Page 89 of Long Road Home

“Damn it. You’re going to make me cry again,” she whined.

Drake smiled at his wife, stepping out of my hug and pulled her to his side. “No need to cry. They’ll visit. Often. And so will we, right?”

“Absolutely,” I said.

They’d spent the week since I returned to Texas helping pack up my house. My home was officially going on the market tomorrow. Thanks to my friends helping and a few neighbors, we were well ahead of schedule. Toby had spent most of the days at his friends’ houses, or they’d come over here. I’d offered him the opportunity to stay another week like we’d planned, but yesterday he’d said he was ready.

So Drake had picked up the moving truck early, called a couple of buddies to help load up the furniture I was taking with and tomorrow…we were headed home.

“Hey superstar,” Drake called out, snagging Toby’s attention.

He checked his phone, frowned, and looked at Drake. “Yeah?”

“Get over here and give me a hug goodbye, would ya’?”

Toby frowned at his phone again before setting it down and trudging to Drake who enveloped him in a hug. “You doing okay?”

Toby’s eyes came to mine, not Drake’s when he answered. “Yeah. Just haven’t heard from my dad.”

That sweet feeling in my chest I got whenever Toby called Jordan dad warmed and slid to my limbs. He’d started doing it when we got back to Texas, like he’d needed the space to get used to using the word, and every time it made my heart race with happiness.

His concern worried me. When Jordan told us to call or text whenever we wanted, he answered. We spent hours talking every night. I learned he was a master at phone sex. FaceTime sex. I couldn’t wait to see him in action in person again. But we’d done more than that, too. We spoke about life. About nothing and everything until we were yawning on the phone, running on little sleep. The next day, we repeated. He called. He texted. He made contact several times a day with Toby whether it was a photo of him on the golf course, a pic of the new hoop he’d had installed on his own driveway. They chatted frequently. They laughed easily. Toby was almost always chuckling during their conversations either via text or phone.

I’d called Jordan this morning too, to let him know of our change in plans. I was done trying to surprise the man as much as I wanted to by showing up a full week early. I’d put it out of my mind though with the business of the day.

“He’s probably in meetings. Or busy with something else. He’ll call.”

Toby’s mouth went sideways. “Yeah. We’ll see.” He shrugged and finally returned Drake’s hug before giving one to Allison too.

Her pretty blue eyes misted over, and she sniffed. “Man. All this moving sure has kicked up the dust in your house.”

I laughed. “Stop it. Before you make me start, too.”

She let go of Toby who hurried back to his phone. I watched him, worried now about Jordan’s lack of contact. Usually if he was busy or in a meeting, he’d at least let Toby know. That he hadn’t returned either of our calls all day was a bit worrisome.

Allison glanced at my boy and then yanked me into her arms. “I’m sorry I couldn’t make it work with the job, honey.”

She told me when I returned she wasn’t going to be able to keep me on full-time with being so far away. She needed someone in the office and as much as she wanted to, we’d agreed I’d contract with her independently if she needed something her team couldn’t handle. I was bummed, but not necessarily surprised. “It’s fine,” I said, squeezing her back. “I totally understand, and I never expected special treatment because we’re friends.”

“I know, but it still sucks you’re leaving.” She laughed and shoved her face into my throat. “Well, it sucks for me, but I’m happy for you too.”

“I know what you meant.” She was a goofball. An emotional wreck this last week, too. Allison might have been taking my moving harder than me, but perhaps it was because she was losing us.

On the other hand, I was headed home. As sad as I was to leave my friends and life in Texas, I was more than ready to head back to where I truly belonged.

“Okay, okay.” She pushed off me and rubbed her eyes, sniffing as Drake curled her to his side. “We’ll go. Call me when you get there. Call me when you need me. Anything. And make sure you stay in touch, okay?”

“I promise.”

“Good. Me too.”

“I love you, you know.” Damn it. She was right. Itwasdusty in my house. I wiped my eyes and Drake laughed.

“Oh no. No more tears. None allowed. I’m getting her out of here before you drown us all.”

“Save me, man!” Toby shouted. They’d always been a team, ready to pounce when it came to teasing us. It felt good, knowing we were leaving and things were changing…but not everything.

“You too, little man. You keep in touch and keep me updated on all the hot chicks in Kansas, okay?”

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