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Immediately, Orlando’s blood started to boil.
“And? How much did he ask for?”
“Nothing,” she said firmly. “He wanted to apologize for the money that he’d taken in the past, that went over the amount he’d given me, and tell me that he was going to pay me back when he could. I told him that wasn’t necessary, but he seems insistent, so we’ll see.”
Flexing his hand, Orlando stared out the window of the airport, not really seeing any of the plans or the workers.
“Uh huh. Well, I’ll believe that when I see it. He left me a message, saying he wants to spend time with me now that I’m all grown up.” There was another long pause and he scowled. “Don’t tell me you think I should do it.”
“It doesn’t matter what I think honey because it’s your life and your decision. I also really don’t know if you should do it or not. You don’t owe him anything, not the way I did. He did the bare minimum for you as a child, but he gave me more than he had to when I needed it.” She sighed. “I shouldn’t have leaned on you so much when he came looking for money —“
“No, you should have. I’m glad you did,” Orlando said fiercely. He turned away from a woman who seemed a little too interested in everything he was saying, lowering his voice as he did so. This wasn’t a conversation he should be having in a public space if he didn’t want people to be able to hear, but she didn’t have to be so obvious about it either. She could at least pretend to be playing on her phone or reading a book or something. “I don’t want you to feel bad about that at all.”
“Well, what you want and what I can make happen aren’t always the same thing, Orlando Romeo,” his mom said, amusement tinging her voice. She’d said that to him a lot growing up too. He chuckled at the reminder.
“Yeah, well. Try.” As he spoke, the loudspeaker overhead crackled and he looked over to see the attendant behind the desk starting to speak into the handheld. “I think they’re going to start boarding now, I’ve gotta go.”
“Text me when you land!”
“Of course, mom. Love you, bye.”
“Love you, sweetheart, have a good flight.”
Text Juliet, text his mom, and definitely not text his biodad. Sighing, Orlando slid his phone into his pocket, already feeling a little sad about leaving. Normally he loved traveling and going from place to place, but damn, he was going to miss Juliet.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
JULIET
“Ihate Orlando’s job,” Juliet announced, scowling as she stomped into the kitchen sulkily. A few days had turned into a week and then a week and a half and now…
Which was bullshit.
“Another delay?” Brooke asked sympathetically, looking up from where she was eating dinner and scrolling through her phone.
“Yes. Now he’s not coming home till Christmas Eve.” Pouting, Juliet scowled as she stomped over to the fridge to find some leftovers to eat.
“Sorry, hun. Does that mean you’re going to be alone once I leave?” Brooke looked up at her sympathetically.
“No, I think I’ll just go to my mom’s for a few days, get in some extra family time before the holiday. That’ll make her happy.” Sighing, Juliet pulled out some containers, peeking inside to make sure none of them had turned into science experiments. “It would make me happy too if I wasn’t horny and missing Orlando.”
“Valid. At least you know you have reliable sex in your future.” Brooke winked at her.
“Is it reliable if his return date keeps getting pushed back?” Juliet made a face and shook her head. “Sorry, I know I’m being a downer. I’m definitely disappointed. And maybe a little mad. I know he’s not doing it on purpose but…”
“But it’s making you feel a little bit like the last time he didn’t show up. That’s understandable. He is calling every night though, right?”
“Yeah.” At nine o’clock on the dot, and clearly missed her just as much as she missed him. Which helped. It also made her even grumpier because she knew her feelings about him not being able to come back to California yet weren’t deserved, and yet she couldn’t entirely shake them.
This wasn’t the same. He wasn’t choosing to be away. He wasn’t choosing not to come home. And he was doing everything he could to show that he was thinking of her, that she mattered, and that he wasn’t abandoning her again. She needed to get over the unease that kept popping up and trying to convince her otherwise.
“It’ll be fine, hun.” Brooke’s tone was sympathetic but firm. “If anything, this will probably make you feel better the next time he has to go out of town.”
Juliet paused a moment to think about it.
“That’s true.”
“By the way, I tried to call someone about the broken showerhead but so far everyone’s booked up for like two weeks. I think a lot of people are taking time off for the holidays so they have less workers available, and it’s not like a broken showerhead is an emergency when we still have one working shower.”
