Page 113 of Succeeding Love

My phone vibrated, and I got excited, almost wrecking, when I swerved to hurriedly answer it.

It was Preston. Not Lynn.

“Hello?” I tried to keep the disappointment out of my voice.

“Hey. Mom just told me she was taking dad back to his place. I guess they’re out of the hospital now.”

“Huh,” I fell back against the seat. “She called you?”

“Text,” Preston said carefully. “I’m guessing you didn’t hear from her yet.”

“No,” I murmured. At least I know her phone worked still. That unlikely possibility crossed my mind once or twice.

Preston was quiet for a few seconds, then said, “Well, she was at the pharmacy. She probably has to do a bunch of crap myworthless dad can’t do for himself. I wouldn’t worry too much. She’ll…. She’ll call when she can.”

“Thanks,” I muttered.

He was probably right. Lynn had her hands full, and she wasn’t the woman that multi-tasked easily. Plus, she was with her ex-husband. Calling me back while she was with him might be uncomfortable. Especially after what happened last night.

“You okay?” Preston asked hesitantly.

“Yeah. Just missing your mom, kid. Nothing I can do about it at the moment.” There were other ways to help her, though. Lighten her burden for when she gets back. “Hey, I’m going to run and get food and stuff, so your mom has less to worry about later. What will you and your sister eat?”

“Anything but pizza,” Preston said dryly. “That’s all we eat at Dad’s on the weekends.”

I huffed in humor. “You got it. If you can think of anything else you kids or your mom might need, let me know. I’m heading to the store now.”

Pulling into the grocery store parking lot, I allowed myself to open the chat between me and Lynn. Sure enough, there was a read receipt under my last text, but no response. I understand not being able to call me, but why couldn’t she at least send a text?

I was distracted in the store, checking my phone every few minutes. I ended up with a cart full of junk food, plus whatever random shit looked good. I didn’t really have a game plan for meals. I was just tossing stuff in as I distractedly walked up and down every aisle.

Premade skewers and stuffed jalapenos ended up in the cart, so I grabbed a couple of steaks. Grilling was easy enough. I could manage that.

After grabbing a bunch of other pomade meals, avoiding the pizzas in the deli, I headed to check out.

I spent an hour in the store, most of that spent staring at my phone, willing it to ring. It never did. Never dinged with a text. Nothing. Surely Lynn was done with her ex by now. Why the hell didn’t she reach out to me yet?

Maybe she was still mad about last night. My gut twisted, thinking more and more about how much of an ass I was to her.

The flowers were sitting in my passenger seat, but looking at them now, they didn’t seem like enough. The rich blues and reds in the petals were pretty and all, but Lynn wasn’t the woman that could be bought with pretty flowers.

Food. The answer to Lynn was something sweet.

I figured the groceries would stay good long enough for me to make one more stop. There was a shop that sold chocolate-dipped fruits arranged in bouquets close to home. I think they sold other shit like smoothies and cookies, too. I knew Lynn would go nuts over a bouquet made of actual food.

“Welcome,” the saleswoman greeted me as I walked in.

She showed me everything she had ready to take home, ranging from small bundles of chocolate-covered strawberries to massive arrangements of several fruits. Before I could settle on one, my phone buzzed in my hand and I eagerly went to answer it.

“Excuse me,” I murmured to the woman, feeling disappointed again seeing Preston and not his mother on my caller ID. “Hey. I’m finishing up shopping and I’ll be there in-”

“I’d come home now,” he interrupted me, his voice sounding cold.

“Why?” My blood ran cold at his tone.

He was quiet for a long time, and then asked, “Do you know a woman named Mindy?”

~

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