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“Sorry, I got here on time but then got sidetracked.”
“No worries! Do you know where you’re headed?”
“No idea.”
“Follow me.” Belinda stood and headed for the back of the library and Viv trailed behind. “It’s such a beautiful day I have you set up out on the deck. Did you bring a book?”
“I did.” Audrey had made Viv read it aloud to her as if she would somehow forget how to read when she got in front of the kids.
Viv pulled out her sister’s copy of The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh and showed Belinda.
“Great! There’s already a pretty good crowd here, and more will trickle in.”
Viv nodded. She would have definitely been a trickler, but those days were behind her. This was the new and improved Vivien Star Wells. Homeowner. Business owner. Landlord, and all-around responsible adult.
It was strange but she actually did feel different. In her family, she’d always been the one without any direction, the underachiever, the fuck up. Grace was a lawyer. Ava was a psychologist. And, let’s be honest, Audrey had done all the heavy lifting at Brewed. Viv had just been her backup.
But now she felt like she had a purpose and she had roots, thanks to Nonna. She owned a piece of property. It was still a little bit surreal to her.
She continued following Belinda outside. She stopped in front of a group of about twenty kiddos, most of whom Viv recognized. Their parents were all standing behind them. She saw that Adriana, who was married to Glenn’s brother was there, but Glenn was not. She had wondered if he might make an appearance.
To be honest, she was actually a little relieved. From what she’d heard, these kids could eat people alive and the last thing she wanted was for him to witness her being taken down by a group of five- to eight-year-olds.
“Okay everyone, this is Miss Vivien, she is Miss Audrey’s sister and she’s going to be reading today.”
Viv had expected to see disappointed faces, but instead she got a round of applause. Even though it was from five-to eight-year-olds, Viv had to admit, it felt nice.
Belinda motioned to the chair that was in front of the kids who were all seated in a half circle and gave Viv a thumbs-up.
Viv took a seat in the center and she’d just opened the book when Martin Wilson’s hand lifted. Viv had no clue if there was a question and answer period, so she went with her gut and pointed to him.
“My mom said that if I don’t pick my boogers for a whole day, then I get to have an extra hour of screen time.”
Viv wasn’t exactly sure what to say to that comment other than she approved of the bribery if it would stop the kid from digging for gold. Before she could figure out how to respond, Kimberly Reece lifted her hand and started speaking before Viv even had a chance to call on her.
“We thought my brother’s snake Julius Squeezer ate my hamster Pip Squeak and I was sad, but then my sister found Pip Squeak in her underwear drawer so he didn’t get eaten. But my sister was mad because Pip ate her underwear that she got from someone named Victoria. But don’t tell anyone,” Kimberly began to whisper, “because it’s a secret.”
Viv would be pissed if a hamster ate her Victoria’s Secret underwear too. Those tiny scraps of material were not cheap.
Before she could respond to either child all twenty of them started talking at once, mostly they were informing everyone what the names of their respective pets and what those pets had eaten. Viv realized she needed to do something fast to regain control.
Using a technique her high school volleyball coach had, she lifted her fingers to her lips and whistled loudly. That got the kids attention and they all looked at her. “Okay, I see that everyone has a lot to say so before I start reading, I’m going to give everyone thirty seconds.”
She figured that would only take ten of the sixty minutes she had and Audrey had mentioned that she normally spent twenty with kids interrupting. When she glanced up at the parents, she saw that it seemed to be a split room as to whether or not her time limit talk was a good idea. Half of them looked impressed, the other half looked like they thought she was an idiot.
“Okay, when I point at you it’s your turn to talk.” She took her phone out of her purse and set the timer for thirty seconds. She lifted her hand, pointed at MaryBeth Jones, pressed start and hoped for the best.
* * *
“Are we going to read books?”Bree asked from the backseat.
“That’s the plan. We’re meeting your cousins for story time.”
When Gabe mentioned that the twins loved coming here on Saturdays for story time, Glenn knew that he had to take Bree. She loved reading.
She must have gotten that particular trait from her mom, because he’d never been a good student. He could test well, which was the only reason that he’d been able to graduate high school. Zoe was book smart and loved to read. She was highly intelligent. Maybe a little bit smart, even. Her parents had pressured her to go to an Ivy League school and pursue medicine, or law. They’d given her stringent rules and held her to a nearly unattainable standard.
He knew that her upbringing was a big part of the reason why she’d panicked when she got pregnant with Bree. After graduating college, she’d just managed to get her freedom and she hadn’t wanted anything to with something that would tie her down.
