Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Eleven
Forge
How the fuck had Saylor pulled this off? It had to have been her. No one else could do this.
“Oh my God!” Winslet said as she climbed out of the passenger side of Oz’s truck. Her hands were covering her mouth.
Oz walked around and took her hand to lead her up the front stairs. Normally, we all parked in the garage, but when you pulled up and the house was decked out in pink shit, you knew to stop here. If we didn’t go through the front doors, Saylor would lose her mind.
But seriously, who the hell had told her about this? She had to have known before we did to have all the pink stuff on hand. There were pink balloons, roses, an It’s a Girl hand-painted banner that looked like an artist had done it. This had not been thrown together in an hour.
“Wow,” Cressida said, staring at the front entrance, wide-eyed. “I was not expecting this.”
“Someone must have told Saylor,” Kash replied.
“No shit,” I muttered.
When they reached the top step, the double doors both swung open, and there she was, our over-the-top, annoying, but-everyone-loved-her-anyway brat in the family. I’d say that Jude would have a special spot in heaven for putting up with her, but that dude was going to hell with the rest of us. He’d been a priest until he started fucking Saylor and broke his vows. Now, he was one of us and damn happy about it.
“Congratulations!” Saylor cried out gleefully.
I couldn’t hear what all they were saying as I followed Kash and Cressida up the stairs. I did hear Halo’s name and that she’d had it all hidden. That made more sense. Someone had to have known what the gender was to wrap the booties up. Must have been Halo.
Leaving Mom hadn’t been so hard today. Thanks to my niece. I smirked. Niece. Oz was gonna have a little girl. Damn, that was hilarious. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to laugh my ass off.
White twinkling lights and pink roses wrapped around the front columns as we walked past them and into the house. Balloons in fancy displays anchored the entrance, and the pink just kept on coming. It was everywhere. The entire place was covered in shit. Hawks would have loved this and caused havoc at the same time, tearing it all up.
When we entered the great room, Saylor was ushering Winslet and Oz over to stand under this elaborate arch made of pink and gold balloons and other things.
I scanned the area until I found Elsie. She was smiling softly as she watched the others. But out of the way. Alone.
I stepped around Kash and Cressida to make my way over to her. This had to be more than she wanted right now. All the people. Jesus, she’d been exposed to Saylor decorating for a party. She probably wanted to run off and hide.
“You surviving all this, Pickles?” I asked as I reached her.
Her eyes swung to me, and although they appeared amused, she frowned. “Did you just call me Pickles?”
I nodded. Then glanced back at Saylor ordering people around. “Did she trap you into helping with all this?”
“Not trapped. I was happy to help.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Even with Saylor calling the shots?”
She grinned and glanced back out at the room filling with people. Family. Everyone who wasn’t gone for the races this weekend. “I like her.”
“Eh, I guess Jude has made her more tolerable,” I replied. That and losing Crosby, then finding out about Halo. She’d grown up a lot, snapped out of her spoiled-bitch phase.
“Did Jude live here once too?” she asked. “I didn’t recall his name when Gathe gave me a rundown of who everyone was.”
Gathe gave her a rundown? When? The first night she was here?
“No, Jude was once Father Jude,” I told her. “As in forgive me, Father, for I have sinned, or however a confessional works. I’m not Catholic.”
Her mouth opened slightly as her eyes went wide. “Really?” she whispered.
I nodded my head. “Oh, yeah. Took a vow of celibacy and everything. Then Saylor walked into his church and led him astray.”
She pressed her fingers to her mouth as the corners of her eyes crinkled. I liked making her smile. I wished she weren’t covering it up. When she dropped her hand away, she glanced over at Saylor and Jude, then back to me.
“I should be telling you congratulations, Uncle.”
“Thanks,” I replied. “Are you Catholic?”
She shook her head.
“Damn. I was gonna have you send up a prayer for my niece.”
Her brows drew together as concern shadowed her face. “Why? What’s wrong?”
“My brother. He’s got no concept of privacy boundaries. The kid is gonna be watched like a hawk.”
“Oh,” she replied, clearly relieved.
“Y’all need to try these,” Gathe said, coming up beside Elsie and holding a pink cake pop in front of her. “It’s fudge inside, and then you bite into it, and caramel comes out.”