I answered, my heart hammering. “Everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine.” Her voice was steady, calm. “We’re making mac and cheese. Alice wanted the shapes kind, but you only had the regular, so we’re having a very serious discussion about whether dinosaurs or princesses would make better pasta shapes.”
The tension in my shoulders eased a fraction. “Dinosaurs. Obviously.”
“That’s what I said.” I could hear the smile in her voice. “Anyway, I just wanted to let you know we’re good. The girls are good. You can stop breaking the speed limit.” There was wry amusement in her tone that actually made me feel calmer.
I blew out a breath. “Okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“I know. We’ll be here.”
She hung up and I set the phone down carefully, forcing myself to ease up on the gas. Getting pulled over wouldn’t help anyone. Getting in an accident definitely wouldn’t help anyone.
But fuck, I wanted to be there already. Wanted to see with my own eyes that they were safe. Wanted to stop imagining all the ways this could have gone so much worse.
I hit redial on Natascha’s number again. Voicemail again. I didn’t leave another message.
The highway stretched out ahead of me, endless and infuriating. Exit signs ticked by with agonizing slowness. Fifty-three. Fifty-four. Fifty-five.
My phone buzzed with a text from Emily:
Alice says to tell you that actually, unicorns would be the best pasta shape and we’re both wrong.
Despite everything, my mouth twitched. I typed back one-handed:
Noted.
Another buzz:
She’s very passionate about this.
Yeah. Yeah, she was. That was my Alice. Passionate about everything from pasta shapes to whether clouds were made of cotton candy. My funny, food-obsessed, completely perfect little girl who should have been safely inside her house, not sitting on a porch wondering when her dad was coming home.
Time stretched long and thick, scraping on my every nerve, until finally, I was turning onto my street, pulling into my drive. Home. My house was lit up like a beacon. Every window glowed warm and yellow. I had to swallow the sudden lump in my throat. Safe. They were inside and safe.
I killed the engine, sitting there for just a second to pull myself together. The girls didn’t need to see me like this. Didn’t need to know how scared I’d been, how furious I still was.
I climbed out of the truck and took the porch steps two at a time. The front door swung open before I could reach for the handle.
“Daddy!”
Alice hit me at full speed, arms wrapping around my waist. Audrey was right behind her, more controlled but no less enthusiastic. I dropped to my knees and pulled them both close, breathing them in. Shampoo and mac and cheese and that indefinable kid smell that meant absolutely everything.
“Hey, monsters.” My voice was rough. “You okay?”
“Yeah! Emily came and made us mac and cheese as a snack. I’ve never had it as a snack before!”
“Amazing, Al!”
“But she said only if we eat all our dinner,” Audrey added, still clinging to my shirt. “And she said maybe we could have ice cream after but only if you said yes.”
“Ice cream sounds good.” I looked up and there was Emily, standing in my hallway, her hair slightly mussed, wearing a tailored skirt and neat office blouse. She hadn’t even run home to get changed after work.
She looked so fucking perfect that all the air left my lungs.
I stood slowly, the girls still attached to my sides. “Thank you.” The words were completely inadequate. “I don’t know how to thank you enough.”
“You don’t have to.” She ran her fingers through hair. “I’m just glad I was home.”
