Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 131459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 526(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 526(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
She pulled her shoulders forward, released them, and didn’t wait for him to respond to her question before she kept talking.
“It’s important to care about something. Have loyalty. But going ga-ga, even harming or fighting other people about a team where the players are there, then they’re traded somewhere else, the coaches mean nothing unless they win, and the owners make huge-ass amounts of money off you, and that’s all they care about? I don’t know. It seems there are a lot of better things to give your money and time to. You know?”
“Like what?” Tom asked, thinking, at her age, her answer would not be anything like what it was.
“Books. Music. A hiking trail. Frank Capra movies. Cooking the perfect risotto. Or hamburger, if you’re not into risotto. Figuring out how to take a great selfie, getting the focus right, the angle, the lighting, the framing. Or, you know, like going out and playing those games you like to watch other people play so much.”
And, clearly, she was also very sharp.
“I can’t say I disagree,” he replied.
An easy smile came to her lips, and she said, “Cool. Then I saw Ted Lasso and I made Mom watch it.”
He wasn’t following her jump between topics, so he asked, “Sorry?”
“Mom isn’t into TV. She’s too busy doing stuff. It’s kinda annoying, because, you know, it’s the golden age of TV. She’s missing all of it. She’s never seen Insecure. Can you believe that?”
Tom fought back a smile. “I have to admit, I haven’t either.”
“Well, of course not. You’re a dude. And you’re a white dude. So I wouldn’t expect you to. Though, you should. It’d give you insights into women. And people need to hear Black voices. And support Black women.”
“Agreed,” he replied.
“But also, it’s just funny. And real. And I like all the clothes.”
“Right,” he murmured, still fighting his smile.
“But I made Mom watch Ted Lasso. She loved it by the way.”
Tom tried not to paint broad strokes in anything in life, but he felt he could safely say he didn’t want to know the person who didn’t love Ted Lasso.
“In a world divided, Ted Lasso is universal,” he said.
“Totally,” she replied.
He didn’t fight back that smile before he said, “Your name is Cadence, am I right?”
She nodded. “Sorry, I didn’t introduce myself. It’s weird. Everyone knows Mom, but not a lot of people know me, even some people she knows. She was rabid about that. Especially with the whole, you know…”
She flitted a hand, an expression he didn’t like drifted over her face, and her posture grew awkward, something that didn’t suit her at all, but she kept talking.
“Way I came into this world.”
“Yes,” he said softly. “I can imagine just how much your mom needed to protect you after that.”
Her acute gaze refocused on him, and she shook off her awkwardness.
“She named me Cadence because Dad declared I was a girl and that was what I was going to be called. I’m glad he did. I have the best name of anybody I know.”
Damn, but he loved the confidence. This young woman liking something about herself and not having a qualm sharing that she did. He’d seen too many girls—younger, and her age, and women who were far older, even top-notch athletes—who struggled with accepting themselves, even just small parts of themselves.
Cadence was a breath of fresh air.
“You have a very cool name,” he concurred.
“You named your daughters Chloe and Sasha. Those are super-cool names too. And Chloe is rad, being rich and famous and still running a socially responsible business. I try not to buy anything from anywhere that isn’t socially responsible. But it’s hard because there aren’t very many of them. People need to get with the program.”
He liked her so much, now he couldn’t stop smiling.
“I can’t argue that.”
“And Chloe’s engaged to Judge Oakley, and he’s the grooviest guy on the planet, you know, for a super binary guy. But he’s groovy in everything he does. The closest groovy thing next to Judge being all-around groovy is Tom Holland lip syncing to ‘Umbrella,’ which was not binary at all. But it was totally hot. Have you seen that?”
Tom nodded. “I have.”
She lifted a hand with her wrist limp and shook out a snap.
“It was lit. Didn’t you think it was lit?”
“It was definitely lit.”
“Yeah.” She looked beyond him and called, “Hey, Mom.”
Suddenly, Tom felt like he’d been punched in the chest, his breath not coming easy.
Dragging some in, he turned and saw Mika standing there.
She was wearing a kaftan dress with a low V at the neck, draping sleeves and a string through an empire waist that gathered the material. The print on a black background was mostly reds, oranges and pinks with bright accents of green and blue and turquoise. She had some flat, embroidered mules on her feet. And her still-golden hair was up in a messy knot on top of her head.