Page 57 of Unbreakable
“You’re having dinner with Andy?” He coughed it out like it was on the end of a breath, his face reddening.
“And Kathy. And my parents. Kathy’s been having one of her flare-ups. Think she needs a distraction.”
Dylan bobbed his head, blinking fast and deflating from his jolt of anger. “Right. Right. It’s good you’re seeing her then. Give her my best.” He took a breath, glanced away for a moment, then looked directly at what must have been my face on the screen. “I love you, Jeanine. So much. I miss you, baby.”
“I love you too.”
TWENTY-FIVE
DYLAN
NOW | DECEMBER
Can you send a pic? The kids want to see the winery in December
Jeannie
(pic)
Give them kisses for me
After a dinnerof burnt chicken breast, both over and undercooked rice, and a perfectly fine salad, I sent Mom to the store while I put the kids to bed. I needed her out of my hair.
“Dad?”
I had just flipped the light switch to leave Greyson’s room. “Yeah, bud?”
“Why did Mom leave?”
My back was to him, and I squeezed my eyes shut. Whydidshe leave?
And it was a wake-up call. I’d been so worried about how Jeanine’s leaving impacted me that I hadn’t given enough thought to how much the kids were probably struggling.
“Mommy just needed a little break. A vacation.”
“I like vacation,” Greyson argued. “Why didn’t she bring me?”
I sat on the edge of his bed with a smirk. “You’re still in school, bud.”
His next question wiped any amusement I had right off my face. “Is Mommy okay?”
Was she?
“She will be, buddy. She sent me a picture today. You wanna see?”
He nodded, sitting up in his sheets. I pulled my phone out of my sweatpants pocket. “See? There she is with Gammy and Gampa.”
“I want to be at the wine house,” Greyson said.
“We’ll go there again soon, buddy.”
He blinked, seemingly taking all that in. He and the girls thrived when we went to Temecula, playing hide and seek in the vineyards and getting spoiled rotten by Jeanine’s parents.
“I miss California,” he said quietly.
I nodded, patting over his hair as he settled back into his sheets. “What do you miss about it?”
“I miss my friends. And Uncle Obi too.” He paused. “We were happy there.”
