Page 28 of Eden's Dom

Eden smiled. “You’re being silly. Now, where’s your sister?”

“She had class, but she’s calling me every ten minutes.”

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t think it was a big deal. I hate that you guys wasted so much time.”

There was a pause. “Honey?” Eden thought they got disconnected.

“I’m here,” Madison said.

Eden knew that tone of voice. Her daughter was upset. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m just sad that you don’t realize how much or how many people care about you.”

Eden’s eyes filled with tears. “I … I know, Honey.”

“I have to remind myself that you’ve always been the caretaker and have never had someone take care of you when you needed it.”

Eden didn’t know what to say. “I’m sorry.”

“No, Mom. I’m sorry.”

“Good heavens, why?”

“Because you thought you couldn’t call us to come and take care of you.”

“That thought never entered my mind. I knew you were there. You’ve always been there, and I know you girls would drop everything to come to me. But I seriously am doing fine, and I know I wasn’t in danger, so I didn’t want you to leave school to come here.”

She waited for a moment. “Do you understand, Honey?”

“I do. You just scared us. Scared everyone. Cain was going to go to the police to fill out a missing person’s report.”

Oh, for God’s sake.

“Mom, you need to call him,” Madison said. “It sounds like he cares for you a lot.”

“I’ll get in touch with him. How about I call you guys when they let me fly?”

“Okay. We’ll come and get you. Don’t be surprised if Chloe calls you crying.”

Jesus. She was ashamed of herself for scaring so many people. “I’ll have the phone charged and by my side.”

“Do you think it will be tomorrow?”

“No, my head is really congested, and I know it would be painful to fly like that. It will be soon. I promise.”

“You better, young lady,” Madison said in a deep voice.

Eden chuckled. “When did you become the parent?”

Madison giggled. “I think I’ll make a great parent, but I’ll practice on you first.”

Eden rolled her eyes. “We’ll see about that. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Mom. See you soon.”

“Absolutely.”

Eden set her phone aside. She debated calling Cain right then, but she was getting tired and couldn’t keep her eyes open.

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