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I feel like I should deserve an award for keeping the straight face that I do. “Yep. Right, girls?”
Alessia, Mazzy, and Ella grin.
“No way,” Colin mutters, scooting to the edge of his chair. “You’re kidding. You’ve got to be kidding.”
Mazzy, who obviously caught my drift, grins and flips her long red curls over her shoulder. Ella gave up trying to braid her hair and is now proudly lounging in the chair she took from the teen. “Nope. Don’t worry, though. We’ll do normal colored floors and keep the backsplash neutral. It’ll look adorable.”
“Adorable?” Luka repeats, dark brows furrowing. He holds his hand up for my son to slap it, because they’ve been playing Five Fives—a game Eli came up with where he gives you tons of high fives—for the past few minutes. “I don’t mean to be a naysayer, but I don’t think it would be adorable.”
Okay. Half point deducted. Not a full one because Luka has an adorable—yes, adorable—flush in his cheeks and he’s such a sweet kid. He just clearly doesn’t have good taste in interior design. That’s all. And that’s okay—most men just don’t. I’m not trying to be sexist. I’m just saying that men have strengths in areas that women don’t and vice versa.
For example, men have the wholeoff with the shirt in one fluid motionthing and women are tasteful when it comes to home design. It all evens out in the end.
“I don’t think the yellow cabinets are feasible,” Seth says slowly, looking around the group. “Sorry.”
Mazzy shrugs. “Okay. We weren’t gonna paint them yellow anyway.”
And now my laughter, along with Alessia and Mazzy and Ella’s, does burst out. I laugh so hard there are tears in my eyes, and when I glance at Seth, his befuddled expression makes me double over all over again. It’s true—we decided on white for the cupboards. But it was just too good of an opportunity to pass up, teasing the guys. I wish I had their reactions on video.
“It’s not funny,” Colin says, annoyed, but even his lips are twitching.
“Well, now that we have—” Seth’s interrupted when his phone rings. He pulls it from the pocket of his shorts and glances at the screen. “I need to take this. Don’t decide to paint the bathrooms orange or something while I’m gone.”
He’s teasing, but his mood shifted when he saw whoever was on the Caller ID a moment ago. Nobody else seems to notice as Ella starts talking about being on the boat and Mr. Owl, but I sense it. Maybe it’s energy I’m able to pick up on because of Seth and I’s newfound closeness. I’m not sure. I just know my gaze follows Seth as he walks up to the backyard, phone pressed to his ear, and that his expression is tight. He’s most definitely not loose and joking like he was with the officer on the phone earlier, which can only mean…
“I need to go,” Seth says when he comes back down to the dock. His even voice betrays the way his hands fumble with his wallet when he pulls it from his pocket. He passes me thirty dollars cash, fingers brushing mine in the process. “I was planning on taking everyone to get ice cream, but that’s not going to happen. Go ahead and enjoy it. I’ll text you later, Jen.”
I open my mouth to say something, but no words come out.
“Did something happen?” For once, Colin’s ability to show zero emotion comes in handy.
Although, I think everyone now senses what I did, because silence rules and everyone’s staring at Seth with wide eyes. Even Ella stopped talking, and Luka and Eli are no longer playing Five Fives.
“I can’t say much,” Seth says quietly, glancing at his phone when it lights up. “What I will say is that if there is ever a time to consider praying, now would be the time to do it.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Jenna
It’s been six hours since Seth promised to text me. I’ve yet to hear from him. I’ve tried calling and texting him but received no response. Hence the reason I’m currently eating a bowl of strawberry ice cream at my kitchen island when it’s 1:30 in the morning. Probably not my finest moment, but we didn’t end up having any earlier, and I need a distraction.
After how Seth left, nobody could stomach the idea of ice cream. We simply cleaned up from supper, put our chairs in the garden shed behind Marie’s house, and I vowed to let them know when I heard something. All of us were out of it, even Colin, and we somehow managed to say a prayer together before departing. Well, sort of. We stood in a circle in the backyard, holding hands, and said our own silent prayers. It felt like a powerful moment, and I can only hope the prayers did something to help whatever happened. We then left Marie’s house, and Mazzy volunteered to give Alessia a ride home so I could get the kids to bed.
Ella and Eli were able to fall asleep surprisingly easily, no small thanks to all the activity and fresh air today. I had every intention of doing my yoga, painting for a little while, and going to bed if I didn’t hear from Seth. I was going to leave my phone’s ringer on and keep the device by my bed, then get some sleep.
My body had other plans. I did my yoga and painting, but as soon as I crawled into bed, I was wide awake. I couldn’t get comfortable, and my eyes wouldn’t stay closed. I think I stared at my lazily spinning ceiling fan for thirty minutes before giving up the battle and coming downstairs.
It’s been three hours since then. I’m getting tired of playing solitaire and trying to allow my favorite movie to whisk me away vicariously to the coastline of Greece. None of it, not even the strawberry ice cream, is keeping me from running worst case scenario after worst case scenario through my mind, and one of these—
A car door.
I heard a car door!
My heart races as I abandon my half-eaten ice cream, racing to my front door. I peek through the rectangle window, relief pouring through my veins like rain in a drought. The headlights on Seth’s cruiser are still on, and they illuminate his tall profile as he walks toward my door. He has his uniform on but not his vest or gun belt, so I’m going to crossdeadly shoot-outoff my list of scenarios. I don’t dwell on my other scenarios for very long because he’shereand I pull open the door.
Seth freezes, tired eyes zeroing in on me. He has dirt smeared across his forehead and cheek, and his hair is all disheveled. I open my mouth to ask what happened and why he never texted me like he promised, but I don’t get the chance to.
He steps inside, kicks the door closed, and kisses me.
