Page 82 of Wildflowers and Wide Receivers

The truth and honesty in these words, there’s a rightness that heals a broken piece of my heart left behind after John, and I feel so blessed to have been given another chance with this girl.

Eventually, the sound of the alarm wakes us. Picking up my phone from the nightstand, I see there’s a missed call from Vivi’s dance teacher. Putting the phone on speaker, Sophie and I both sit up and listen to the message.

“Hi, Jonah. This is Kelli from the dance camp. I just wanted to let you know that Vivi isn’t having the best day. There’s nothing to be alarmed about, but I wanted to call you and let you know she’s more withdrawn and not giving me her usual best. I know she’s supposed to be here until five, but if you’re free to come and get her, I think that would be best.”

“Oh, no,” Soph says, looking at me with large concerned eyes.

“I have to go,” I tell her as I slide off the bed and grab my clothes.

“Of course you do,” she tells me. “Do you want me to come with you?” She scoots to the edge of the bed, wrapping the sheet around her.

“No, it’s okay. Let me go get her and see how she is, and then I’ll call you,” I tell her, pulling on my shorts.

“Okay, well, if I can help, please let me know.”

It takes me less than one minute to get dressed. I lean over and kiss Sophie, then take the stairs two at a time.

Walking through the townhouse, I spot a FedEx envelope on her table and next to it is a navy folder that's open, and a trifold pediatric orthopedic flier sitting on top. I don’t know what has me stopping to pick it up, but I do, thinking it’s from her current group, and I want to see her picture. As it turns out, it’s not from her group but from a group in Minnesota. Why would she have this? And why is it out now?

And that’s when I remember what Reid said weeks ago while we were sitting out on his back deck watching Vivi and Izzy in the hot tub. “Yeah, she’s biding her time and not dating anyone seriously.” For some reason, it just didn’t occur to me that biding her time might not have been here in Tampa, but given her relationship with her dad, I suddenly realize it’s possible.

She also hinted at my house that night that her plan was still to get back to Minnesota.

An ache forms in the pit of my stomach, and my chest seizes. Just like the possibility of her leaving Tampa didn’t occur to me, it also didn’t occur to me that she and I might be temporary. I thought fate was pushing us back together, but maybe I was wrong.

Glancing down at the folder, there’s a cover letter tucked into the right side pocket. The date is from yesterday, and the first line says, “We are excited to offer you a position here at Minneapolis Children’s . . .” The words blur, and I stop reading.

What the fuck.

This can’t be happening.

I don’t even know what to do.

Behind me, I hear Sophie coming down the stairs. She freezes on the last step when I assume she sees what I’m holding. I turn to face her more squarely and hold up the trifold. Silence wraps around us, her eyes grow large with worry, and that’s when it hits me.

“You didn’t go home to just see your dad, did you?”

“No.”

Rocks roll down my throat and land in my stomach.

Painful rocks.

“And they offered you the job?” I ask even though I just saw the proof of it with my own eyes.

“Yes,” she whispers.

My arm drops, and my whole body tingles with adrenaline.

I feel so stupid.

“Right.”

“Jonah,” she says, taking that last step and moving across the room toward me. “I want to talk about this with you.”

But we can’t. Not right now.

Vivi is my priority. She always will be.