Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 135522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
No matter when it happens, whether a month from now or a year from now, I enjoy the dream of it, and I am happy to have a guy like Cole by my side.
Well, literally not by my side right now, as I continue to check my phone, wondering when he’ll join me here at the Strongs’.
Just about everyone I know in Spruce is here today for the big Fourth of July blast. I found out earlier that last year’s party was held at Billy and Tanner’s little house out by the “modest Strong lake”, but it was apparently super crowded, and only Billy and Tanner’s friends were invited, so of course Nadine volunteered to host the whole shebang at the main house so as to accommodate a considerably larger guest list that could be a lot more inclusive. The list even includes the McPhersons, Whitmans, and Evanses—a first in many years, for all three of the “big families of Spruce” to be brought under the same roof.
I spot TJ a number of times, flitting from one group of friends to another, always a plate in his hand, munching on food. I also catch Mindy and Joel swinging on a hanging bench together, as their twins race around in the grass in front of them playing a demented form of tag involving screeching at each other like a pair of pterodactyls (and not in any way disproving they might, in fact, literally be monsters). Reverend Trey is here with his hunky, brooding husband Cody and both of their parents—namely Trey’s widowed father, former reverend of Spruce, and Cody’s single mother, a round-faced woman who wears an impressive amount of makeup on her face at all times. Chatting with them are Lance Goodwin and his boyfriend Chad, along with a few of the nurses from the clinic and Dr. Emory himself, who always looks strange to me when he’s not in his white doctor’s coat.
From what I heard, Trey and Cody have to duck out of the party before the fireworks on account of a “very important out-of-town guest” named Pete they’re about to host for a few weeks, and the house needs some TLC before he arrives. Apparently Cody saved Pete’s life back when he was in the army, and it will be the first time he’s seen Pete in over six years, if I heard correctly.
The person I heard these things from, of course, is my close friend who never misses a thing: Tamika. She arrived separately from Frankie, I noticed earlier, and all day so far, they’ve seemed to hang out with different friend circles. “Everyone keeps thinking we’re a thing, I have no idea why,” says Tamika, “but I swear we’re just friends. He’s adorable though, isn’t he? Went through thick and thin back in school, especially when we had to fight on behalf of Toby, Vann, and Ms. Joy to turn a straight play gay. Remember that fiasco? Didn’t you write an article about it in the paper back then? Pretty sure I read it—and loved it. Anyway, Frankie will make a special someone happy someday, I just know it. He’s a gem.”
I did notice she said “special someone”. Not “special lady”.
I might be reading too much into that, but after learning quite recently about TJ and being sworn to secrecy with Cole about it, I can’t go assuming anyone plays for any team.
Especially after hearing what really happened with Anthony and the lovely lady who won a date with him. “Seriously,” says Malcolm, who catches me by the hotdog condiment station to spill his own tea. “I heard Anthony broke down and took her out on the date, and they totally hit it off—as friends. Apparently he confided in her about all of the terrible stuff he’s been going through, and she confided in him about her own skeletons in her closet, and the two completely became besties overnight, zero romantic interest in each other. And did you happen to see her? She’s a bombshell. Now I’m not gonna draw any conclusions here,” Malcolm insists with a lift of his hands, “especially since he still insists that she ‘just wasn’t his type’, but I’m not convinced that’s the reason. I think there’s more to the story … way more.”
“Y’know, I gotta agree,” says Vince, my favorite movie theater manager, who caught onto the tail end of Malcolm’s speech. “I saw the rage in Anthony’s eyes firsthand, years ago back when Bobby worked at the cinema and Jimmy came to throw a punch. That was the rage of jealousy, my friends. Anthony’s got surprises tucked away in that angry, beer-chugging face of his, I just know it.”
“You want to talk surprises?” Malcolm chuckles. “How about the fact that apparently Cole Harding can sing? Samuel and I both watched the live stream from home. Believe it or not—Noah, don’t you dare tell Cole I said this—but Sam and I once put money down that Cole was a terrible singer. That was before we heard his voice. Remind me to smack Cole over the head when he gets here, will you? He lied to me. That guy is perfect at everything.”