Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 91595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
I may be starting over as Kenleigh Colburn, but I’ll always be Flint and Ash’s mom. Damn, I already miss my boys so much. As the song ends, I hit Ash’s contact on my screen, and he answers right away.
“Hey, Mom. You’re in the car with us. We’re driving through—”
Ash breaks off, and Flint answers, “Pennsylvania. Got about eight more hours.”
My eyes sting with unshed tears at the deep tenor of my boy’s voice. “Awesome, you’re making great time. Will y’all stop?”
“Probably not. Where are you?”
“Entering Knoxville. Traffic is ridiculous.”
“Isn’t it always?” Flint asks, humor in his voice. When we’d drive to see my sister, we’d always get stuck here. “Why did you stay in Indiana? I thought you’d stop in Chicago.”
That was the plan, but I was in deep on my audiobook and didn’t want to stop. Traffic starts to move again, and I exhale. “I drove about six hours before I got too tired.”
“Cool. How much longer?” Ash asks, but before I can answer, Flint does.
“She’ll be there in about an hour.”
“Stalkers,” I laugh, and they both snicker. “Maybe I need to drop from Life360 so you guys don’t know when I’m going buck crazy at the local bar.”
Flint snorts as Ash says, “There is one bar. We know where it is.”
I laugh when Flint adds, “And you better send us all the pictures.”
“And remember, we live in an age when everything is on social media. Send us the photos before Aunt Sadie puts them on Instagram,” Ash pleads, and I grin. “Especially if you ride the bull at the Thirsty Pine.”
“No! Send us a video!” Flint begs, and I can just see his huge grin on his face, his bright-blue eyes, and the dimples he got from me. “Have fun, Mom. You’re going home to reunite with Shenanigans Inc. It’s time to let loose.”
Laughter barks out of me at the nickname my sister, my best friend, and I have. It was Sadie’s brother who started calling us that. He was always the one we called to drive us home after whatever drunken activities we found ourselves in. We got the name, though, after crashing a senior party and getting into a fight with some guy’s girl who Missy was all up on.
It was wild and so much fun.
“We’re all moms now. I doubt we can be called Shenanigans Inc. anymore. More like Boring Moms Who Like to Crochet.”
“No way!” Flint complains. “Get your shirts out and remind that town all about Shenanigans Inc.!”
“Yeah!” Ash cheers, like he’s getting pumped for a game. “Y’all better be wearing your shirts when we get there.”
My heart swells, and my eyes start to sting again. “Christmas break is a long time away.”
“We’ve got this,” Ash guarantees, his voice full of emotion. “It’ll go quick.”
“I’ll see you guys for the first game. Maybe I’ll bring the girls.”
They both cheer at that. “Yes, and Matt. I love Uncle Matt,” Flint says.
“Maybe we can meet this new uncle of ours,” Ash suggests, and I scoff. I still can’t believe Missy married Nyle Farnsworth. He was such a creep, and she knew she was wrong since she didn’t even tell Sadie and me until after she did it. I’m actually dreading staying with them, but my house won’t be ready until the end of August. “We’ll see if I can get the whole crew on a plane.” The boys are excited, and even though I know I shouldn’t, I ask, “Will y’all do half your break here and half with your father?”
I’m met with silence, and my stomach turns. I shouldn’t have asked, but I let my ugly insecurities get the best of me. “Not sure. We kind of got into it with him last night,” Flint admits. “Did you know we got money if you left Dad?”
I press my lips together. “Yes.”
I hear a fist hit the steering wheel, and then Ash says, “Mom, we’d rather you were happy.”
I wipe away a stray tear. “I was happy as long as I was with you two,” I admit, my voice rough. I feel like I need to pull over to puke. With how slow traffic is going into Knoxville, I probably wouldn’t even need to pull over. “What did he say?”
“He blamed me for everything going to hell because he thinks I told you,” Flint answers, and anger bubbles in my chest. I want to scream that I told him how I found out, not to listen to him. Stratford is just mad he lost a lot of money that he doesn’t need and that I left him instead of him leaving me. I don’t say that, though. I swallow past the lump in my throat. “I’m sorry, boys. He is a good dad, and I hope this doesn’t come between y’all.”
I’m not sure who scoffs, but one of them does, before Ash says, “He started a whole-ass family outside ours, Mom. He hurt the one woman who deserves the world. I don’t know if you can keep saying he’s a good dad.”