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Fucking hell.
“Is there a particular question involved in that?”
“Are you coming home for it or should I tell your mother that you’re going to abandon her for that, too? We were planning on going to the house in Crown Point. You’re more than welcome to come.”
“Maybe,” I hedge. Never mind that the holiday is literally months away, I haven’t told them anything about Melody. And judging from his lack of questions in that direction, neither has Vicky.
Small blessings.
“Anything else?” I wince at the sharpness of my tone.
“No. Call your mother.”
“Yes, sir.” I hang up and toss my phone down, groaning and dropping my head in my hands. I’d be better off smashing my forehead off my desk. After a moment of recollection, I dial my mother.
She’s a general practitioner at the local hospital, which means she keeps pretty normal hours—for the most part. Seeing as how it’s the middle of the day, I might get her voicemail. Hoping for it, at any rate.
It isn’t that I don’t want to talk to her. I do. I just… I don’t want to answer questions.
“Hey, honey. I was just thinking about you.”
I stifle my eye roll. “Yeah? My ears must’ve been burning. Are you busy? We can chat later…”
“No, I was just about to go on my lunch break.”
There’s chatter behind her, then a burst of laughter that quickly fades.
“Today’s been a strange day. Everyone is on edge—it’s a full moon tonight, and goodness knows that people are superstitious—and then I had a few new patients that asked if I was related to you! I’ll never get used to that.”
“Rhodes is a common last name.” I sigh. “Sorry if that causes any issues.”
“It doesn’t. I kind of like it. My baby boy, the famous hockey player. All the ladies in the office swoon over you, you know. Janice has a poster with your face on it in her cubicle.”
“Mom.”
“What? It’s true. She wanted me to get her tickets to the playoffs. I told her she should be nicer to my assistants, and I’d consider it.” She sniffs. “Anyway, enough about her. You’re coming into town tomorrow? Or is it the day after?”
“The day after. I think I’m going to stay an extra night, though. See my friends, relax before jumping onto a plane again.”
And show Melody the college she attended, then taught at. She said she’d already toured the campus, but she didn’t really experience it in the way she should’ve. I drive through Crown Point sometimes and hardly feel the same connection I had with the town when I went to school there.
It’s just different.
“Oh,” I add, “I invited Vicky and Richard to dinner in the city tomorrow night, and I was wondering if you’d like to come as well?”
It kind of pains me to ask. And Melody thinks she’s not going to New York with me, which is just wrong. She said she wasn’t going, then she called me Jake. And damn it, it evoked memories I wasn’t ready to replay. Of telling her to call me Jake when we first met. Wantingsomeoneto call me that, since no one else does.
“That sounds wonderful.” Mom’s voice is lighter. She’s smiling, I’d bet money on it. She smiles a lot. It’s easy to draw it out of her. Just a small kindness, some thoughtfulness, and she’s happy. “Send me the details, would you? Oh, I haven’t caught up with Vicky in a few months. How fun!”
“And Amy? How is she?”
Younger sister.Veryyoung, younger sister. We never really clicked, as far as friendship between siblings went. By the time she turned eight, I was leaving for college. After that, I was rarely home. So she’s grown up the past six years basically as an only child.
“She was asking if you’d be home for her birthday.”
I suppress my sigh. “In July?”
“July third, just before the holiday. Your father and I were thinking of taking a trip up to Crown Point, stay at the house there for a little while.”
