I lean back in my seat, the headache already brewingbehind my eyes. “Don’t go anywhere if you don’t have to, okay?”
“Wasn’t planning on it.”
I hear Theo in the background, and a smile tugs at my mouth. “Put my little man on.”
A second later, Theo’s voice booms through the line. “Dad!”
“Hey, buddy. You being good for your mom?”
“Yeah. Why? What did she tell you?”
I chuckle. “Nothing…yet. You all ready for this weekend?”
Yep, it’s my guy’s seventh birthday. Where does the time go? Only yesterday, I was at the hospital, holding him in my arms for the first time.
“I can’t wait for the water park!”
I glance out at the storm swirling around me. “I don’t know. This storm might close the park down.”
A low groan rises from the other end of the line.
“Hey,” I cut in before he can spiral. “Remember, if we can’t go to the water park, we’ve got a backup plan. Arcade, laser tag, the whole deal. That’s still pretty cool, right?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s what I thought. And we’re gonna have the best time, because whose birthday is it?”
“Mine!” Theo crows.
“That’s right. I love you, little man.”
“I love you too, Dad.”
I hang up a second later, the quiet settling back in around me. My son’s safe. Deirdre’s safe. And now there’s one last person I need to ensure is safe.
You don’t, Eddie. She’s not your problem anymore.
But Kiki was never a problem. She was the woman I loved. The woman I still love.
She doesn’t love you, Eddie.
Yeah… but for some reason, that doesn’t seem to matter.
I dial Kiki’s number, tapping my foot against the floorboard as I wait for her to answer, but it goes to voicemail. After a minute, I call her back. This time she answers on the third ring.
“Eddie?”
“Yeah. Who’d you expect?” I shift in my seat, already frowning. “I was calling to see if you were home. The roads are terrible.”
There’s a brief pause on her end. “Are you okay? Do you need help?”
Her inquiry catches me off guard. “I’m fine. Just leaving the bar now. I was actually calling to check on you.”
“Really? I’m fine. Perfectly… safe. You… uh… you didn’t have to check on me.”
Her words are innocuous enough, but there’s something off in her tone, a hesitation behind every word, like she’s piecing the lie together as she goes.
“Kiki, are you home?”
