Page 30 of A Package Deal

“You should try more.”

“I will.” Awkward silence descended on the call. There was so much he wanted to say to her and ask, but they’d fallen out of rhythm and he didn’t want to risk a misstep.

“Well, I hope you feel better by Saturday.”

“Saturday?”

“That’s when you leave for vacation, right?”

“Oh, that. I had to, um, postpone it.”

“What? Why aren’t you going? It sounds like it’s just a cold. Go.” Chet remembered her swimsuit fashion show from a few weeks ago and how excited she’d been. “Is Gus sick?” he asked. Something big needed to have happened for her to cancel her trip.

“It’s a long and boring story. But don’t worry about my dad. He’s his usual old-fart self.”

“I’ve got all night,” Chet coaxed, using his most charming voice.

Nelie laughed, but it sounded strained. “Tempting, but I’m”—she yawned, the worst fake yawn he’d ever heard—“hitting the hay now.”

“If you change your mind, call me.” Chet rubbed his chest. Talking to her shouldn’t hurt.

“I will.” Conversation ground to a halt, but as long as Nelie was on the phone, he wouldn’t say goodbye. “There’s a box of cookies by your back door.”

Chet opened the door, squeezing the phone between his ear and shoulder, saying, “That’s a pretty big box.” He carried it into the kitchen and opened it. “With a lot of cookies. Why did you put a big box with lots of cookies on my doorstep?”And why did you sneak them there?

“They’re for the reception, after the spelling bee.” His hand gripped the phone, needing this nonsense to end, and for Nelie to tell him what the hell was going on.

“You’re too sick to wait five minutes for me to pop out of the office this afternoon and sayhi, but you’re not too sick to bake a crap-ton of cookies, is that right?”

“I don’t think, I mean, I won’t make it to the spelling bee,” Nelie said, not answering his question but dropping a pile of shit at his feet.

“You know that now? Maybe you’ll feel better in the morning. The girls are counting on you.”I’m counting on you.

“I don’t think I will feel better.” Her voice was quiet, and he heard sniffling, like she was holding back tears. He took a deep breath. Yelling at her wouldn’t help them solve this.

“You’ve been battling this all week. Have you seen a doctor?” he asked gently, and she laughed, sounding a bit unhinged.

“Yes, I’ve seen a doctor, and he told me to lie low and take it easy. So that’s what I’m going to do.”

“Well, if you can’t make it, you can’t make it. I’ll get the cookies to the school.” Chet knew when he was beaten. He couldn’t argue with a doctor’s orders, and he couldn’t make Nelie tell him what was really bothering her.

Things had been going great between them until they weren’t, and he wanted to know why. Why did she cancel her vacation? Why was she avoiding him? Why couldn’t he make her happy? Why wasn’t he enough?

“Thank you.” Nelie hung up before he could reply. Chet tossed his phone on the counter. He was confused and mad and tired of feeling this way. He’d promised himself he’d never let another woman tie him up in knots the way Heather had, but it looked like Nelie also had a copy of the emotional knot book. He’d thought she was different.Idiot, but at least she’s not cheating on me.

Chet scrubbed a hand over his face the next morning, waiting for his coffee to kick in. He’d slept like crap last night, replaying his recent interactions with Nelie to see if he’d missed something. But he hadn’t. And now he needed to break his daughters’ hearts. “I talked to Nelie last night. She’s not feeling well and won’t be able to make it to the spelling bee.”

“We know. She told us yesterday when we made the cookies,” Ava said, smearing peanut butter on her banana.

“And I’m heartbroken,” Piper said, sighing dramatically. “The only thing that might make me feel better and help me remember how to spell all the hard words would be one of Nelie’s cookies.” Chet lifted his mug to his mouth to hide his smirk. He had to hand it to Piper. She was the queen of pulling his leg and turning lemons into lemonade.

“We can’t risk that, can we?” Chet asked gravely, handing them each a cookie and taking one for himself.

“She’s not going to Florida, either, and she’ll be better by Monday, so she said we could stick to the usual schedule next week,” Ava said. Chet nodded, breaking his cookie in half and wondering what type of crystal ball her doctor used.

He’d come down here this morning envisioning the worst, but Nelie had smoothed the way. He appreciated that she’d told the girls, not making him into the bad guy. Heather had never done that. She never took accountability for her actions and had no issue with throwing Chet under the bus. Life with Heather had been theHeather Show.

But it wasn’t like that with Nelie. Until recently, the last month had felt like theUsShow. Something was up, though, and it had all started after she’d met with Mrs. Hart.

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