Page 124 of Well Played

I wagged my finger at him. “Don’t wander off.”

He rolled his eyes. “Yes, Mom.”

Once I was alone in the ladies’ room, I took a deep breath and opened the text chain.

Tanner: WHORE

Oh God. My heart started to race as I scrolled down to read the rest of them.

Tanner: How could you?

Tanner: My brother?

Tanner: My fucking brother?

Tanner: Where the hell are you?

Tanner: Were you that desperate to get laid?

Tanner: He’s using you, you know.

Tanner: He’s always wanted anything I had. It’s all a game to him.

Tears welled in my eyes.

Tanner: I hope you aren’t fooling yourself thinking you were anything special. He’s got a girl in every city.

The texts went on and on. They seemed to jump back and forth between angry and sad. Some were both:

Tanner: I’ve loved you since the eighth grade. How THE FUCK can you do this to us?

But the last text freaked me out the most.

Tanner: I’m coming to find you.

Tears streamed down my face. God, how did he even find out? And what the heck do I do now? I wanted to curl into a ball, but my son was waiting outside alone. So I splashed some water on my face in an attempt to compose myself so I wouldn’t worry Alex. But I was so rattled that even the sound of my own phone ringing scared the crap out of me. I jumped and bobbled it in my hands. I couldn’t get a good grip on the damn thing. It wound up smacking against the side of the sink before hitting the floor with a loud clank.

Shit.

When I bent and picked it up, the screen had shattered. Worse, it would no longer turn on. I sighed. While I was upset, maybe a broken phone was the best thing for me right now. My eight-year-old son was standing outside, and I needed to get us home without falling apart. So I took a few deep breaths, smoothed down my blouse, and went back out into the airport.

Luckily, Alex was too busy playing a game on his iPad to even notice my red nose. “Come on, honey. Let’s go home.”

***

Hours later, I was back at The Palm Inn and unpacked, but still very much on edge. I’d used the house phone to call Levi and Shelby, but both went straight to voicemail. They were probably together at Jim’s jersey-retirement ceremony, where I hoped Tanner was, too. But his last text kept playing over and over in my head.I’m coming to find you.Every time a guest walked in or out, I practically jumped through my skin. I kept expecting it to be Tanner.

When Alex asked if he could go over to a friend’s, I was relieved to get him somewhere else. It was a nice day, and Kyle only lived a few blocks away, so I decided to walk him over. I hoped maybe some fresh air and a little exercise would do me good. On the way back, I took a detour and walked through a local park, dreading the thought of what might be waiting for me at home. Tanner had left his car at the airport, so if he was back, that would be my warning sign. I held my breath as I turned the last corner, not breathing until I checked out every car parked on the block. Thankfully, his wasn’t there.

Once I arrived back at the house, I didn’t feel like going inside. We had a full inn again this weekend, and people were milling around. So I sat down on the porch swing to figure out how I would handle things once Tanner inevitably showed up.

I didn’t find any answers, but eventually my thoughts were interrupted when a couple walked out of the house.

They noticed me and stopped. “Oh, hi. Would you be able to tell us how to get to Coyle’s Ice Cream Parlor?”

I smiled half-heartedly and pointed down the block. “Sure. You take a left at the corner, go about two blocks, and then make a right on Main Street. You can’t miss it.”

“Great, thank you.”

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