Page 29 of The Home Game

The storm that broke about an hour after Matty left made Eli and River a little fretful and clingy, remembering the way their parents had died.

While dinner cooked and Antoni had used his laptop to house hunt, he let River crawl up into his lap and snuggle close, her little body practically vibrating with fear.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Antoni murmured as he scrolled past another house that was no bigger than this one but several hundred thousand dollars out of his budget. “It’s okay, River.”

But he felt like he was lying to her. He wasn’t sure it would be.

Still, he cuddled her close and rocked her, hoping that it would be enough.

“Do you think Matty is okay? And what about Aunt Eliza and Uncle Enzo?” Eli asked with a frown as they took their seat at the too-small kitchen table for dinner.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t they be okay?” Antoni asked, trying to cut up food for River and soothe Reese, who had picked up on the tension and was fussing in his highchair.

“Cause of the storm. And Matty’s friend was driving crazy. What if they crash?”

“Oh, no, Eli,” Antoni said. “I’m sure everyone is fine. Matty’s friend probably just hit the accelerator too hard. I bet all of them got home before it started raining anyway.”

It was currently pelting down, thunder occasionally rattling the windows and making the house shake.

“You should text them,” Eli insisted, pushing their food around their plate listlessly. “Make sure they’re okay.”

“Uhh, I will.” Antoni finally got River’s food cut and he pushed the plate toward her. Reese was fussing louder, ignoring the rice cereal that the pediatrician had recommended he start trying.

Antoni shoved a bite of chicken in his mouth and glanced across the table to see Eli staring expectantly.

“What?” Antoni asked after he’d finished chewing. “I’ll do it later.”

“But I’m worried about Aunt Eliza and Uncle Enzo … and Matty. I like him. He was nice. What if he needs our help? He helped us today.” Eli’s eyes were big and worried and Antoni tried not to sigh too loudly.

“You want me to text him now?” Antoni asked helplessly. “We’re eating.”

“I’m not hungry,” Eli said glumly.

“Okay, okay,” Antoni said, pulling his phone out. Whatever, he was used to eating cold food at this point and Eli wasn’t usually insistent like this. “I’ll text.”

“I thought we weren’t supposed to have our phones at the table,” Alexis said in a snotty tone.

“We’re not,” Antoni said as he tried to figure out what the hell to say to Matty. “But I’m just texting a friend.”

“Yeah, well you don’t let me do that,” she said, crossing her arms.

“This is a little bit different,” Antoni pointed out, typing and erasing something. No that sounded weird.

“I don’t see why.”

Antoni bit back the urge to yell that he was only doing it because Eli was somehow turning the fear of the storm and the loss of their parents into a fear for Matty but it wasn’t like Alexis wanted to listen to his explanations anyway.

Antoni sent the text to Matty and on to his parents, then looked up at Alexis. “Sometimes there are exceptions for adults.”

“It’s bullshit,” she said.

“Language,” Antoni warned, although he certainly slipped up enough that she couldn’t look count on him to be a role model.

His phone buzzed but just as he reached for it, Reese smacked his hands down on the highchair, scattering rice cereal in every direction.

Antoni bit his tongue until it hurt to keep from swearing.

“Is Matty okay? And what about Aunt Eliza and Uncle Enzo?” Eli asked, getting out of their chair, and crunching across the cereal just as Alexis said, “Can I go to my room? You know I don’t eat chicken. It’s gross.”

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