Page 139 of Bump and Run

“Back off. He’s already taken,” I say into the phone, watching as Junior pays his driver and grabs his suitcase off the ground.

“Well… bed him well. He’s earned it. Meanwhile, I’ll be over here in the city, drinking Chardonnay alone, and crying over Louise’s headshot.”

“Bye, Grant,” I grin.

“Bye, Eliza.”

I lower the phone as my husband climbs the porch in front of me. He pauses a few feet away and drops his suitcase, never once glancing away from my face.

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

“I caught an earlier flight to surprise you,”

I throw myself at him and he opens his arms, instantly embracing me and laughing in my ear.

“I guess that’s okay?”

“It’s more than okay,” I say, my voice muffled against his chest. I feel the tears threatening to take over already but I manage to defeat the hormones before they spill over. “Come on. It’s freezing out here.”

Junior grabs his suitcase and I brush the snow off his coat as we step inside.

“Okay…” He kicks the door closed and motions for me to twirl. “Let me look at you.”

I sigh and spin in a slow, meager circle.

“My god…”

“What?”

“You’re huge.”

“Excuse me…”My jaw drops. “This is all your fault.”

“I’ve been gone two weeks. Not two months.”

“Welcome to the ninth month, Junior,” I say. “I don’t know if you remember it from last time, but it sucks.”

“Oh, it’s all coming back to me now,” he chuckles. “Soon it’ll be Lamaze practice drills and midnight runs for strawberry ice cream and curly fries.”

I raise a brow. “Are you complaining?”

“No.”

“Then shut the fuck up.”

He laughs and tosses his coat onto the rack by the door. “Who were you talking to on the phone so late?”

“Grant,” I answer, walking back into the living room.

“What’s he up to?”

I ease onto the sofa and try to reach for the blanket on the floor. Junior bends down and grabs it for me. “His off-Broadway directorial debut goes live next week…” I sneer, “with my understudy.”

Junior lays the blanket over me before sitting down beside me. “You’ll be back up there before you know it, Ellie,” he says. “Just focus on this right now.”

I take a deep, slow breath. “I know. I’m fine. I worry about Grant, though. I’m out for the whole season and Ty is never home.”

“Well…” Junior smirks. “I don’t want to spoil anything, but… Ty and I shared a flight back.”

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