AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Hey, she gets it from you. The last man in my bed was…I let it hang there because it’s embarrassing how long ago that was.
“You want me to remind you how you were back in the day before I knocked you up?”
You know how I love the phrase knocked up.
“I’m just saying you were just as horny as me.”
But now you’re settling down. I can hear all the ski bunnies on the mountain crying from here.
“Theresa knows the score. She’s not going to ask me to change.”
I raise my eyebrows. Okay then.
“I have a new client today, so I gotta get to the slopes. I’ll see you later, and maybe if you got a little, that romance book of yours would write itself.”
As if sex solves everything.
“At least go somewhere and get out of your head.”
I wave goodbye, and he huffs, shutting the door behind him. I pour myself a to-go cup of coffee and watch Hudson saying goodbye to Theresa. He embraces her, and they kiss, but it doesn’t last long before they separate, and he waves, going inside his house.
She walks carefully so as not to slip on the icy concrete of his driveway, then climbs into her compact SUV and reverses down the driveway. She’s almost too perfect. She must save her toenail clippings or something gross that no one would ever suspect. No one can be as perfect as she is.
After she’s gone, I clean off my cheek and Adley’s lips, then I get her into my Jeep and drive to her preschool. She sings to the music, pointing at things out of the window, while my mind continues to try to work out this story. I have no choice but to call my editor and face her wrath.
The best thing about Adley’s preschool is you drop off without having to leave the car line. So she unbuckles when we reach the point, climbs between the seats to kiss me on the cheek as always, and exits out of the back door after the helper opens it. I wave and smile, driving off.
The worst thing about Adley’s preschool is that I only have about two and a half hours to get to whatever I need to do before she’s done. Heading into town, I park my car along Main Street and go into Lard Have Mercy, needing a coffee and a muffin to tide me over. But I didn’t think this through, because as soon as I’m through the door, a bunch of people in the back call my name.
Shit.
It’s a group of my cousins. Since there are so many of us, we’ve naturally split into smaller groups, and the ones here are what have always been referred to as the Bailey Triplets. Although all three were born to a different set of my aunts and uncles, they were all born within the same twenty-four hours, hence the nickname.
I walk over, concerned they’ll keep me here the entire time Adley’s in school.
Lance slides over in the booth to make room for me.
“What’s up, Palmer?” Easton stands to hug me. “I’ll be right back.” He heads into the restroom.
“How’s it going?” Brinley asks, tucking her long blonde hair behind her ear.
It’s not that busy in here this morning, so I can hear them fine with my implants. Maggie hands me my muffin and sets a to-go coffee on the table, knowing my usual.
“I’m behind on the deadline. Can’t get into the story,” I say.
Brinley and Lance share a look.
“What?” I look between them.
“We have just the solution,” Lance says, laying his tie back in place now that he’s finished eating.
“What?” None of them are writers, so I can’t imagine what they have in mind.
“You have time to go on a short drive?” Brinley asks.
This is just the thing I was dreading. But since I’ll do about anything in an attempt to get this book done, of course I say, “Sure.”
