Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 137144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Lily wiped at her eyes. Clem walked over and stopped in front of her. “We didn’t do much touchy-feely stuff as kids.”
Lily snorted and then covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh, I’m so sorry about that.”
Clem snorted. “Don’t worry about apologizing for that. That might be the first thing we have in common.”
“Did we just both snort?” Lily asked her.
“Yep. Got a problem with that?”
Nope. She had no problem at all with that.
“There were no hugs from our parents when we did well or fell over and hurt ourselves.”
“Which you did a lot,” Lily said with a small smile.
“Still do,” Clem told her with a smile back. “But I was wondering if you wanted a hug now.”
Lily stared up at her for a long moment, blinking.
“Or not,” Clem said, taking a step back and her face shutting down.
Urgh, she was such an idiot. Lily jumped to her feet before she pounced, wrapping her arms around Clem.
Clem let out an “oomph” and took a half step back to steady herself, but she managed to stay on her feet. And then her arms came around Lily, squeezing back tight.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever wanted something more in my life,” Lily said.
“Well, good,” Clem said, patting her back. “You know, you can let me go now. I kind of like breathing.”
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. Was I squeezing too hard?” Lily stepped away from her. “I’m not used to hugging. I mean, I’ve hugged Harvey, but no one else.”
“Hey, it was a joke,” Clem said with a small smile. “You’ve got to get used to hugs if you’re going to stay here with me.”
“You really want me to stay here with you?” Lily asked.
“Yep, you’re staying. Right, Jaret?”
“Of course,” Jaret said, looking at them both. “Lily, you can stay as long as you like.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t like to impose.”
Clem snorted. “It’s not imposing when it’s family. It’s obligatory.”
Right, she felt obliged to offer Lily somewhere to stay. Lily got it. But that didn’t mean that she should say yes.
“I’ll be fine,” Lily said. “Really. Although it might be quite nice to stay in the town for a while. I’m sure there’s a motel or somewhere I can stay.”
The only problem was she couldn’t actually afford a motel, but surely there’d be a nice park where she could sleep in her car. Haven looked like it hadn’t changed much since she’d been here as a kid, and she remembered everyone being really friendly and kind.
Clem put her hands on her hips. “I didn’t ask because I felt obliged to. I don’t do anything because I feel obliged to. You’re staying. If you don’t stay, you’ll insult me, and then I’ll be really mad. And then I’ll send my killer rooster after you.”
Lily felt her eyes widen. “Killer Rooster? That rooster doesn’t really peck out eyeballs, does it?”
“Sure does,” Clem said.
“Clem,” Jaret said warningly. “Do you think Lily’s going to want to stay here if she’s worried that Drumstick is going to peck out her eyeballs?”
“Fine. He doesn’t peck out eyeballs. He’s a bit of a jerk, and he will wake you up early in the morning. In fact, sometimes he goes off at different times at night. I think he’s a bit confused about what his job is. He makes a pretty good watchdog, though. Or watch rooster, I guess he would be. It means I don’t have to pay for a security system. Or even lock my door.”
“Oh, is that why the door was unlocked when I arrived?” Lily asked. “It was actually a little bit open.”
“Clem,” Jaret said warningly. “I’ve told you that you need to lock the door when you go out. And you especially need to shut the door. If that guinea pig has gotten into my boots again . . . there’s going to be trouble.”
Clem grimaced as Jaret disappeared down the hallway.
“Uh-oh,” she said to Lily. “Pretty sure that Piggy-Wiggy has been in here.”
“Piggy-Wiggy?” she asked.
“Yes, I’ve now got three guinea pigs and four rabbits, but Piggy-Wiggy keeps escaping and coming into the house. Pretty certain she thinks she’s Jaret’s girlfriend.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because she makes a little nest in his shirts and likes to knock over his boots and climb into them, and she often leaves him little presents in there.”
What kind of presents could a guinea pig leave? Oh, wait . . . yikes.
“Lily,” Clem said seriously.
“Yes?”
“I wish I’d known what was going on with Mother and Doctor Wallace doing those things to you. I’d have come for you. And I wouldn’t have left until I had you with me.”
This time, the tears dripped down her face and she threw herself at Clem.
“I’d have come for you because you’re my sister,” Clem told her.
“Clem!” Jaret yelled.
Clem let go of her, making a face. “Yep, we’re in trouble. Let’s run.”