“Rosie!” I can hear him loud and clear. “I’m doing amazing. I don’t have to ask how you are. I can hear it in your voice. My brother doesn’t deserve you. Why are you still there? Isn’t it, like, six p.m. your time?”
“It’s five. And I was about to leave for the day, but then you called.”
“Lucky you.”
“Right.” She rolls the word out, giving him a hard time.
“So, I read that book you recommended. Super twisty. I couldn’t guess who the murderer was. Do you have any more of those?”
“How do you have time to read books?” I call out.
Rosalie puts it on speaker just in time for Jack to say, “Only a nonreader would ask that, Liam.”
“I read.”
“Boring nonfiction books about increasing productivity don’t count.”
Callie pats my cheeks. “It’s okay, Daddy.”
Rosalie and Jack ignore me after that while she gives him more book recommendations. But my job has taught me to watch for the evasion tactics people use when they don’t want to answer a question. There’s something different in Jack’s life, which prompted him to call. This isn’t the first time. He called me last weekend on a Friday night when he’d normally be out with friends. He didn’t have a specific reason. Actually, he seemed kind of… lonely. He would hate me if I pried, so once the call is handed off to me, we just talk about all the little nothings while I watch Rosalie take down her bag and go in search of Wyatt so she can say goodbye.
The second she’s gone and I’m off the phone, I pull her letter out of my pocket and read it.
Liam,
You’re going to regret sending me a letter, because I love letter writing. LOVE IT. I had a Korean pen pal when I was eleven. She was the daughter of a business associate of my dad’s. We wrote each other for about six months. She had the most beautiful handwriting, and her letters were written on the prettiest stationary. I don’t remember why we stopped writing each other. I guess life happens.
I’ll stop rambling, because I have a couple of questions for you.
What is one dinner you haven’t had in a long time but sounds really good? (Seriously, I’m running out of dinner ideas.)
Do you have any hobbies I don’t know about?
How did we offend Mrs. Lobronski next door? We brought her cookies yesterday, and she sniffed and asked if you knew what we were up to. (We’re generally up to no good, but it’s nothing scandalous.)
Always on my best questionable behavior,
Rosalie
Chapter 10 – Stoked on the Inside
Liam
Andrew ducks his head into my office at four thirty on Friday. “I’m on my way out. I’ll see you and the kids at six?”
“Right, dinner.” Marisol is trying out new recipes for her cooking website aimed at busy moms, and she needs some opinionated small people besides the ones in her own household. Everything she makes is delicious, so I’m not worried. “I thought it was at seven.”
“Is that what I told you?” He checks his phone for a minute and frowns. “I did. I’m sorry. Marisol was hoping for earlier. But we can wait on you guys. No problem.”
It will be a lot of extra driving for me in bad traffic to make it home, gather up the kids, and get to their house in Tempe, but I haven’t seen Andrew’s family in a while, so we’ll make it happen. “I’ll try for six. I have a meeting in a few minutes I hope will be a half hour, but it’s Affinity Dynamic Integrations, so…”
“It’ll be more like an hour. See you at seven, then.” Andrew leaves me to it but pops his head back in a few seconds later. “Don’t you need to be home soon so Rosie can leave on her date tonight?”
If he asked me out on a date himself, I would have been less confused. “Rosalie has a date? Why do you know that?”
“Marisol invited her to come to dinner, but she said she had a date.”
“Oh.” I’m supposed to be on a conference call in three minutes, so I’d better figure this out. I shoo Andrew away and immediately call Rosalie. Of course, she doesn’t answer. She’s probably jumping with my kids on the trampoline or blasting music while they make cookies. Or maybe they’re walking back from the community pool and her phone is buried at the bottom of her bag. While I’m grateful she’s not glued to her phone all day, right now I’m wishing she cared a little bit more about keeping up with Instagram.