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“Yeah?”
“It’s not a big deal, okay? You’ll be home day after tomorrow.”
Jeez, his kid slayed him. “It’s just two days too many.”
“Yeah, here’s Luke.”
“Hey, Daddy. Where are you?”
Luke was nine, and still had a little boy’s voice. At twelve, Jake’s voice was starting to change. Sometimes he sounded like a little boy and sometimes he sounded like a man. And then at other times he sounded like a screeching prehistoric bird. God, he missed his kids.
“I’m in Las Vegas, buddy, and next year when I come to play this show, I’ll bring you and your brother. You’d love this place. There are wave pools, a lazy river, all kinds of slides, and other stuff. There’s even a beach.”
Silence.
“Luke, are you there?”
“Yeah. I’m here. I miss you, Daddy.”
“I miss you, too. I’ll be home in a couple days.”
“Okay. Bye.” Click.
That was quick, but at least he talked to them for a few minutes.
He opened the camera app on his phone. He’d take a few shots, text them to the boys, and post a couple on social media sites. Tomorrow’s show wasn’t sold out, and he wanted it to be.
He turned in a circle, taking pictures. He was able to fit most of the poolside marquee announcing the show into one.
The band had a cabana reserved, and he wasn’t the first one there. He grabbed a towel and threw it on one of the lounge chairs, tossed his phone on the table, and reached around to pull his shirt over his head. A couple hours by the pool wouldn’t hurt. He didn’t remember the last time he had nothing to do. Forced rest, he’d take it.
Ben sat back down and picked up his phone, scrolling through the photos he’d taken. He texted several to Jake, and then scrolled back through, trying to decide which ones to post and which to delete.
Wait. He went back to the previous image, using two fingers on the screen to zoom in closer. There was a woman in the background who looked familiar. Who was she? He studied it, but it was too out of focus. He stood and looked around him, and then looked at the photo again, trying to figure out where she’d be sitting, based on other landmarks.
He wandered out of the cabana area, searching. Her familiarity tugged at him. He needed to find her.
Ben walked by the lazy river and waited as people floated by. He stood there until the same people floated by him, again and again. He turned to leave, and bumped into an inner tube.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, I can’t see where I’m going.” A tiny voice giggled from behind the giant pink tube. Ben lifted it out of the woman’s hands and came face to face with her—Liv. Even with as out of focus as the photo was, he somehow knew it was her. This was the third time in a year fate put her in his path. This time, he wouldn’t let her go.
Liv gasped, and then got very dizzy. He set the inner tube down and put his hands on her shoulders.
“Liv, are you okay?”
She gazed into his big, blue eyes and couldn’t decide whether she would die, right there on the spot, or if she’d never been as okay as she was at that moment.
“Hell-o? Liv? Anybody home?”
That was a different voice. Oh, that was Paige’s voice. Those were Paige’s hands waving in front of her face.
“What? Yes, I’m okay. I’m so sorry, I couldn’t see where I was going.” Liv turned to pick up the inner tube.
“Oh, no, you don’t. You’re not getting away this time.” Ben picked up the tube and held it far enough away that she couldn’t reach it. He was a foot taller than she was, so he didn’t have to hold it very high.
“Liv, it’s me, Ben.”
“Hi, Ben. How are you?”
