Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 82060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
She looked like she was going to pop up and start singing “Two Doors Down.”
She was a lot.
And I wanted to be her best friend immediately.
But there was more.
The man behind the espresso counter had an ultra-long russet beard, a wild head of graying blond hair, and the aura of a serial killer. He was wearing a flannel shirt and looked like Grizzly Adams gone bad.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to be his best friend, but he looked interesting.
Duke, unfortunately, was nowhere in sight.
Indy was waddling over to us, but it was the guy behind the espresso counter who boomed, “VIP! VIP!” He turned to a blonde woman behind the counter with him and hollered, “Froth, woman! Froth! She’s here!”
“I’m frothing, Tex, I’m frothing,” the woman said, smiling a smile that was so dazzling, I was stupefied for a moment, but she was doing it while frothing.
And then Indy was there. “That’s Tex. He’s loud. He’s annoying. He’s also sweet and makes great coffee. And that was his way of saying he’s happy to meet you.”
“Do I get froth, my man?” Toni called to him.
“Who are you?” the man named Tex boomed.
She tilted her head at me. “I’m her best bitch.”
“Then fuck yeah!” Tex shouted, and I felt my eyes widen at his language shouted across a place of business where the women at the front section, clearly Indy’s crew, weren’t the only people in the place.
However, oddly, it didn’t appear like they heard it, or they were regulars and it was nothing new.
“Sit your ass down,” Tex ordered on another boom. “I got you.”
He then, no other way to put it, appeared to be attacking the espresso machine.
Indy took my hand and thus began the introductions.
I kinda recognized them from that time Liam and I spent in the hospital, but for obvious reasons, I couldn’t say I was paying a lot of attention then.
In fact, I couldn’t have been, because I hadn’t noticed Tex or the Dolly Parton lookalike, and even with the Darius situation, I would have remembered them.
First there was Roxie, who was Hank, Lee and Ally’s older brother’s wife. Then Jules, who was married to Vance, another one of Lee’s men, the woman Darius had talked to about Liam. And Ava, who was married to a guy named Luke, also one of Lee’s men. Sadie, a fairytale-princess-looking gal who was married to Eddie’s younger brother, Hector (who, too, worked for Lee). Stella was semi-kinda famous. I’d heard of her before she hit the papers with her story with her guy. She was in a popular local rock group. Her man was another of Lee’s team, his name was Mace. Then there was Jet, who came out from behind the counter. She was Eddie’s wife.
Ally was there too.
And the Dolly Parton lookalike was called Daisy. I learned she worked with Ally, and when I was introduced to her, she said, “I sure am glad to meet you, sugar. It’s high time. Welcome to the tribe,” and then she emitted a laugh that was gorgeous. It sounded like tinkling bells.
The final two were a hippie chick named Annette who greeted me with a “Yo, bitch!” and I learned, unsurprisingly, she owned the head shop down the way.
And Shirleen, who was studying me tentatively and holding herself uncomfortably.
I knew why.
Darius hadn’t given me the whole story yet, but I did know she blamed herself for her nephew getting sucked into a world where he didn’t belong.
It was just, she held no blame.
So I stood in front of her, a bevy of Rock Chick eyes focused on me, and I said softly, “Come on, Aunt Shirleen. It’s been a long time. No hug?”
She caught my eyes and relief saturated hers, right before she surged out of her chair and gave me a hug.
I remembered it right.
Her hugs were the best.
“Stop hugging. Sit your ass down. Drink.” Tex was close, his booming even closer, so I let Shirleen go, but made sure I gave her a smile before Toni and I were bumped and prodded into sitting beside each other on the couch.
Jet assumed the arm of the couch by me, Indy wedged herself in beside Toni, and Jules was perched on the other arm. Roxie and Ava lounged in the two armchairs across from us, Daisy sitting on an arm of Ava’s chair. Shirleen sat in the one at the end, Sadie in the other. Annette sat cross legged on the top of a table between Jules and Sadie with Stella straddling a turned-around chair she’d pulled over from a table, doing this between Sadie and Roxie. Ally doing the same thing between Roxie and Ava.
The gang was all there.
A mug topped with foam was shoved in my hand.
“Don’t know what you like, so I threw everything good at it,” Tex low-boomed. “Vanilla, cinnamon and a hint of almond. Tell me what you think.”