Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 91149 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91149 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
After a long kiss goodbye, he took off in one direction to get Bowie Jane and I went in the opposite to my parents’ place where I’ve been all day.
With the two glasses of sweet tea in hand, I sit at the kitchen table and wait for my mom to join me. I inherited her red hair and green eyes, but Landon and Mason got Dad’s brown hair and brown eyes. It’s a running joke in the family that Mom and I are the ones with the hottest tempers, and everyone says it’s because of our red hair.
After a critical once-over, she replaces the lid back on the pot. “About another half hour and it will be done.”
She sits in the chair adjacent to mine and takes a long sip of the sweet tea.
I nod toward the stove where the whole chicken simmers. “I thought you said Tim and Brian weren’t coming tonight. Why such a large pot?”
My brothers, along with their wives, try to come to most Sunday dinners but my mom recognizes they have lives too. There are occasions they pass because they have other plans but it’s rare.
Mom’s green eyes twinkle. “I’m feeling particularly sorry for Leo lately, so I’m going to send leftovers home with him.”
“You coddle him,” I tease. “You know he can take care of himself.”
“Not so sure he can.” She laughs. “You know… you’re a nurturer just like me. There was a time when I thought you two would fall in love, marry and then you’d be cooking for him.”
I wrinkle my nose. “Eww. Marry Leo? He’s a slob and irresponsible.”
“But you love him all the same,” Mom points out. “So it wasn’t unreasonable for me to assume that. But yes, I can see that you two are not well matched at all.”
Yes, I love Leo like he was my own brother, but we’d kill each other within twenty-four hours if we lived together.
“You’re a great mom,” I tell her with a pointed look. “Leo’s lucky to have you to look after him.”
Leo’s mom was pretty much absent his entire life. She took off when he was little and his hardworking dad did the best he could, raising a young boy on his own. Of course, once we became friends, Leo was here as much as he was at his own house. My parents never minded because, as they would often say, “Once you have four boys, a fifth is just no bother.”
“Sometimes I wonder,” my mom muses.
“Wonder about what?” I ask.
“If I’m a great mom.”
My jaw drops, brow furrowing deep. “Why would you ever wonder that? You’re the best mom ever.”
She lifts a shoulder and runs a fingertip along the rim of her glass as she ponders. “I wasn’t always around.” Her gaze lifts to mine and her smile is wan. “You had to fend for yourself. I wonder if that’s why you love to nanny. To make up for what you didn’t have.”
My hand shoots out and grabs hers, almost knocking over the sweet tea. “Mom! You couldn’t be more wrong. I’m so proud to have had a career mom and you were around when it was important. You came to all my school functions, my performances, and you were there to tuck me in and read me stories and go on weekend adventures. You’re the one who showed me to follow my passion, which is exactly why I am a nanny. You taught me I could be whatever I wanted, and I’d never change a single thing about my childhood. I want to be just like you when I grow up.”
Tears well in my mom’s eyes but she doesn’t let them spill. I hear the gratitude in her voice. “Thank you. And you’re going to be an amazing mother one day. Look at all the practice you’ve already had with the boys and the kids you’ve cared for.”
I have no clue why at the mention of me being a mother it’s Bowie Jane’s face that swims before me. That dimpled little smile, her sweet but tight hugs where she tries to lift me from the floor because she thinks she’s super strong but can’t even come close. The way she cuddles into me when we read.
It’s impossible to stop the smile on my face as I think of the little girl who’s wormed her way into my heart with such ease.
The doorbell rings and a zing of anticipation runs through me. That would be the little girl who makes me think of motherhood and her hot dad who has somehow put a hook in my heart as well.
Mom jumps up, eager to meet them both. Foster is on her radar because we’re dating, and we talked about him a lot today. She’s well aware that my feelings run deep. And she’s dying to spend time with Bowie Jane because my mom loves children and she’s ready to be a grandma. She bemoans that to Tim and Brian all the time and she knows how smitten I am with this little girl.