Page 60 of Wildflower and Whiskey
Me:Drop-off okay. Call you in five.
Before I could hit send, my screen lit up.
Riley:Nice daycare. Birch Street, right? Cute pumpkins in the window.
I froze. My stomach dropped.
Another message arrived.
Riley:Tell your boyfriend to stop playing hero. He’s not the dad. Don’t keep Braden from his family. Maybe Nana will do pickup today.
My reflection stared back at me in the phone pale, wide-eyed, shaking.
I called Phoenix. He answered on the first ring. “Elyna?”
My throat closed.
“Wildflower.”
His voice softened instantly. “What happened?”
“Riley,” I managed. “He texted. Knows the daycare. Said something about pumpkins.”
Phoenix’s voice dropped, all steel. “Forward them to me and my dad. I’m on my way.”
“You have that delivery. . .”
“Cooper can sign. Stay put, where people can see you. Don’t move.”
“Phoenix…”
“Please.”
The please broke me. “Okay.”
I hung up and started for my car, keeping my head down. My phone buzzed again.
Riley:Blue looks good on you. See you soon, babe.
My pulse stuttered. I was wearing a blue sweater, which meant he could see me. He was in town.
Something about the message snagged in my mind. The wording was wrong,babe.Riley never called me that. He called me “pretty girl.” My hands shook as I opened the car door and slid inside. I locked the doors and pressed my palms to the steering wheel.
In for four, out for six.My old anxiety mantra.
The daycare door opened behind me, a mother in scrubs wrestling a stroller. Normal. Everything looked normal. But the world didn’t feel normal anymore.
Phoenix’s truck pulled into the lot. Relief hit me so hard I nearly cried. He was at my door in seconds.
“Come here, honey,” he said, opening his arms.
I folded into him, breathing him in like oxygen.
“Look at me,” he murmured, cupping my face until my eyes met his. “You did everything right. Forward the messages. My dad and Becket are on their way.”
“He’s being weird, Phoenix. He’s never sent messages like this, never took too much of an interest in Braden,” I whispered. “He also called me babe and he’s never done that, but he knew what I was wearing.”
He frowned.
