Page 52 of Not Part of the Plan
He saw it, the quick flash of a shooting star across the midnight blue of the sky. He glanced around, but no one else had noticed it. There was only one thing to do with a shooting star. So he wished. He didn’t know the how or the why, but those didn’t seem to matter. All that did was the who.
Emma.
They returned to the brewery parking lot and unloaded. Jax and Carter unhooked the wagon and led the team back to the barn to untack.
Summer left to help Gia load up her car and search Aurora for contraband cake. “How many pieces of cake did you have?” Gia asked her daughter as they walked toward the parking lot.
“Thanks for the leftovers and for letting my brother come. Our neighbor couldn’t watch him tonight,” Reva said quietly to Joey. “We’re gonna go home.”
“Who’s here to pick you up?” Joey asked, fussing with the strap of her dress.
“Uh, our mom. She’s probably down by the road,” Reva said, putting her arm around Caleb.
“I don’t wanna walk, Ree,” the little boy yawned.
“Hush. It’s not that far,” she told him.
“It is, too. It’s a million miles.”
“How about I drive you down and meet your mom,” Donovan said. It wasn’t an offer. It was closer to an order.
“No, that’s okay,” Reva said quickly.
“Is Mom really here?” Caleb asked hopefully.
Niko could see the tension radiating off of Reva.
“Reva,” Beckett said quietly. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” she shook her head. “Nothing, we just gotta get home. It’s late.”
“I’ll drive you,” Donovan said again.
“You can’t,” Reva said flatly.
“Why can’t he drive you?” Joey asked frowning.
“Because it’ll ruin everything, okay?” Reva threw her arms up in the air.
“Don’t be mad, Ree. It’s okay.” Caleb patted his sister’s arm.
“It’s not okay. And you guys are going to ruin everything!”
“Where’s your mom, Reva?” Emma asked.
“She left. Okay? She left us three weeks ago.”
Joey let out a string of curse words that had Caleb’s mouth falling open. “Those areallbad words!”
“My wife has a spectacular vocabulary, buddy,” Jax said, reappearing with Waffles at his heels. He ruffled Caleb’s hair. “What’s going on?”
“Reva’s mad ‘cause mom left us to go on vacation, and she won’t let Mr. Sheriff drive us home even though I don’t wanna walk ‘cause it’s so far an’ I’m tired,” Caleb explained.
“Well, shit.”
“You can’t split us up,” Reva said to Donovan. “I won’t let you.”
“Reva, I don’t want to separate you from your brother.”
