I suddenly feel like the biggest fool on the planet.
God! I’m such an idiot.
I’m the rebound girl—the distraction.
My heart starts racing. I need to get out of here.
“Honey…”
I shake my head. “I can’t stay here.” I move to slide out of the booth, my mind already racing with how I’m going to get home, when my phone starts ringing.
Pulling it out of my pocket, I frown. There’s an email address on the screen instead of a phone number.
What the heck?
Swiping the answer bar to the right, I answer hesitantly. “Hello?”
“Mommy.”
I furrow my brow. “Tommy?”
“Mommy, I want to come home.”
“Where are you calling from, sweetie?” I press the phone tighter to my ear.
“Dad’s iPad. I used FaceTime.”
iPad? Why didn’t he— “Baby, where’s your dad?” I can feel my blood pressure rising.
Tommy’s voice drops to a whisper. “He left a long time ago. He hasn’t come back.”
I grip the phone tighter, frantically looking around the room. “What do you mean, he left? When, baby? Where did he go?”
“I don’t know. He said he had to meet someone. He said he’d be right back, but that was after dinner, and now it’s really dark outside.”
Fury burns through my veins as I get to my feet. That son of a bitch. After all his posturing, all his demands to have the boys this weekend, all his talk about being their father—he left them alone?
I take a deep breath, trying to keep my voice calm for Tommy’s sake. “How long ago was dinner, sweetie?”
“I don’t know. A long time. We had pizza and cake.”
Oh god. That’s way too many carbs for Jackson.
I check my watch. It’s after ten. If they had dinner at a normal time, that means Eddie’s been gone for hours.
“Tommy, where are you? What’s the address?”
“I don’t know the address. It’s Dad’s friend’s house. There’s nobody else here.”
I knew I shouldn’t have backed down when he refused to tell me where he was staying. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I forgot the cardinal rule. They’re my kids, and it’s my job to advocate for what’s best when it comes to them.
That’s a mistake that won’t happen ever again.
I press my palm to my forehead. “Where’s Jackson? Is he okay?”
There’s a pause that makes my heart skip a beat. “Tommy?”
“He’s asleep. But he wasn’t feeling good, Mom. I gave him his medicine like you showed me, but he still said his tummy hurt. I’m scared.”
