Page 67 of Keeping the Single Dad
“It was an impossible situation. I thought Alex could weather something like this better. What does it matter to him? It’s flattering, isn’t it? A beautiful young athlete has fallen in love with you and wants to tell everyone about it. It’s hardly the end of the world. I knew you’d be able to cope.”
My heart contracted. Lana had been backed into a corner, and she’d tried to protect her family. I could understand. All that had ever mattered to me was protecting my family.
“But where is she? We can’t just sit here. We need to find her.”?
Mel’s expression was taut and derisive. “She loves you, too. I think this is the first time she’s ever opened herself up to anything since…” Her gaze flashed to her father and she looked away. “For a long time.”
Silence swirled around us. I needed to speak to Lana. Where was she? A memory drifted back. Lana had told me once about the place she’d lived before.
Yellow roses climbing the walls. A loch, the bluest blue you’ve ever seen.
It was a long shot, but we’d have to try. “I have an idea of where she might be.”
Mel swallowed, and her voice faded to a hushed stillness. “Yes. Me too.”??
Chapter 41
Alexander
Brodiesatonabooster cushion in the passenger seat next to me. He lifted his head from his comic to address Mel in the back seat. “Who’s your second favorite pirate?”
“Pirates are criminals. I don’t like any of them. We shouldn’t be glorifying them.”
“Lana said your mum used to tell you stories about girl pirates.”
Mel didn’t reply. I watched her in the rearview mirror. She turned her face to watch the countryside whizz by outside.
Brodie eyed her warily. “Do you like Pokémon?”
“No.”
“Dinosaurs?”
“No.”
Brodie scowled. “What do you like?”
“Quiet car journeys.”
The faint sound of Lana’s voicemail message drifted to my ears as Mel tried her sister’s phone again. My guts churned.
Brodie lifted his head from the comic in his lap. “When we find Lana, is she still going to be your girlfriend?”
Lana didn’t want to be my girlfriend. Who knew what was going through her head? I just wanted to bring her home, safe and well.?
Brodie shot me a sidelong glance. “I’m sure she’ll come and do sleepovers again if you ask her.”
An awkward heat suffused me, and I avoided Mel’s stern eyes in the rearview mirror. “I don’t think we’ll be doing any more sleepovers.”
“She didn’t want to hurt you.” Mel piped up from the back. Her voice was softer than usual. “I know she didn’t.” Mel cleared her throat. “How do you feel if Lana is your dad’s girlfriend?”
My hands clenched on the steering wheel. I kept my eyes fixed on the road ahead as we crossed the border to Scotland. “You don’t have to answer that, Brodie. I don’t care about girlfriends. You know you’re my number one priority.”
Brodie shrugged. “I’d love it.”
“And what if one day Lana didn’t want to be my girlfriend anymore? If she left? Wouldn’t that make you sad?”
“No. Just get another girlfriend. When Bella said she didn’t want to be my girlfriend anymore, I asked Lizzy, and she’s my girlfriend now.”
