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“I grabbed the bed by the window,” Wilder said.
“Frankly, I should have a choice of the beds since you lied to me.”
Wilder crossed his arms. “You want the bed by the window?”
“No. I just wanted the choice.”
“Goober,” Wilder said as he reached out and punched his brother’s shoulder.
They left their bags on the beds, then went back to the main area. Food was spread out over the large island counter. Once he had filled a plate and sat down at the enormous table, Gareth took a bunch of pictures of the people there and sent them off to Aria.
That continued as they finished eating and went to the building where the championship game was being played. The noise level was high as they found seats, which were close to their team’s bench.
Gareth spotted Skylar standing with the rest of her cheerleading squad, but the players weren’t out yet. They were going to have a good vantage point for the game, and Gareth’s excitement grew.
He sent another batch of pictures, even though Aria hadn’t replied to the last set yet. It was such a shame that she couldn’t be there. He would have loved to share this experience with her. They wouldn’t have many opportunities to go to basketball games with as much significance as this one.
Cole’s college career was going to take him away from Idaho, so attending any of his games was going to be much more difficult. But hopefully he’d get to a few, and he couldn’t wait to take Aria with him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The next morning, Gareth frowned down at his phone. He’d sent a ton of pictures to Aria throughout the game and after the win, but she hadn’t replied to any of them. Nor had she replied to the message he’d sent to say goodnight.
Putting his phone in his pocket, he lined up to get some of the breakfast that was spread out on the island. Once his plate was full and he had a cup of coffee, Gareth sat down next to Janessa at the table.
They were getting off to a slow start that morning with some of the family still not having put in an appearance. Since they didn’t have to be out of the house until noon, he knew some were going to head home a bit later. He had planned to leave around ten, but now he wanted to head out as soon as he finished eating.
“Have you heard from Aria?” he asked Janessa after he’d said a prayer for his food.
“Just a message last night, saying goodnight right at the beginning of the game. She said she was tired and might not wake up again until late.”
That was around the time she’d last texted him, too. “I just thought maybe I’d have a message from her this morning.”
“If she’s feeling anything like I did, she’s probably just getting up to use the bathroom, grab some water and meds before falling back into bed to sleep. It’s a crazy bug, I have to say. I’ve never had something that made me feel so bad. Just completely wiped out with lots of aches and pains. I’m sure she’s just sleeping.”
Gareth hoped so, but he was worried. “I think I might leave as soon as I’m done eating. Do you want to go with me?”
“Sure. I don’t need to hang around here.”
“Charli,” Gareth said, trying to get her attention where she sat across the table. When she looked over at him, he said, “Janessa and I are going to leave when we’re done eating. Do you want to come with us?”
“Yep. I’m ready to go as soon as Layla’s done. I’ll just go pack the rest of our stuff while she finishes up.”
With that decided, Gareth finished his breakfast and poured a second cup of coffee while he waited for his sisters.
Gareth breathed a sigh of relief when they were finally on the road. It was hard not to floor the accelerator, but he managed to keep to the speed limit. When they reached the house, the first thing Gareth noticed was that Aria’s car wasn’t there. Given how miserable she’d looked the day before, it surprised Gareth that she wasn’t holed up in bed.
The house was quiet as they let themselves in, but it also felt… empty. Which made sense since it was clear that Aria was out, but Gareth felt something deep inside him. The emptiness felt ominous when combined with her lack of response over the past several hours.
Gareth followed Janessa into the kitchen while Charli and Layla went to their rooms with their bags. “Aria didn’t say she was going out?”
“No. Maybe she went to buy some medicine or something.”
“But why wouldn’t she respond to texts?” he asked.
“Did you try to call her?”
“I didn’t want to wake her up if she was sleeping. I guess I could try now since that’s clearly not the case.” Gareth settled on a stool at the counter and brought up Aria’s contact information. He tried to quell the worry that was growing inside him. He tapped the screen to place the call, then lifted the phone to his ear. It had barely rung before going to her voicemail.
