“Yes, I’m sure.Go take care of your daughter.I’ll be just fine.”
She blew out a heavy, frustrated breath and then started talking to her mother again.A few seconds later, she hung up and grabbed her jacket from the coat rack.
“I won’t be gone long,” she assured me as she put it on and grabbed her keys.“Daisy spiked a fever out of nowhere and has a rash that my mom is worried about.I might need to take her to the doctor while I’m there, but I promise, I’ll be back as soon as I can.I’ll call Gage and tell them to hurry back as well.”
“You should take Duke with you.I’m sure it would cheer her up to see her best friend.I’m just going to sit here and eat my Oreos while binge-watching some holiday movies.Don’t worry about me.”I smiled as I grabbed the remote and turned on the TV.
Julie nodded, more to herself than me, then left and locked the door behind her as Duke followed her.
I flipped through the channels, knowing there was no way I was going to sit and watch a movie.My brain was too distracted for any of that.So I put on something that felt Christmassy and grabbed my phone, opened the tab I had been looking at earlier, and resumed my search for places to live in California.
Thirty
Patrick
While we had been quickto gather the supplies we needed for the storm, I was taking my time finding the stuff Poppy had asked for.It wasn’t much, mainly some snacks that made me grin because I could picture her sitting on the couch with her messy bun, wearing my t-shirt, and munching on Oreos.
Gage walked beside me, stopping for a second to pull his phone out of his pocket.He glanced at the screen and then swiped his finger across it to answer it.
“Hey, baby.What’s up?”
We continued walking with me pushing our shopping cart while he talked to my sister.
“Is she okay?”he asked, and I immediately stopped, the blood whooshing in my ears as my heart sank.
He covered the mouthpiece with his hand quickly to speak to me.
“Daisy has a rash and a fever, so Julie is heading to the condo to check on her,” he explained before returning his attention to the phone call.“Do you need me to grab anything while I’m here?”
I hated the thought that Daisy was sick as much as I hated the idea that Poppy was at the inn by herself.Even if she needed one of us, it would be thirty to forty-five minutes before we could get to her.I gripped the shopping cart handle tightly, my knuckles turning white before I gave in and pulled out my phone.
It wasn’t that Iwasn’tsupposed to be talking to Poppy.It was that I hated that our relationship had been reduced to text messages, and it killed me that I couldn’t go see her.I wanted to touch her and hold her and make love to her.But for now, a text would have to suffice so I could make sure she was okay.
Me: Hey, I heard Julie needed to leave to check on Daisy.Are you okay?
I pulled the cart to the side of the aisle so people could get past us easily as I waited for the dots to appear on the screen to show that she was responding.A second later, they appeared.
