Page 57 of Ever With Me

The two bottles were easy enough to shove into the recycling bin as he cleaned up while Cormac and Audrey ate.

And like with the first beer, he felt remarkably calmer after the second one.

Who cares if it’s now almost two hours and Maddie hasn’t shown up?

He fired off a text, though.

Brooks:Guess that whole “whenever I want” part of the deal wasn’t clear to you.

His eyes narrowed as the message status went toRead.

Still no reply.

What the hell, Maddie?

Audrey came up to him, holding a piece of paper with scribbles on it. “Ahplane wide! Hit this button.” She pointed at one squiggle.

Brooks tore his focus from the phone and gave her a half-hearted smile. “What does the button do?”

“Pweess it.”

He pushed the squiggle, and she grabbed his hand, then dragged him over to the couch. She repeated the same process with Cormac, then climbed onto the coffee table in front of them. She sat with her back to them, holding the paper like a steering wheel. “Hew we go! Hold on!”

Brooks struggled to concentrate as Audrey continued chatting happily, instead pulling out his phone to check the text messages.

“Oh no, did you hear, Uncle Brooks? We’re going to crash into a tunnel.” Cormac shoved him.

Brooks snapped his attention back to the game, catching on. “Oh.” He covered his head. “Oh no!”

“Don’t wowy. We go ova it.” Audrey tossed him back a grin.

Focus, Brooks.He couldn’t be wasting his time wondering if a woman was going to text him back like a teenager.

Throwing himself fully into the game, Brooks played airplane enthusiastically with Audrey for the next twenty minutes, then scooped her into his arms. “All right, kiddo. I think Cormac has earned a break. Let’s go get ready for bed, shall we?”

Thank goodness four-year-olds had early bedtimes.

And that he had a friend as patient with his niece as Cormac had been. He really was the closest thing he had to a brother.

By the time Audrey was asleep and Brooks emerged from the bedroom, the slight buzz from the earlier beers had worn off, though, leaving agitation and anxiety in its place.

He found Cormac in the game room, racking the pool balls into the triangle.

“Thanks for your help tonight,” Brooks said.

“No problem. You expecting company tonight?” Cormac asked with a smirk as he lined up a shot on the pool table.

“No. Why?” Brooks tried to appear as casual as possible as he answered.

“You’ve looked at the clock about fifty times.” Cormac gave him a knowing look.

Had he?

Probably.

Then again, it was well past seven, and it was clear: Maddie wasn’t coming today.

Maybe something had come up.

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