Page 48 of Finding Out

I stopped my stupid spinning. What the fuck did that mean? I ran a hand over my face and blew out a breath. “Baby girl, I’m trying not to freak out, so please explain to me what’s going on.”

“I thought you might remember, but…” She exhaled loudly. “During certain times of the month, I don’t feel great.”

Like a sledgehammer, the memories hit me. In so many ways, my Wren wasn’t the teenager I’d watched grow up. This Wren and past Wren existed in my mind as two different people, but now that she’dforced the idea into my brain, I did remember. She’d stayed with Avery and me on occasion when her parents traveled, and there had been a day where she wouldn’t get out of bed. By the way she moaned and curled in a ball, I’d thought she had appendicitis.

My uninformed male brain had panicked, and I’d been ready to call a doctor, but Avery assured me it was her period. Endometriosis. Every month, Wren spent at least one day in bed. My daughter, who never experienced even minimal cramps, felt awful for her best friend. We’d done many ice cream runs.

“What do you need?” Fuck, I felt helpless. If I remembered correctly, there wasn’t much I could do for her.

“I’m just going to lay here and be miserable. I’ll be fine by tomorrow night. I promise.” She took a breath, and I swore I felt her pain through the phone. After another heartbeat, she added, “Merry Christmas. Have fun.”

My gut churned. Yeah, that wasn’t likely.

“I’ll check on you later,” I promised.

“Okay, bye.”

After she’d disconnected the call, I stared at my reflection. Dammit. I couldn’t stay here. Wren was miserable, and yet she expected me to have fun? Teeth gritted, I scrolled to another contact.

After two rings, he picked up.

“Merry Christmas, bro!” Leo cheered.

“Listen carefully,” I hissed.

“Dude?” His tone was much more subdued now.

“Listen,” I repeated. “I need you to call me back in ten minutes and claim there’s an emergency. I don’t care what it is, just get me out of the Jacobses house. And Brenna better be on board with the plan in case Heath or Colleen mention it.”

“Uh—”

“Leo,” I said, tone dark. “I’ve saved your ass more times than I can count. You’re my best friend. The guy who’s supposed to help me bury the body. So this is it.Help me.”

He cleared his throat. “Cool. I’ll call in ten. In the meantime, I’ll explain to my wife that we’re gonna lie for you because you’ve lost your mind.”

Blowing out a breath, I straightened. “Thanks for not asking.”

He scoffed. “Bro, I don’t want to know the answers to any of the questions.” With that, the line went dead.

Pocketing my phone, I slipped out of the bathroom, ready to say Merry Christmas to my daughter and then bail.

I ignored the buzzing,unable to drag myself out from under the blankets. It felt like I’d been run over by a truck, and clearly, a wrecking ball was doing a number on my lower back and uterus.

Most women hated this time of the month, but for me, it was absolute hell. While most could stand and move around the day aunt flo arrived, often, I couldn’t. And today was one of those days. I’d taken multiple medications and even had a few procedures, and still, I was miserable too often. Even the Depo shot, which the doctor ensured me would help, didn’t seem to do much.

The doorbell buzzed again. Dammit. All I wanted was to lie on a heating pad and suffer in peace. But it was probably some poor Door Dasher with food Avery had ordered trying to cheer me up. Hopefully it was ice cream. Though were any ice cream shops open today? I wasn’t even sure my regular grocery store was. If Chris’s dad hadn’t been at my parents’ house with them, my bestie would have left to come here. But she couldn’t leave her future father-in-law, so the unfortunate person at my door had been lured out to do her bidding. The least I could do was answer.

Holding my breath, I stood. Then I shuffled across the apartment. I braced myself on the door I’d pulled open a few inches, wincing at the shock of pain tearing through my abdomen.

“Baby girl.”

The sound of his voice snapped me out of my misery.Tom?He stood in the hall, holding a blue cup dotted with snow in one hand and a large box at his side.

“Is that a peanut butter cup Blizzard?” I shouldn’t be surprised that he’d once again plucked my favorite thing out of my brain.

He tipped the cup so I could see the red spoon sticking out of the ice cream mixed with peanut butter cups.

“I can’t believe they were open on Christmas.” Pushing the door open farther, I stepped back to let him in. As he passed, I took the cup and shoved a spoonful into my mouth. Instantly, the cool cream chilled my insides and soothed me.

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