Revealing Annie - Freya Barker Page 0,22

airport, waiting for my son to look up and see me.

“Bryce?”

He stops in his tracks, letting other travelers pass him by as his eyes slowly come up to meet mine. We have the same eyes, his filled with as much trepidation as I imagine mine are. He looks like he might turn and run back on the plane, and frankly, I don’t blame him. I’m fighting the same urge, but I remind myself I’m the adult here.

I square my shoulders and walk up to him, holding out my hand. Reluctantly he reaches for it.

“My name is Kyle,” I settle for.

“I know.”

His mumbled voice is deeper than I expected.

I motion to the backpack he has hanging off one shoulder. “That’s not all you have is it?”

“Got a suitcase.”

“Okay, let’s go find that before we grab some lunch. Our flight to Durango doesn’t leave until three, so we’ve got time.”

I’d ended up paying for the flights—given Chanel didn’t have any money—but I wasn’t entirely sure he’d show until I saw him coming off the flight from Boise. She’s supposed to be checking into a rehab facility this afternoon. She promised she’d only be a couple of weeks and would contact me as soon as she got out. I don’t know what to believe, but it doesn’t really matter; the kid is mine and there’s no way I’d let him get swallowed up by the system.

He walks half a step behind me but I can feel his scrutiny. If I’m freaked out, I can only imagine how he feels. I have no idea what his life has been like. That’s what has me most on edge, not knowing what I’m wading into, so I’m trying to play it easy. Relaxed.

His suitcase is old and far too small to hold a fourteen-year-old’s belongings. He’s determined to carry it himself and I don’t argue. I get it.

“Burgers okay?” I ask when we get to the food court.

He shrugs, but I catch him checking out the different vendors and start walking to the one he looks at most longingly. I order a meal for myself and step aside so he can order for himself, which he does only after I prompt him.

Lunch is mostly silent, the kid is clearly hungry, wolfing down his cheeseburger and fries before I’m even halfway through. Then he starts watching me while I eat and I’m about to ask him what’s up when he starts to talk.

“Mom says you’re a firefighter.” It comes out more like an unhappy statement than a question, but at least he’s asking.

“No, actually. I work for the fire department but as an EMT. I drive an ambulance.”

“So, like…when people get burned and stuff?”

“Also, but we get calls to all kinds of things; accidents, medical emergencies. Last year we got a call out to one of the hiking trails up in the mountains because a girl had fallen down a cliff. My partner, Blue, she had to rappel down to stabilize the patient so we could pull her up. We get all kinds of calls.”

He nods, looking at me with a little more interest.

“Cool,” he mumbles, and I feel like I’ve just been given my first father-of-the-year award. Only to have it rescinded the next moment when he adds, “Kind of a girl job, though.”

The flight to Durango is blissfully short, but I panic when we get into my truck and I realize the silent, brooding teen and I have little—if anything—in common. That’s probably what prompts me to pull into the left lane when I spot the shelter on the other side of the road.

“What’s this?”

“There’s this dog I’ve had my eye on,” I tell him, noticing Bryce’s eyes light up instantly. “She’s a bit shy, though.”

It occurs to me I should probably have called Annie after our dinner Wednesday as promised, but she was barely out of my driveway when my life changed on a dime. There was so much I would’ve had to explain, and maybe I wasn’t up to that. Fuck, I’m not sure I’m up to it, but looking at the expression on the boy’s face, it’s too late to turn around now.

Annie

I crack a big smile when I see Sumo walk in.

I’d been waiting for the phone call he promised yesterday, and again today. I’d almost started thinking I might’ve imagined the heat we generated outside in his driveway Wednesday night as only on my part. That maybe it had been just me who still had weak knees the next morning.

He