Page 52 of The Hero + Vegas = No Regrets

I groan and tip my head back. In the beat of silence that follows, a phone vibrates. I swipe mine from my pocket but no one’s called.

“Is that your phone?” I ask Sophia.

She pulls it out of her bag, which is hooked onto the back of her chair. “It’s just Oliver. Probably wants to wish me happy Thanksgiving.”

“Get it,” I urge her. “We’re not eating yet.”

She’s reluctant, and I’m not sure if it’s because she doesn’t want to appear rude or if there’s something more behind it.

She shrugs. “I’ll call him back later.”

The phone stops and she goes to put it back in her bag, but a text notification pops up almost immediately. She swipes to read it.

Her face turns white. “Actually, I will just call him back.”

“Everything okay?”

She doesn’t answer. Based on her pallor, there’s every chance she genuinely didn’t hear me. She heads out the door, phone already pressed to her ear.

“Is she okay?” Avril asks.

I glance over at the door Sophia just went through. “I’m not sure. She’s got stuff going on with her family.”

“I like her,” Poppy says.

I nod, because of course she does. “She can handle you two, that’s for sure.”

“Anyone dating you has to be able to handle us. You seem serious about her,” Avril says.

“I’m serious about everything. Haven’t you been telling me that your entire life?”

“True, but?—”

“I’m just going to check on Sophia.” My chair scrapes the floor aggressively as I stand. I mutter an apology for the disturbance to the table behind me before going to find Sophia.

But when I follow her path through the doorway, she’s not there.

Eventually, I try outside. She’s there in the freezing cold, her phone clamped to her ear.

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Her eyes are brimming with tears, panic strewn across her face.

I want to tell her we can figure this out—I can fix whatever’s wrong. I just need to know what we’re dealing with.

“I won’t even be able to get there. It’s Thanksgiving. There’s no way I can get a flight.”

“You need to go home?” I ask. “I can get us a flight.”

She grabs my shirt like she’s worried she might fall if I’m not there to steady her. “You can?”

“Absolutely. We can leave now if you want.”

“Okay,” she says into her phone. “I’ll call you back.” She hangs up. “It’s my dad. They think he had a heart attack. He’s on the way to the ER now. Oliver called me on the way. I just?—”

I scoop up her hand. “Let’s get your coat or you’re going to freeze to death. I’ll send for my driver and tell my sisters we’re leaving. We can be in the air in thirty minutes.” There’s doubt in her eyes. I don’t know where it’s coming from. “What is it?”

She scrubs her free hand over her face. “I’m just not in a good place with my dad at the moment. I don’t want to do more damage by turning up when he’s not expecting me or… I’m not even sure I want to see him.”

“We can make those decisions on the way to Cincinnati. If you’re there, you don’t have to see him, but you can be a support to your brothers.”

---