Page 211 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
“Gross,” he said, walking away.
“He’s fine,” I said. “I just gave him some medicine. I have some extra time to talk. Tell me what’s wrong. Did something happen at your interview?”
“No,” she said. “It was fine. It went really well, actually. It was something that happened after that. We can talk about it later, though. You should really go take care of Austin.”
I couldn’t help but think that she was hiding something from me. I knew that she wanted me to take care of Austin, but at the same time, I felt like she was using it as an excuse.
“We can talk about it, Tiffany,” I said. Austin had already left the room, on the search for his tablet. Once he found it, he would be quiet for a good half hour. It would give me plenty of time to talk to Tiffany.
“I’m at work,” she said. “I just wanted to call to say that I hope Austin is feeling better. I guess you’ll be back to the office on Monday?”
“I’m sure,” I said. “There’s some things that I need to wrap up before Christmas. But, really, we can talk now.”
“No,” she said, a bit more firmly. I could tell that I had pressed too hard. She was obviously uncomfortable bringing up what was wrong with her. My mind started to swirl with possibilities. Was she having second thoughts about our relationship? Had Robin found out and threatened her?
“Okay,” I said. “Maybe we can make some time and see each other this weekend, depending on how Austin is feeling. He’s a kid, they tend to bounce back from illnesses rather quickly.”
“Sure,” she said. “We can see what happens.”
We said our goodbyes and I hung up the phone. I almost wished that I had let her call go to voicemail. The phone call had ruined my morning. I went to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water, contemplating my conversation with Tiffany. I replayed the past forty-eight hours in my head.
Wednesday had been amazing. Thursday morning was great, as well. Thursday before she left for the interview was good, and then she went missing in action. Something happened between leaving the office for the interview and coming back to the office, but what? She said the interview went well. I couldn’t think about what could have happened to make her change drastically.
I picked my phone back up and dialed my sister.
“Hello?” Sarah picked up the phone.
“Hey,” I said. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” she said. “Actually, nothing and everything all at once. The life of a stay at home mom.”
I laughed. Although it didn’t make sense, I understood what she was saying. She didn’t have a job but taking care of her kids was a much harder job than I had. As much as I loved Austin, I could not imagine staying at home all day long with him every day. I actually enjoyed going to work and having adult time.
“Is Austin okay?” she asked. She was probably asking more for herself than anything else. He had been around her kids over the weekend. She didn’t want her kids to be sick as much as I didn’t want Austin to be.
“He’s pretty rough,” I admitted. “We have a doctor’s appointment this afternoon. She’s pretty sure it’s just a virus that is making the rounds, but we are going in to confirm. Poor guy. I feel awful for him. It’s taken the Christmas spirit right out of him.”
“Aww,” Sarah said sympathetically. “He’ll feel better soon. He’s a tough little kid.”
“I hope so,” I said. “But to be honest, I didn’t call to talk about Austin. I’m calling to pick your brain.”
Sarah laughed.
“Let me guess,” she said. “You’re overanalyzing things with Tiffany?”
My sister knew me too well. I had done similar things with Layla in the beginning of our relationship and Sarah had helped me through that, too. It was always comforting to have a woman to talk to. I definitely couldn’t talk to Allen about it and I didn’t want to bring Maurice into the mess, either. Sarah was all I had.
“She’s gotten really weird, really fast,” I explained. I told my sister about everything that had happened the past couple of days. After listening to me, she finally spoke.
“I would just relax, Cayden,” she said. “I know it is hard for you to do that, but just step back for a minute and take a breath. You told me that she has some issues with the holidays and her family, right? Maybe it’s that. I know some people that turn into hermits around Christmas. It probably has nothing to do with you. I mean, you said you didn’t talk to her in between the time where she was fine and got weird, right?”
“Right,” I confirmed. I was beginning to feel silly now that my sister had said the words aloud. I was overreacting. It could have been about Tiffany’s family or her feelings toward Christmas. It didn’t necessarily have anything to do with me.
“Seriously,” Sarah continued, “You need to just relax. I would take the day and love on Austin and then call Tiffany tomorrow. I’m telling you, it’s probably not a big deal at all.”
I sighed. I knew that Sarah was right, but I also knew that I couldn’t just brush this feeling aside. I had to be trapped inside with Austin all day. My mind would go crazy, no matter what kind of assurance my sister tried to give me.
“Thanks,” I said. I had to give Tiffany the benefit of the doubt. Maybe it really had nothing to do with me. I ended the call with my sister and walked into my bedroom. As expected, Austin was in my bed with his tablet.
