“I told you…”
“But if you everdidwant to date… I hope you date Simon.”
“Thanks for the input,” laughed Sarah, “but again, I’m not ready to date anyone.So don’t worry.Now, about dinner.”
“Let’s go to Vancouver for dinner,” said Riley.“And can we go to the bookstore too?”
“You aren’t going to go on about Simon anymore?”
Riley took a few moments to answer.“Sally and I were just imagining one day, that’s all.That it might be nice to be sisters.But we weren’t serious.”
“Okay,” said Sarah, not quite believing her daughter.“You and Sally can still be best friends, and in the end, a lot of friends are closer than sisters.”
Riley nodded.“Yep, friends forever.”
The announcement to disembark came over the loudspeaker.
“We’re nearing the terminal,” said Sarah.“Let’s go have a girls’ dinner out.”
Riley stood and picked up her backpack.
“Where’s your coat?”
“I forgot it in the car,” said Riley, taking one last look out the window, presumably to try and see a whale.
“Oh, Riley, what am I going to do with you?”She took her daughter’s backpack and tossed it over her shoulder.
“I guess you’re just going to have to love me anyway,” said her daughter cheekily.
“I guess so,” said Sarah, putting an arm around her shoulders.“Let’s go.”
ChapterEighteen
Simon picked up the phone on the second ring.
“Hi, Sarah.”
“Hi.May I leave Dash with you for a few more hours?”
“Sure.Everything okay?”
“Riley and I are in Vancouver.Her dad’s partner is in hospital, so we’re going to have dinner before heading back on the next ferry.”
“Is everything okay?”he repeated.Memories of the hours he’d spent in hospitals with his ex, and the stress it had added to Sally’s life, flashed through his mind.His muscles tightened.Would Riley be okay?
“I got a call from Graham, and he says she’s being checked in on bed rest.”
“That sounds serious.”Though manageable, and not a crisis.“Is Riley okay?”
“Riley?Oh, yes.Unfortunately, we were already on the ferry before he told us, so I thought we could eat here near the terminal and take the next ferry.”
Simon focused on relaxing the muscles in the back of his neck and repeated in his head that it was okay.Everything was okay.
“So you’re in Vancouver?”he asked, trying to pick up the thread of what she had said while simultaneously examining why he was so afraid for a child who wasn’t even his.
He decided it was because Riley was Sally’s best friend and he was concerned about how anything troubling Riley would impact Sally.Yes, that was it.He strained to hear Sarah’s reply.
“Sorry, the connection went fuzzy.What did you say?”He didn’t like to lie, but a bad connection was a better excuse than ‘I’m not listening because I’m going through my own crap.’
