Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 88317 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88317 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
“I have a question,” I said as we reentered the building. “Our guy has some very specific dietary restrictions. For example, there’s only one kind of homemade chicken he’s willing to eat for dinner. Would there be anyone here who could make it for him, if we gave them instructions?”
She laughed and shook her head. “Oh no. I’m sorry. The cook has enough of a challenge finding something to suit everyone’s needs as it is. There’s no way he could make an extra meal for just one person. Scottie would have to eat whatever was offered to him.”
Josh’s forehead crinkled. “What if he didn’t?”
“I suppose he’d eat eventually, when he got hungry enough.”
“Excuse us for a moment...” Josh said as he took me aside. He lowered his voice. “This isn’t gonna work…for a few reasons.”
I nodded. “I know. The chicken thing, and they said they have a strict lights-out policy with no electronics after a certain time at night. Scottie needs his devices.”
Josh ran a hand through his hair. “I just worry we won’t have a choice. All these places might operate the same way.”
After a moment, Julie and Lauren joined us in the hallway.
“Is everything okay?” Julie asked.
“Let me ask you this...” I turned to her. “If we could get someone to make Scottie’s special chicken and bring it here, would that be okay?”
She paused. “I don’t see why not. We do have family members drop off food from time to time.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “Okay. At least that’s an option.”
We would certainly have to talk to Lorraine about that, since she would be the only person local to make it once Josh and I moved back to our respective cities. Heck, I’d make it and ship it on dry ice, if I had to.
With our tour concluded, Julie showed us back to the front door.
“Well, thank you for your time. We really appreciate the tour.”
“It’s been my pleasure.” She smiled. “My recommendation is to get on the waiting list as soon as possible. We might have an opening come sooner than you were expecting.”
“We’ll consider that,” Josh said. “Thank you.”
As we stood on the sidewalk in front of the place, Lauren looked between us. “What did you think?”
“It’s an option,” I said, looking back over at the brick house. “I don’t know if anything is going to feel exactly right. No place is going to be his home.”
“He’ll get used to it,” she assured us. “They all do.”
Pfft. Easy for you to say. Visiting this place made me feel overwhelmed.
Josh must have noticed my expression as I stared out toward the street.
He placed his hand on my arm. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I muttered. “Thanks for bringing us here,” I told Lauren.
“No problem. If you need any help with the waiting-list paperwork, let me know.”
“I have the application.” I nodded. “Thank you.”
Josh and I had begun walking to my car when Lauren’s voice came from behind.
“Hey, Josh? Could I talk to you for a second before you leave?”
I froze. What’s this about?
He turned and walked back toward her. “Sure. What’s up?”
I continued toward my vehicle. After all, she hadn’t called for me. And I suspected I knew why, given the way she’d been flirting with Josh today.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I stood by the car, waiting for him.
When their quick conversation ended, Josh jogged back toward me. “Want me to drive?” he asked.
I handed him the keys. “Sure.”
Entering through the passenger side, I refrained from asking him anything about his conversation. And he didn’t offer anything as we pulled away in silence.
About five minutes into our ride home, the curiosity was killing me.
I caved. “So, what did Lauren want to talk to you about?”
He looked over with a smirk. “Were you intentionally trying not to ask?”
“Were you intentionally trying to bug me by not saying anything?”
“Maybe.” He chuckled and waited several seconds. “She asked me if I wanted to go out some night this week.”
I knew it. “Wow.” My temperature rose. “Pretty ballsy.”
“She’s definitely confident.”
I blew a breath up into my hair. “What did you say?” My heart sped up in anticipation.
“I told her this week wasn’t great for me, but maybe another time.”
“So you lied. What’s wrong with this week?”
“Actually, this week isn’t good for me. I just got back from Chicago, and I’m not in the mood to psych myself up for a date.”
“So you would consider dating her...” I said bitterly.
He shrugged. “She’s cute, yeah. There’s no off-the-charts chemistry or anything, but I wouldn’t rule it out.”
“Isn’t that a conflict of interest, though? Because she works with Scottie?”
“I suppose it could be. Not sure who would be policing that.” He glanced over again. “Unless it were you.”
“Why would I do that?” I huffed.
“Then I guess there’s no problem...”
“Right,” I muttered, annoyed that my blood was boiling right now. I wouldn’t allow myself to analyze my reaction, though. I needed to change the subject before he had a chance to sense that I was feeling discombobulated. “So, if you had to grade that house, what would you give it?” I asked.