Page 51 of Long Road Home

“Okay,” I finally said. “Okay. Thank you. I can bring him over around six after I feed him. Does that work?”

“We usually eat then. I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry. He’ll be in good hands, I swear it.”

I lost the tremulous hold I’d been scraping together. A family. Being here would give this to Toby. A family who loved him. God. I needed to call Allison. We had to have a long talk and soon.

“Thanks, Rebecca. I’ll see you later.”

“Take care. And have fun tonight.” She giggled. “But trust me, I won’t need details.”

I blinked. Fire bloomed on my cheeks and spread to my chest. “That’s not…it’s just dinner…to talk…”

“Uh-huh. See you soon!”

She practically sang the words as she hung up on me.

I stared at my screen like it was an alien life form. That was Rebecca? Teasingme?Laughing withme?

“What a strange day,” I whispered at the screen of my iPhone. Odd. First Gloria. Then Jordan kissing my cheek and touching my hip and looking at me like I was adorable. Then Rebecca.

I swiped the phone. Checked the date to make sure I hadn’t entered a parallel universe. Then remembered I was supposed to meet Jordan and Toby in the lobby.

I left Jordan’s office, closing the door behind me.

“Thank you,” I said to Jordan’s receptionist. She was older than me. Probably by about a decade. I didn’t pause to wonder why it felt good to know the woman who worked so close to him was not only older than us but married based on the size of the rock on her finger. “I won’t take up too much more of Jordan’s time today.”

“No problem.” She smiled at me. A big one. One that seemed completely genuine. See? Strange. “Your boy seems really sweet.”

“He is.”

Her smile faltered. “I hope to see more of him. I’ve got kids of my own. Two girls, though. They’re eleven.”

“Twins? You must have had your hands full.” Mom talk was always easy.

“They’re sweet kids. When their hormones aren’t turning them into screaming banshees.”

I thought back to the grief I’d given Tillie around that age, most likely for the same reason, and laughed. “I was probably the same way.”

“All us girls are.” She winked like we were sharing some sort of secret joke. I suppose we were. The wiles of women were highly secretive. “How old is he?”

“Toby? He’s ten. He’ll be in fifth grade in the fall.”

“Ellie and Jackie are going into sixth. Maybe we could get them together sometime. They have a lot of friends in town, boys too, he could meet. If you’re going to be here a while?”

Thirty minutes ago, I’d heard her surprise as she told Jordan I told him his son was here to see him. I’d also heard his reply about how he hadn’t known. I’d seen the flash of her eyes, the furrowed brow and the way she stood distant while we spoke, but kept an eye on us the entire time. Now she was being as friendly as could be.

“Um. Yeah, that would be great. Toby would like that.” He’d love it, actually. He was always running around the neighborhood with friends. I hardly saw him during the summer.

“Great. I’ll set something up with Jordan, then? That okay?”

“Sure. We’re pretty open.” An odd pressure hit my chest making it difficult to breathe. I was staring at her and smiling.

Meanwhile, the world as I knew it was shifting beneath my feet. She knew I kept Jordan’s son from him, and she acted like she didn’t care I was so horrible.

“Great. See you soon. Nice to meet you, Destiny.” The phone rang as she spoke, so I waved goodbye and headed toward the stairway to take me down to the lobby. And the whole way down, I gripped the railing tightly so I didn’t fall.

She was nice to me. Unassuming. Helpful. Kind.

That wasn’t how people around here treated me and yet she’d treated me like she’d known me for years and we were setting up our weekly coffee date.

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