
“No kidding. Alright. I’m going to have an associate stop by and administer the DNA test on Rory. We’ll get the results, and in the meantime, I’ll draft the guardianship paperwork. There’s a slight chance you could be asked to take parenting classes,” Matthew tells me.
“I’ll do whatever needs to be done.” That includes getting my sister behind the wheel of a car. Bobbi wouldn’t let me help them, not financially at least. Groceries? Sure. Phones for both of them? Yes. School clothes for Rory? She never blinked. Anything else, she held her head high and worked to provide for them.
“Good. I’m heading home.” Matthew makes for the door.
“He’s gotta get home to his pretty little housekeeper. How long until you go after what you want, Matty?” Tysen pulls a Jagger, probably because he’s not here, and it’s easy to get Matthew riled up about the woman who’s at his house more than he is.