Page 42 of Recipes for Life

I could hear her distress through the line.

“Are you rich enough yet to buy a private jet?” I joked. I felt even more relief flood through me at the sound of her laugh, knowing her anxiety was dissipating as much as it could.

“Not yet… Does make me wonder about a job without needing to travel, though.”

I gasped. As far as I knew, Wynn loved her job.

“Don’t sound so shocked, sis…”

“All because you have to get on a measly plane a few times a year?”

She scoffed. “Try a few times a month!” she whisper-shouted at me, knowing that she didn’t want to get in trouble with a flight attendant.

“Are you at work yet?” she asked me, effectively changing the subject.

“No, I’m actually about to merge onto HWY 80 here in a few seconds, and I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”

“Good.” She started talking about the contract with some famous band she was being sent out to try to fix, letting me know that she thought this band was significantly not worth the hassle they were bringing in. I could hear the frustration in her voice.

Before I could respond, I heard glass breaking. A quick look to my right had me briefly noticing that the passenger air bag wasdeploying, and I heard screaming from somewhere in the car, not realizing it was coming from me. Then I felt the impact of my airbag deploying.

My thoughts faded into nothing as darkness overtook me.

Chapter 28

Murphy

It was Saturday, one of my favorite days whenever I had Lux. We would visit my parents, have dinner, maybe a bonfire with s’mores and movies. I was having a hard time pretending that I was okay.For some reason,it almost felt like I was losing Odette all over again. She’d finally let me in the smallest amount, and I knew my truths would ruin that.

I ran my hand through my hair, and I watched my dad push my daughter on the swing while she giggled uncontrollably. Part of my heart was trying it’s best not to panic at the height, but I also knew that my dad did this with her all the time, and that helped ease some of my anxiety.

A hand came into view, holding a glass of lemonade. “Lemonade for your thoughts?” my mom asked.

“Ha ha. Very funny.” I took the glass from her and managed to take a small sip, giving her a smile in appreciation.

She gave me a look, letting me know she was serious about wanting to know my thoughts.

“Honestly, I’m thinking that Dad is pushing Lux too high…”

She laughed. “I used to think the same thing with you boys, always had to excuse myself to go do some gardening or something.” She shook her head at reliving her own memories, and I couldn’t help but smile, it felt like the first one indays.

“There it is.” She nudged me. She must have been thinking the same thing.

I heard my phone ring from somewhere inside, but since it wasn’t the ringtone I had for Odette, I didn’t really care who it was. Voicemail was a beautiful thing; it was probably a new client inquiring about some kind of piece. After a few seconds, the ringing stopped.

“Not going to get that?” Mom inquired.

“No, I’m currently making sure my daughter doesn’t fly to the moon…”

The ringing started again, and I looked over to the house in mild confusion, only for it to keep ringing. I felt the start of building dread, so I got up and quickly made my way to find my phone. Letting the ringing guide me, I found it sitting on the top of the kitchen island counter. Reaching for it, I saw the caller ID.

Wynn.

Three missed calls.Wynn.

I think my heart stopped beating, and my phone buzzing again shocked me out of my stupor. “Wynn?”

Even though she wasn’t speaking to me, I heard her screaming through the line.

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