The Path to Sunshine Cove (Cape Sanctuary #2) - RaeAnne Thayne Page 0,43
at a decent enough hour to get Silas settled for the night.
They had talked about ordering room service at the darling boutique hotel she had found. She had even called ahead to obtain the menu, hoping for a romantic and cozy evening with her husband after Silas was asleep.
All her plans would be for nothing if her blasted husband didn’t come home soon.
“Don’t worry. He probably got hung up at work. He’ll be here.”
Rachel didn’t even want to meet Jess’s gaze, afraid her sister would see into the depths of her frustration.
Grace wasn’t home from school yet, Ava was watching TV and Silas was playing on the floor, not paying them any mind at all.
“I had everything all figured out so that Silas would nap and we could avoid the worst of the traffic. If Cody is much later, we’re going to be stuck right in the middle of it and Silas will nap too late and then won’t sleep tonight.”
She could only imagine what a nightmare that would be with him screaming in a strange hotel room that probably had thin walls.
“I’m sure Cody has a good reason for being late,” Jess said gently.
“He had better,” she snapped. As soon as the words were out, she wanted to cringe at the bitchiness in her tone.
She couldn’t seem to help it. No doubt Cody wouldn’t have any viable explanation at all. He would simply say he’d been hung up at work, gotten busy at a job site, had a complication with a supplier. She’d heard every one of his excuses for working late over the past two months since Silas was diagnosed.
Cody seemed to be doing everything possible to avoid being home with her and their kids.
How could she blame him, when she was so miserable to be around right now?
“He’ll be here. Don’t worry,” Jess said again. “Do you want me to go look for him.”
Rachel frowned at her sister’s light tone, doing her best to rein in her temper. Jess had no idea the high-wire act Rachel had to walk every single day, balancing the needs of the girls, Silas, Cody and her social media followers.
Her perfect life was slipping away, eroding bit by bit like the ocean working away at a sandbar.
“I might go find him myself if he doesn’t get here soon,” she said grimly.
A moment later, she heard his pickup in the driveway.
“Sounds like he’s here,” Jess said cheerfully.
Cody swept into the kitchen looking as sweaty and dirty as if he’d been rolling in the garden with the boys.
“I’m so sorry I’m late, babe.” He gave the sheepish, apologetic smile she had come to know well over the past few months. “I had my day all planned but then Georgia Hayes asked me to bid on some roof repairs at her place. And you know how she likes to talk. I think it’s gotten worse since old Walt died. She had me looking at every single thing that needs to be fixed at the house. Part of her porch has completely rotted away and I didn’t want her falling through so I did a quick emergency repair while I was there. Took me longer than I’d planned.”
Everything always took him longer than he’d planned.
She also knew the Widow Hayes had probably been desperate for company, especially a handsome contractor in a tool belt and tight T-shirt. And she knew Cody would probably underbid the job by a long shot and eat the cost of the labor to help the woman out.
She loved that about him at the same time it annoyed the hell out of her right now.
“We’re going to be stuck in traffic. I don’t see any way around it.”
He shrugged, completely unconcerned about the havoc his good-guy helpfulness had wrought on her well-ordered plans.
“We’ll still make it. If the traffic gets too bad, we can make a stop somewhere along the way for Si to run out some energy. Maybe we can grab dinner somewhere at McD’s and have a picnic.”
That was such a far cry from the quiet, romantic room service meal at the hotel that she wanted to cry suddenly.
“That sounds nice,” Jess said.
“I want to have a picnic and play at the park,” Ava complained, wandering in from the TV room. “Why does Si get all the fun?”
“I promise, you wouldn’t think it was fun if you were the one who had to be poked and prodded by the doctors,” Rachel told her daughter.