Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 112850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
“Mr. Sutton,” Nico said. “Thank you for coming by.”
My father had my mom by his side, taking everything in as they stepped fully inside the foyer. Nico shut the door behind them.
“There’s a strange car followin’ us, but Nico sent security to check it out,” my mom said to me excitedly, leavin’ the other two in the entryway. “Daddy needed us to come check on you, Mace.” Of course, she’d see this as something to break up the humdrum of daily life. She was here for the good time and gave me a tight side hug. “I’ve been wantin’ to get over here all day and check on you. Do you think they’re takin’ our pictures right now? I curled my hair but I’ve heard they purposefully look for the worst picture to use…”
My father and Nico had followed my mom into the kitchen. My father’s hand came to my shoulder, squeezing. “Your mom felt sure that you stayed here in this house, so I have Lori and Max and the kids at your place. They’re movin’ in for now. Good thing you got it close to finished!”
What? That was news to me. “They’re stayin’ at my house?” I asked Nico. We used that space as an office for the ranch until we grew big enough to hire a general manager to stay on property.
“Yeah. You have security monitors on the property to help watch my grandbabies,” my dad explained before Nico could. He’d never met a stranger, raising a hand to Nico’s shoulder as well.
The head of security nodded at me.
I’d voted to stay on the side of needing less information, but moving people should have been mentioned.
“Maybe y’all are makin’ a bigger deal out of this than necessary,” I said to my dad. “Slade’s bein’ excessive. We’re fine. It’s gonna be okay.”
My father completely dismissed me as I spoke, shaking his head.
I tried again. “Mom, Dad, it’ll be fought online, not in person. What’re y’all doin’ gearin’ up like this?”
“You know how Slade is when he wants to protect you,” Nico answered, but this was more my parents being overboard than Slade.
“Y’all are embarrassin’ me.”
My mom gave a dismissing slap through the air as if I was being nonsensical. “No more than we normally do. And family sticks together. We need to be here for you.”
She left me, glancing around Slade’s kitchen as she took off her windbreaker and hung it over a kitchen chair. “Have you had dinner? Are you waitin’ for Slade to call?” she asked, nodding toward the laptop. “Let me see what you have to cook with. I’ll get somethin’ started. How many people are we feedin’?”
“I have some leftovers in the refrigerator,” I said, following her as she opened and shut cabinet doors until she found the full pantry. “We don’t all eat together.”
“Nonsense. You have everything needed for a tuna casserole. You loved that as a child, and I can do my part and cook for everyone,” she said, pulling boxes and cans from the pantry.
“Mom,” I started again, leaving my spot to follow after her. As she took her items out, I placed them back where she found them.
“Honey, this’s gonna happen. Take a seat, and wait for Slade’s call, and tell me how you two met. Lori’s told me some. It seemed romantic…” Her voice turned sweet, clearly wanting a fairytale beginning. I didn’t have that. Of course, I couldn’t say that Slade wanted to fuck me and I fought it for about three minutes then let him pile-drive me in the bar’s spare room.
I mashed my lips together in aggravation and glanced at Nico who shrugged.
“Do you know how IVF works these days? Is it safe to have a surrogate? Daddy says that he read that you can know the sex of the baby before the embryo’s implanted. Is that true?” She barely glanced at me for an answer while digging through the pots and pans in Slade’s cabinets.
“I don’t know, Mom. How would I know somethin’ like that? I think Slade’s makin’ a far bigger deal out of this than necessary,” I said, any hope that I’d managed to hang on to flew out the very window that Slade liked to stand in front of to consider all of life’s complications. “You and Dad need to settle down. I don’t know anything about what’s happin’ in the world and I’m doin’ just fine.”
“I know, baby,” my mom said, grinning at me as she filled a pot with water. “When your children settle into their lives, the joy a parent has…”
Oh lord, why did she keep referencing children. I felt the warmth stain my cheeks as I again stared back at my father and Nico. They gave me nothing to work with.
Not only that, but my father pivoted, executing a proper turn and burn out the front door. Nico on his tail. Where the hell were they going, and why was I still standing in the kitchen with my mom?