anyone else in the world. And even when I’m not with you in person, I’m still here in your heart.”
“But that’s where my mommy is, and I never get to see her anymore.”
I take a deep, fortifying breath and kiss the tear tracks on her cheeks as I try to hold my own back. “I know, sweetie. I know.” I hug her one more time and then put her hand in mine. “You ready to go have some fun?”
She nods, but I stare at her with a funny face until I get a smile.
“Yes?” I ask.
She nods more emphatically. “Yes.”
“Good, because we have two Tuesdays’ worth of fun to make up for.”
“Like?”
“Like pizza and . . . I don’t know, but it will be fun!”
“Pizza?”
“Yep. Pizza. Does that sound good?”
Her squeal of delight is probably the best thing I’ve heard all day. “There’s my girl,” I say and head to the front desk to sign her out. She chatters away—music to my ears—as we head out into the sunshine toward the parking lot.
“Hey. Wait up!”
I turn to see Joey jogging after us, out of breath and with a jacket under his arm. It’s the first I’ve seen or talked to him since the last time I was here when he told me I couldn’t take Lucy. He never called with the more information he said he’d find out. All I have in my head as I look at him and force a smile is that for the first time, I’m not sure if I trust him.
Was he the one who spoke to Priscilla? Was he the one who told her about the various men I had at the house—all innocent but portrayed to be anything but?
“Joey. Hi.” I stop, and Lucy’s hand tightens in mine, her instinct the same as mine. Don’t take her away from me.
He stops and looks at me for a beat, head angled to the side, confusion etching the lines of his face. “You’re going just like that?”
“Like what?” I look down at my clothes, wondering what in the hell he’s talking about. Did I get something on them?
“No.” He laughs and waves a hand at my shirt as if it’s fine. “I meant, you’re just going to leave? It’s the second Tuesday of the month. Pizza night.”
And for the briefest second, I look at him like he’s crazy. Like I’d really invite him with us for pizza on the second Tuesday like I usually do after all the weirdness that happened here. “Oh. I’m sorry. You wanted to—”
“Go. I always go.”
“I—uh—” I look over to where we’re parked and then back at him. “Not today. We’re not going to do pizza today.” The words tumble out of my mouth, and I mentally cringe, hoping that Lucy doesn’t say differently.
“You’re not?”
“We’re not?”
Both Lucy and Joey speak at the same time.
“It’s—I—there was a change of plans.”
“Mr. Ryker!” Lucy yells, surprising both of us when she runs into Ryker’s arms as he approaches. My heart warms seeing her reaction to him and even more so when he gets down on his haunches and straightens the crown on her head after telling her she looks just like a princess but even prettier.
Ryker stands with Lucy’s hand in his and nods. “Joe.”
I glance toward Joey. His expression is guarded, and yet I notice the brief lift of his eyebrows and subsequent clench of his jaw when Ryker addresses him.
“Joey,” he corrects.
Ryker returns the same insincere smile that Joey gave him before glancing to me and then back to Joey. “Was there a problem? I saw you running out after Vaughn and Lucy, and I wanted to make sure everything was okay, Joe.”
Ah, jealous Ryker is in full effect.
“Yes, everything is fine. I was just . . .”
“Sometimes Joey goes with us for pizza on the second Tuesday of the month because he gets off early. It’s just something we’ve always done,” I say, ignoring the lift of Ryker’s eyebrows.
“Yeah. That.” Joey shifts on his feet, clearly not comfortable. “We do.”
“How sweet.” Ryker’s tone is anything but genuine, and I shake my head at him. “I’m sorry for the confusion today, but we have plans already.”
“Fine. Yeah. Sure.” Joey shakes his head and licks his lips, and for the briefest of moments I feel bad for him. For forgetting to tell him there was a change of plans from our usual. But then I think of Priscilla and last week and know that I really don’t owe anything to him.