AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Momma?” said Cassie, and I looked up.
“What is it, sweetie?”
“Can I have apple juice when we get home?”
“I don’t think we have apple juice at home, baby,” I said as I opened the app again. I added the photo and adjusted it briefly. It looked beautiful, and I blushed as I remembered the moment Eric put that very ring on my finger.
“Well, can we get some juice?” said Cassie.
“It’s kinda sugary, huh?” I insisted. “Maybe—” I said, leaning down and licking my finger to wipe a spot of dirt off her nose “—Momma can get out that juicer Aunty Janine got her for Christmas. Maybe we can make some carrot juice, eh?”
“Carrot juice?” said Kyle, and folded his arms, pouting and shaking his head.
“Come on, Kyle,” I said. “Carrot juice is good. I mean, it’s not as nice as apple juice. But it’s better for you.”
I returned to my caption. The key was not to overthink things too much. I typed in “Celebrating the perfect day with #SladeDiamonds. Below it, I tagged a few people involved in the company. Finally, at the top of the message, I tagged Eric’s personal social media page. That ought to do it. I checked the post for mistakes and then decided to wait for a minute.
“Momma?” said Cassie.
“Yes, sweetie?”
“Is Aunty Janine from France?”
“No, baby,” I said.
“Because Kyle’s last name is Parris. And Parris is in France.”
“That’s true,” I said. “But it’s not spelled the same. Parris doesn’t mean Paris, right?”
“I guess,” said Cassie. “So how come Tracey England in my Spanish class is actually from England?”
“Tracey, who now?” I asked not paying full attention to what Cassie was saying. I realized that I was going to forget about making the post if I had to keep answering Cassie’s little questions. So, I decided to post it now. I hit the blue button and put my phone away. And sat in the car while my phone started to ding adorably away.Like. Like. Like. Like. Like.
A few hours later we got home, and, as was my habit when I finished the workday, I put it on silent. It was ringing non-stop, and as I turned it off, I saw that Megan Trevell, an old college friend of mine, was calling me.
I peered at the phone, but there was no time to answer. I had to keep my eye on the kids. So, I texted Megan.Sorry can’t answer now but will call u later! x
I didn’t bother to wait for a response—after all, it wasn’t like I heard from Megan in the years since I traded in my party PR-girl lifestyle for single motherhood. I put the phone on the table and started making carrot juice.
It was fun showing the kids how to juice the veggies when my home phone rang again. That was weird—I was famously addicted to my phone, and having someone call me there was odd. I went over and picked it up.
“Good afternoon, Miss Reed!” said the voice.
“Hello,” I said. “Can I help you?” I turned behind me, pointing a sharp finger at Cassie and Kyle. I didn’t want them to hurt themselves with the machine, and I wasn’t paying attention while on the phone.
“My name is Carol Conroy. I’m, well, have you heard of me?”
“Yeah,” I said.
“Well, as you may know, I’m an expert wedding planner, one of Boston’s finest, they say, and I just wanted to say congratulations! I am here if you should need me.”
“Huh?” I responded with a bit of surprise. “Wedding … what, now?”
“I was calling because I thought you might need my services.”
“Cassie,” I said, putting the phone down for a second. “Keep away from that. Momma doesn’t want you playing with it without me there. You hear?”
“Yes, momma,” said Cassie, and put her hands behind her back.
