Page 64 of The Do-Over

“Do you know where he’s staying?”

But in the next moment, it didn’t matter anymore, because the landline rang. Jenna and Billy both dove for it, with Billy reaching it first. He handed it to Jenna because she looked like she might tear him apart if he didn’t.

“Mom?”

Zack’s voice was loud enough so he could hear it too. He nearly dropped to his knees with relief.

“Zack! Where are you? Is Bean with you?”

“Yes, we’re all here. Aunt Annika got sick and she told us to call this friend and he came with a helicopter and picked us up. The snow was blowing everywhere. It was so fun! Bean was pretty scared.”

Jenna’s gaze clung to Billy’s as they listened together. He realized that his arm was tight around her shoulders, and that she wasn’t shrugging him off.

“Honey, where are you? We’ll come get you right away.”

“You can’t. The roads aren’t plowed over here.”

“We’ll take a boat.” Billy nodded, and beckoned to Galen.

“We need a boat, can you ask Thomas if we can use his?” he murmured to his brother.

Galen shook his head. “Thomas hauled out his boat for repairs. I have some canoes…but that’s not a fun ride in this weather.”

No, he wasn’t going to subject the boys to that.

Galen’s phone rang, and he stepped aside to answer it, then went back outside.

“What about the helicopter?” Jenna asked. “Can they bring you back here in the helicopter?”

“It’s not here. He took Aunt Annika to Minneapolis.”

“Oh my God, this just gets…” Billy felt Jenna’s hand dig into his forearm like a claw. “Are you alone? They left you alone?”

“Of course not! Tyler is here, he’s really cool, and also there’s a cook, and a nanny. She’s been taking care of us. There’s so much to eat here! But we miss you, Mom. I kept calling the phone but I guess you weren’t home yet.”

“We just got here. Our cell phones aren’t working. Oh sweetie. Listen, what’s the name of the house? Do you know who owns it?”

“Hold on.”

Zack disappeared for a moment, while Jenna covered the receiver. “I’ll ski out there. I don’t care, I’m not leaving them in some strange billionaire’s house with no one around except a nanny and a cook.”

Billy’s lips twitched. “Yeah, it’s a real nightmare scenario.”

She glared at him.

“But of course I’m coming with you,” he added.

Zack came back with the name of the house—Sans Souci. Billy knew it, as did everyone else in town. It was one of the most luxurious properties in the area, and the only one with a fancy French name, which locals pronounced “Sansussy” and which meant “no worries,” basically. He’d jogged past it regularly before he’d started taking the route past Richard Scarlett’s house.

“What do you know about this guy?” he asked Jenna after she’d instructed Zack to get the nanny, or the cook, or whoever was handy. “He must be some kind of hotshot if he’s renting that place.”

“Annika won’t say anything about him. I think they’ve been FaceTiming and texting and all that. I know literally nothing about him, except that he has a son. And a helicopter.”

The nanny came on the phone at that point, and Jenna grilled her about how the kids were doing. She relaxed considerably after she learned that they’d watched Ice Age one and two and eaten their weight in grilled cheese sandwiches.

“Can you tell me anything about Annika?”

“All I know is that she had some kind of medical incident that required a hospital. Mr. Caldwell took care of it.”

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