Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 63854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
“Thanks, you guys. I’m so glad you rescheduled. I really wanted to come last night.” I plant my butt beside Tony.
I flag a waiter and make my order. Sunny Side Up’s one of my favorite restaurants in Ashbourne, but it’s been so long since my last visit because Joseph hated this place.
I make my order and sit back. Nothing better than a full English breakfast to start the day—bacon strips, sausages, fried mushrooms and tomatoes, toast, and scrambled eggs.
Maybe I should eat less so I don’t gain even more weight, but I’m hungry, and the diet can start tomorrow.
The seat is still warm from Tony’s stylish ass. This being a Saturday morning brunch, he’s wearing a casual outfit. A white shirt, a pair of black jeans, denim jacket, and a bowler hat.
Yes, a bowler hat. And yes, somehow he’s pulling it off. He looks fabulous.
“No, no. The babysitter canceled on us last night,” Tony says. “Ugh. What could be so important in a high-school girl’s life that she had to skip work?”
“New single from Justin Bieber. Nail polish. A date. Her cat going missing. It could be anything,” says a brunette I’ve never seen before. Does she work at the school? She looks familiar, but I can’t place her.
“You’re right.” Tony’s face falls. “I should hire a lonely old person as my nanny. Someone who doesn’t have a social life.”
“Ooh, ask Bertha,” Jessica says from across the table, her green eyes glistening excitedly. “Your kids love her.”
My delicious breakfast food arrives, and the smell fills my nostrils even before the plate hits the table. I grab a fork and start with the juicy sausage as I listen to the chatter of my new friends.
“Are you saying Bertha doesn’t have a social life?” Tony asks in a teasing tone.
“Yeah, Jessica. Are you? Meanie,” the brunette says before she and Tony erupt into laughter.
“Oh, sorry Ava, I forgot to introduce you two. Sarah, this is Ava. And Ava, this is Sarah. She’s, uh, Jessie’s vet.” Tony makes a face. “Weird. I know. What kind of a professional hangs out with their customer, right? Must be some kind of a weirdo who doesn’t have friends.”
“Shut up. You’re my friend. You’re weird, too,” Sarah says. Even though she’s being goofy, she has a certain kind of poise to her. She smiles when she turns to face me. “Hi Ava, welcome to the weirdo club.”
I giggle. “Thanks for having me. Nice to meet you, Sarah.”
“So, uh, just to give you some context,” Jessica says, “Sarah is my vet, but the three of us also live pretty close together and our neighborhood holds these regular meetings. When I took Max, my Beagle, to see Sarah, I asked her to host one of the meetings, and the rest is history.”
I nod and give Jessica a smile. “Your neighborhood sounds cool.”
“Oh, honey, you spoke too soon,” Tony says. “What you see here is what’s called a skewed sample. We are the coolest people in the neighborhood.”
“Well, to be fair, the rest of them are old,” Jessica says.
“I thought you were all going to bring dates,” I say, scanning the restaurant in case I missed a bunch of guys who are impatiently waiting for brunch to be over.
“Oh, no.” Tony shakes his head. “The only reason I’m here at all is because Greg’s home taking care of the kids.”
“My boyfriend has to work. Luca owns the only tattoo parlor in town. The good people of Ashbourne need him,” Sarah says with a cheeky grin.
“Hard-working men, your partners are,” Jessica says with a sigh. “Jacob’s probably still asleep, or maybe he’s tinkering with his motorcycle. Who knows?
“I have no idea how he survived without sleeping in while he was a Navy SEAL. Sometimes I wonder if he feels like all those mornings when he had to wake up while it was still dark outside means that he’s done enough of that for the rest of his life now.”
“You’re just jelly because you have to wake up every morning for school while he gets to sleep in.” Tony takes a small sip of his latte.
“I’m not going to argue with that. It is annoying.”
“You’re just jelly Jacob works from home and can set his own hours,” Tony says again.
“Maybe. He does work late into the night, too, so it’s not like he’s sleeping all the time,” Jessica admits.
“When you two have kids, is he going to be the one to take care of them just because he’s always home?” Tony asks.
“I don’t know. We haven’t discussed that yet,” Jessica says.
“Oh my god.”
“Come on, Tone. It’s not that bad. I mean, we’ve only just gotten married. We have tons of time.”
“Yeah, Tony. I know you’re hurting for some friends you can talk to about poopy diapers and toilet training with, but you need to chill. It wasn’t too long ago that Max was poisoned,” Sarah says.