Page 81 of Love in Tandem
“And sometimes you just have to walk away because it never mattered all that much to you in the first place. Sure, I get it.”
“Sophia, c’mon.” Joshua started to reach for her when her phone began ringing next to the cooler in the truck bed. Before she could tell him to ignore it, he grabbed the phone and held it out to her. “It’s your dad again.”
She took a step back as if he were trying to hand her a snake. “I’ll call him back later.”
Joshua stared at her, concern etched in his eyes. “I feel like he’s been calling you a lot.”
“Well, in case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been kind of busy trying to save my sister’s future.” She jammed the tip of her shovel into the ground, not even sure why. Their little treasure hunt was over.
Her phone dinged with a text. “He sent you a message. Says it’s important. I really think you should call him.”
“Just set it back in the truck.” She shouldn’t have even brought it out here. “I’ll call him as soon as I finish.”
“Finish what? There’s no money, Sophia.”
“I know. You don’t have to keep telling me.” The phone started ringing again. With a groan, Sophia yanked her shovel out of the ground in search of a different spot. Somewhere further away from that evil phone.
“Hello?” she heard Joshua say.
Sophia whipped around. He did not just answer her phone.
“Hi, Mr. Carter, my name is Joshua. I’m a friend of Sophia’s.” Oh my word, he just answered her phone. “Yeah, she’s okay. She’s here with me now. Just a second.”
He held out the phone. Sophia backed away with her palms raised. He took a step closer. She backed away further. Joshua shot her a confused look, then pressed the phone back to his ear. “Um, sorry. She’s . . . No, she’s safe. I promise she’s okay.”
Joshua locked gazes with Sophia as he continued to explain to her father who he was and what he was doing with Sophia’s phone and why Sophia had been out of touch lately. Then he listened. For several minutes he listened, never taking his eyes off Sophia.
A trickle of sweat slid down her back. The sun beat on her hair. She should have worn a hat. Should have put on sunscreen. Should have left her phone locked up in a vault inside a bank.
Joshua’s eyes softened as he continued to listen, adding in the occasional “I see” and “I understand” to whatever her father was telling him. What was her father telling him?
“Yes, sir,” Joshua said, then cleared a huskiness out of his throat. “I’ll be sure to tell her. And I’m very sorry.”
No. Sophia didn’t want to hear whatever made Joshua sorry. Not when her heart was already pounding. Her hands shaking. Her vision blurring.
Joshua slid her phone into his back pocket. He opened his mouth to say something, but she didn’t need to hear what he had to say.
She already knew. Her parents were never having marital issues. They were never getting a divorce. No. No matter how hard she had tried to distract herself and not think, all along she had known.
Her mother was dying.
Charlotte couldn’t believe it. The finish line was within sight. Well, maybe not within sight. She couldn’t actually see anything other than some trees surrounding the rest area where they’d stopped to refill their water bottles.
But after biking nearly five hundred miles over the past week, less than ten miles felt within sight.
She arched her back with a giant stretch. First thing she planned to do once she made it home was get a massage. Her fingers snagged on her tangled hair. Okay, maybe a long bubble bath first, then a massage.
Birds twittered in the trees and a heavenly glow of sunlight filtered through the branches, making everything feel glorious. Because they had done it. Finished the race.
Okay, yes. That whole ten-mile issue. But aside from that, they had done it. Finished the race.
Charlotte glanced at the men’s restroom. Zach was sure taking his sweet time. He had to be as anxious to cross the finish line as she was. Though what he planned to do after they crossed, Charlotte had no idea. But she doubted his plans had anything to do with a massage or a bubble bath. And she was starting to doubt his plans had anything to do with her.
So far today, once he’d finished teasing her about that kiss, he’d hardly strung more than three sentences together, let alone spouted the L word again.
Granted, she hadn’t done a lot of talking either. Hard to carry on a conversation when you feel like a major league pitcher in the ninth inning of a no-hitter, not wanting to jinx it.
Because so far everything today had gone perfectly. The weather. The low traffic. Faye sneaking a card with fifty bucks into their bag as an “early wedding gift,” which allowed them to fill up on those pancakes Charlotte had been craving for breakfast. And now the fact they were only ten miles from the finish.
