AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I shrugged. “Dunno, but you’re in Dallas, right?”
“Yes,” she said, “about that. I’m at the convention center. In the hotel. I texted you the address. Can you bring me the phone?”
“I have somewhere I need to be. Can it wait a bit?” I checked my watch, trying to remember exactly when Darlene left to drop James off at daycare. Did four-year-old’s go to daycare? Or was it preschool?
“No. No, it can’t.”
“I said I’d email you your stuff. What do you need?”
Her voice rose in volume, and my shoulders sagged. “No, I need to make some calls.”
“Yeah, your mom?” She was pissed off. Again. “I saw some missed calls.”
“Shit, did you answer?”
“Hell no. The last thing I want is to be on the other end of another woman’s rampage.” I laughed.
“Excuse me?”
“Oh, come on. I’m just messin’ with you.”
“Well, don’t,” she huffed. “Can you bring it to me or not? Please?”
I pulled off my shirt and put her on speaker as I moved around the room. It was only 400 square feet but comfortable with a futon permanently pulled out into bed configuration, a movable rack on which I hung my suits and shirts, a plastic set of drawers, a small fridge with a microwave on top, and a TV. There was also a tiny bathroom with a shower.
I still needed Darlene’s number. She’d shit a brick if she knew I had some woman’s phone, but she’d shit a bigger one if I showed up without telling her exactly when I’d be there. “Tell you what. You send me a number real quick, and I’ll go to this convention center first chance I get to give you your phone.”
“If you’re coming here, why do you need... never mind. Okay. So, you’re coming?”
It wasn’t like I’d be able to see James for long. “Yeah, it won’t take long.” The thought made me wonder if I had forgotten something.
“Thank God. Okay. Thank you. Okay, I have to go. I’ll see you in a bit. My lecture starts this evening, but we have a meeting in a few that lasts about an hour. So please hurry.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but the phone fell off my shoulder and dropped to the floor as I rolled up my left sleeve. “Wait, wait. I need the number!” I shouted at the phone as I picked it up and shoved it back to my ear.
But the call had ended.
“Dammit.” I texted her real fast asking for Darlene’s number, then rolled up my other sleeve. She’d sent me a map of the convention center, which I supposed was what she thought I needed. “So impatient.”
Her mom would be fine if that were what she was so worried about. I didn’t know I was in the middle of a girl-growing-up situation, but I figured if it mattered, she could video chat her on Facebook or something. She said her lecture was this evening, which meant I had plenty of time until then.
I needed to see my kid. I only had a few days before I had to oversee a few new crews in Waco. I was living out Darlene’s dream for us. Some dream that turned out to be. Now she was using it against me. It had only been about six months, but it felt like a lifetime.
I used to be so angry with Darlene for leaving me. It felt like she was the one who gave up on our family. She pinned that on me, saying it was because I hadn’t fought for our family. But what was I supposed to do? I couldn’t force her to be with me, and I wouldn’t have. But I didn’t fight for James, either. I regretted a lot when all was said and done, but I hoped she did, too.
“It’s all about James,” I reminded myself, thinking back to the man on the plane. Thinking back to the night before. In barely six months, I’d become an angry businessman, a screw-up divorcee, an absentee dad, and a playboy. I tried to remember everything I’d done in the past two days, sure that I’d forgotten something. It had to be related to my phone, but it didn’t feel right. Something was missing, I needed to do something, or I had something or left it. I needed to call Darlene, but I wasn’t entirely sure that the woman would send the number. Her name. Was that what I forgot? I also had to call Missy at the office to see what fires I might need to put out there … but she could handle most anything that came up.
Another text came in, this time saying something about a cafeteria and something else about what room she would be in by five. Jeez, this woman planned ahead. I could barely plan out the next several hours.
It was almost noon. I cursed under my breath and headed to my truck. It was a beat-up old Ford F150 I’d had since I was just starting my business. That woman said she had a meeting for an hour, but if she said anything after that, I didn’t hear it. She could wait an hour. I started the truck and tossed my phone into the passenger seat. Her phone. Even if all I had were a few minutes, I had to see James. It had been a month now, and I refused to be the no-show father.
“It’s all about James now,” I repeated, trying not to work myself up thinking about Darlene.
As I pulled away, I still felt the nagging feeling that I’d forgotten something, and it didn’t hit me until I reached the end of the road to turn toward the freeway.
I’d forgotten that damn dinosaur toy.
Chapter 5
