Page 62 of The Bet
“I was going to take him for a helicopter ride over the city again,” Tobias remarked.
“He’d love that.”
“That’s what I thought. Here you go,” said Tobias, and handed Savannah a mug of what looked like urine-colored liquid.
“What the hell is that?” Xavier asked.
“Lemon and ginger herbal tea.” Savannah placed her hands around the cup and inhaled.
“What’s wrong with coffee?” He didn’t understand people and their weird tastes. It was as bad as finding out that Izzy didn’t eat burgers. Did she have any idea what she was missing? He’d seen the veggie alternative, and nobody could ever convince him that a halloumi and mushroom alternative was even worth biting into to.
“Jacob said you spent a lot of time with him,” Savannah said, her face slightly golden.
“He’s a good kid. We had fun.”
“That’s what he said. Thanks, Xavier. I didn’t want Jacob to feel that we’d abandoned him.”
“We didn’t abandon him,” Tobias interjected. “He was in good hands, and we FaceTimed him three times a day, at least.”
“Where’s he now?” Xavier asked. “And where are your parents, and Izzy?” he was aware he’d asked her about her a few times now.
“Jacob’s having a shower, and my parents flew back this morning.”
“So soon?”
“You know what parents are like.” Savannah took a sip from her cup. “They’ve been away from home for weeks now. I think they wanted to get back.”
“They’re easy-going, your mom and dad.” Compared to my parents, thought Xavier.
“They liked the burger place you took them to,” Savannah told him. “Thanks for taking them.”
“It was nothing.” Xavier waved her comment away—part of him feeling guilty because it hadn’t been his idea, and he’d been pissed off when he’d discovered that Izzy had foisted them onto him.
“I need to make a few calls,” Tobias announced.
“Back to work already?” Savannah looked at him.
“Just a few calls, I promise.” He squeezed her shoulder, the small act, intimate and natural, Xavier thought. He wasn’t one for touchy-feely shows of emotion. Not that there was anything deliberately on show here. The love was evident between these two.
Typical for a honeymoon couple.
“Jacob’s having a shower?” He hoped this would prompt Savannah into telling her more about Izzy’s plans. After all, it was the main reason he’d come here.
“He’ll be out soon enough,” Savannah assured him.
“Was Tobias always on the phone on vacation?” Xavier asked her.
“No, he wasn’t. He was as good as gold, it’s probably why he’s making up for it now. Catching up on everything.”
“We can take Jacob out today,” he suggested, sitting down next to Savannah. He was hoping that Izzy would appear, and they might be able to continue where they had left off last weekend. “Give you both a chance to recover from jetlag.”
“The jetlag isn’t too bad, surprisingly,” Savannah replied.
“That’s good,” he said, then made polite small talk, asking her about the honeymoon, and, when she had finished recounting her favorite highlights, and Izzy still hadn’t showed up, he looked at his watch and said, “Izzy usually comes along around about now,” in a bid to prompt news of her whereabouts.
“I told her not to come today.”
“You did?” His mood sank.
