Total pages in book: 187
Estimated words: 174623 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 873(@200wpm)___ 698(@250wpm)___ 582(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 174623 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 873(@200wpm)___ 698(@250wpm)___ 582(@300wpm)
"She's a hellcat," Em says when she turns back to us. "Mostly harmless, but she's been trying to snag a Cerberus man for years. Most of the guys can spot her a mile away without even being warned first."
"She didn't even speak to Misty," I say, having noticed that before.
"Long story," Misty mutters.
"I have time," I say with a laugh.
Misty playfully rolls her eyes, making me feel like one of the girls for the first time in a long time.
"Long story short," Misty says. "She's been after a Cerberus man for a while, and thought it would be a good idea to hit on my married son one night while they were at Jake's, the local bar, unwinding."
"What?" I snap before I stop myself. "While he was out with the guys?"
"Nope," Em says, shaking her head. "Ivy, my daughter, was there. She waited like a predator and hit on him when some of the girls went to the restroom."
"No," I gasp. "That's so disrespectful."
"And having that conversation with her when I found out is why Leona Clark pretends I don't exist."
"That's awful. I thought the worst part about Leona, and I'm not gossiping," Victoria begins. "I'm being truthful, was that she hates her job and is beyond burned out by it. I don't think she gives her clients a hundred percent, and that failure isn't something to be ignored."
"She mentioned a few more weeks and then not coming here," I prod.
"She works for the Children, Youth, and Families Department. They pretty much close their case once they know the children are safe. She's just waiting for the babies to be born, and if Traci is still living here, then they'll close the case," Victoria explains. "Oh," Victoria says, pointing to her ear. "They're already done."
The visitation room, as I discovered yesterday, is the only inside door that triggers an alert when it's opened.
Within seconds, Leona is standing in the doorway to the office.
"Make sure to tell your new guys I'll be at Jake's about seven."
"More like four-thirty," Misty mutters loud enough so only I can hear.
"Have a safe evening," Em tells her with a little wave, dismissing her without confirming she'll relay the message.
The front door opens and closes, and we wait for Emmalyn to stick her head out of the office to make sure she's gone.
"Exhausting," Misty mutters as she looks at her friend. "Why are you always so nice to her?"
Em grins. "More bees with honey than vinegar, my love. I have to keep channels open with all the departments in the community. You know that."
Misty grumbles something under her breath, and I swear it has a few colorful words in it.
Em just grins at her, but I can tell that she doesn't like Leona any more than Misty does.
"She was the only visitor scheduled today," I say. "We have two others coming tomorrow."
"You don't have to worry about either of them," Victoria says as she looks at her watch. "Crap. I have to go."
"You were headed out before our meeting," Em says. "I just remembered you were supposed to be gone."
"I came back inside, and the plumber for Cottonwood called and said he was running late. But time got away from me, and now I'm the one who's going to be late," she says as she pulls her purse from her desk drawer. "Have a good evening. Juliet, I'll see you in the morning."
"Have a good night," I tell her before looking at Emmalyn. "A plumbing issue at Cottonwood?"
"The lawn care team ran over a sprinkler head," Em explains.
"Why do you say it like that? As if you don’t know who it is?" Misty asks with a laugh before looking at me. "A couple of our guys were on landscaping duty this morning and ran over the sprinkler head."
"Calling them the landscape crew makes it less likely I'll have to chastise them like their mother this evening at dinner," Em answers, but she's smiling. "We're always putting out little fires."
"Cerberus does lawn maintenance too?" I ask.
"We have so many guys with such a wide variety of skills that we use them when we can. We know we can trust them. The residents and the various locations know they can trust them. It just makes it easier."
"Until they make a mistake," Misty adds. "Then we start to doubt ourselves."
"All in good fun," Em assures me. "We have a fantastic group of guys, and the mistakes are few and far between."
"Dean is making such good progress in math," Beth says as she steps into the doorway.
We met earlier when I arrived, but she's been working with the kids all day, so we haven't had a chance to talk.
"That's fantastic news," Misty says before lowering her voice. "And reading?"
Beth shakes her head, a frown on her face.
"He'll get there," Misty assures her. "We have him scheduled for dyslexia testing next month."