Page 109 of Goode Tidings

Appendicitis? But Oliver is young. Healthy. I don't know anything about appendicitis, but it seems like it should happen to someone other than Oliver. Me, for instance. I'll take the appendicitis for him.

"Geez." The teacher mutters an expletive. "Ok. There's an emergency room forty-five minutes away in Flagstaff. That's where we'll take him." Now the teacher sounds panicked.

"We don't know if this is an emergency yet, so please tell whoever is driving him to drive safely." Callum's tone is calm, and I cannot figure out how. There's a tornado of worry and fear inside me.

He takes my hand and squeezes it. "We're leaving now and we'll be there as soon as possible."

CHAPTER 50

Callum

Eden tosses her phone in her purse and heads for the front door. She's not wearing shoes, and she hasn't had a bite to eat. I jog into the pantry, grabbing blindly at the boxes of protein bars.

Justin is still next to the table, raking his hands through his hair. "My kid. My kid."

I shove his shoulder. "Get your shit together. Come on."

At the front door, I grab Eden's soft boots, the ones with the wool lining so she won't need socks. I'm out the door first, Justin following me. He doesn't lock it, but it doesn't matter. What matters now is getting to Oliver.

Eden's in my passenger seat. I climb in and hand her the bag I threw together. Water, protein bars, individual bags of crackers, beef jerky, and electrolyte drinks.

Justin shoves his wheeled luggage into the backseat of a sedan parked at the curb, then launches himself into my backseat.

"I'm scared," Eden whispers as we leave Lake Circle.

"Me too," I confess. "But everything is going to be ok."

"How did you know to check for appendicitis?" Eden asks.

Justin's gaze meets mine in the rearview mirror before skittering away. I wait for him to say something, but when he doesn't, I explain, "When I was a kid, I knew someone whose appendix burst." Also known as that fucker back there.

I glance in the rearview mirror again, but Justin refuses to look my way. I can't imagine any good reason for why Justin wouldn't tell Eden what happened when he was a kid, so I say, "The guy in the backseat is shy an appendix."

Eden's surprised gaze slices to Justin. "You never told me that."

He shrugs. She turns around to face front, probably unwilling to think or care too much about Justin's choice not to tell. Hell, he may have blocked it out. Admittedly, it was a terrible experience.

Once we're on the highway, I remind Eden about the food near her feet.

"I feel nauseous." She pokes at the bag with the toe of her shoe. "I don't want to eat."

"Don't think of it as eating. It's calories in, and that's it. Little units of energy, so you can make it through this day." She needs some form of nourishment.

My appeal must work, because Eden opens a bag of crackers, nibbling at one. "I'm going to call my brother."

She grabs her phone and places the call. He answers and she explains what she knows. "Will you call Mom for me?"

She's quiet for a moment, listening to something he's saying, and then says, "I'll keep you posted."

"Tell Klein I said hi," Justin says, talking for the first time in a while.

Eden says goodbye to her brother and ends the call.

"Why didn't you tell him I said hi?"

Eden closes her eyes and leans her head back against the headrest. "You know he doesn't like you."

"I'm not sure why."