At Any Turn

Then I texted Heath.

Where’s Mia at?

His answer came back almost immediately. She’s not feeling very well. Stayed home.

I replied, Is she asleep? Are you there with her? I’m coming over.

Heath answered, She’s fine. She just needs to rest. Please don’t come.

I blew out a breath and shifted my weight, trying to rein in that almost overarching need to go over there and see for myself, make sure she was okay. My hand fisted at my side as I tucked my phone back into my shirt pocket.

Peter was chopping potatoes and looking up at me occasionally.

“Britt and the kids should be here any minute now. I hope you decide to stay.”

He knew me well. Had read in my body language that I was about to bolt. “Kim’s not the only one who’s worried about her,” I muttered.

“She’s definitely not coming? And you’re going to take off?”

“I’ll wait until the boys get here. I have something for them.”

Peter cast a glance out the doorway again. “Well, we were going to sit the two of you down after dinner to talk about this but…since she’s not coming and you two are having your issues, maybe I should just let you know now that Kim and I are dating.”

Something heavy dropped in my stomach at that news and I couldn’t explain why. Because somehow I didn’t see this turning out well if things between Emilia and me didn’t work out. This could get awkward as hell.

“I’m happy for you,” I intoned because it was expected of me. Happy for him, annoyed for me.

Britt and the boys showed up at that minute and I was relieved to not have to continue the conversation with Peter. I stooped and gave them each a hug—I hadn’t seen them in months—then landed a kiss on their mom’s cheek.

“Hey there,” Britt said, casting a glance around. “Where’s your better half?”

So no one here was happy to see just me? Great.

“She’s not feeling so great. Home sleeping.” Just not at my home, sleeping in my bed where she should’ve been.

“Ah man, Mia’s not here?” said DJ.

“Hey buddy, I missed your birthday so I wanted to give you your present, okay? And I got Gareth something, too, for his birthday next month.”

The boys, suddenly, were interested in me and had forgotten that Emilia wasn’t coming. I reached into my wallet and pulled out two cards and handed one to each of them. Britt watched closely and when she saw what I’d given them, looked at me with long-suffering in her eyes.

I shrugged at her.

The boys each took their presents and Gareth pumped his fist in the air. “Yes!” he shouted. “Told you he was giving us Disneyland passes, DJ!”

“Is he hiring someone to take you, too?” Britt asked between clenched teeth.

“Mom and Dad get their own passes, and a membership to Club 33, the club for grown-ups.” I said, handing her two more cards, at which point she grinned and thanked me.

“They’re good for the whole year.” I turned back to the boys, putting an arm on each of their heads. “I promise I’ll take you when I can. You guys are getting almost tall enough to be my armrests. I’ll just walk around the park with one arm on each head.” I demonstrated by settling my forearms on each of their heads like I was sitting in a big recliner.

DJ darted out from under my hold. “Mia is coming to Disneyland with us, right? She promised to take me on Thunder Mountain.”

Gareth grabbed my arm and tried to wrestle with me. I pulled my arm up, and since his hands were clamped around my forearm, he came up with me. “Maybe I’ll walk over to the pool and hold you over the water.” I laughed. Gareth promptly dropped his hold and ran off. I knew where they were headed.

“Buddies, not the car. I gotta take off in a minute.”

They both turned around, disappointment clear on their faces. They quickly redirected to the backyard instead.

“Not inside the pool gate, guys!” Peter called.

“Yeah, Papa,” DJ answered before the door slammed.

“So is Mia okay?” Britt asked.

I opened my mouth to answer that I had no idea when my phone chimed. Shit, that was probably her. I pulled it out and looked at the text message. My hopes fell.

Jordan.

Need to meet up with you ASAP about the insurance meeting tomorrow. You at home?

I tucked my phone back into my pocket, ignoring the text. I replied to Britt’s question, “That’s what I’m going to go find out. I’ll see you. I’m sorry.”