Page 62 of Tech Prince Troubles
Why did I miss him as if I wasn’t seeing him tonight? Instead of enjoying our time together, all I could think of was that he was going home.
“Coffee!”
I shook myself out of my thoughts. “Sorry, bean. What was that?”
“I dreamed that Gandalf made the clouds rain coffee, but I didn’t like it, so a unicorn came and made it rain cotton candy lemonade.” She rubbed a hand across her belly. “It wassooooo good.”
“Sounds yummy. Does that mean you don’t need toast?”
Ella climbed into a chair. “It wasn’t real lemonade. It was a dream.”
Fair enough. I made her toast with cinnamon sugar and poured her a glass of milk.
Ella wriggled sideways to look into the garden. “Where is everybody?”
“Julian and Alex are cycling, and Quinn and Charlie are reading in the garden.”
“Can I take my toast outside?”
Nice try. I raised my eyebrow. “You can join them when you’re done.”
Ella pouted but finished her breakfast without further complaint. She even put her plate on the counter when she was done and had time for a cuddle—a very short one—before she ran out. Which left me alone in the kitchen with my thoughts again—the last place I wanted to be.
I sighed and dragged myself through the daily chores—washing the kids’ clothes, folding mine, sweeping the kitchen, and handing out snacks. Nothing distracted me long enough to keep my mind off Adri. Not even giving my bedroom a good clean—again. My bedroom still smelled of Adri. Or maybe that was just me.
Today wasn’t my day, it seemed. As if burning toast hadn’t been enough, I dropped a plate as I set the table for lunch, walked into an open drawer—twice—and knocked my elbow into the doorknob, causing me to drop the laundry all over the kitchen floor…
Shit. Was that a crack? I dropped to my knees and pushed everything back into the basket.
“Whoa.” Tammy joined me on the floor. “You okay?”
“Apparently not,” I muttered without looking up. “What are you doing here?”
“I tried calling you, but you’re not picking up. Did you forget to charge your phone?”
My… Oh. Fuck no. I felt around in the laundry… and there it was. My phone. In my pants. I hung my head as I fished it out—cracks in the shell and drops clinging to it.
“Yeah. That explains why you didn’t answer. It also explains why Bethany called me.”
“She what? From work?” I stared at my phone, but no matter what button I pressed, it refused to turn on. That was going to cost me at least two rounds of sweets and a bunch of I-told-you-sos. Great. “Is it too late to ask you not to tell Julian?”
Tammy snorted. “Like he’s not going to find out,” she said, gesturing to the box of rice on the counter.
My box of shame. “Yeah.”
“Anyway, Bethany asked if I could take the kids out for some fun.”
“On my day off? Why?”
She pointed at my phone. “Because you’ve been moping.” She held up a hand to stop my protest. “You burned toast, Sam. You’ve never burned toast. Not even after we separated.”
I closed my mouth. I hated that she was right. But that didn’t mean I was moping. “I’m just… distracted.”
“Exactly. So. Scoot. Skedaddle. Scram. Go see Adri.”
“No. I… it’s my day off. The kids. I can’t just?—”
“You can. I’m taking the kids. There’s supposed to be a matinee at the theater. So. Go.”
