“Fuck.” I slam my laptop down and glance at the time. It’s after six, and I need to get going so I can make it home in time for dinner. Savannah and Brody are making pizza—Brody’s favorite thing to make—and I’ll be damned if I miss it again.
“I’ve walked in on you cursing twice in one day. Do you want to talk about it?”
My gaze swings to the doorway, and I find Savannah standing there leaning against the doorframe.
“I was just about to leave. Aren’t you and Brody making dinner?”
“We were supposed to.” She walks farther into my office. “But it’s the last day of school before spring break so he’s going to the movies with his friends, and we’re going to make pizza tomorrow night. And before you freak out, he asked me because he’s been worried about bugging you.”
“Which shouldn’t go through his head,” I argue, feeling like shit. “My son should be able to come to me about anything at any time. We were finally getting somewhere, and now it’s like I’ve pushed us backward twenty damn steps.”
“No, you didn’t. You were grieving. You lost your dad suddenly. Nobody expects you to just bounce back.” She walks around my desk, and I grip the curve of her hips, pulling her in front of me. “We’ll get through this…together.”
“I didn’t even realize Brody had spring break coming up.” I sigh in exhaustion, feeling like a damn failure. “His mom texted she’d like to see him, and now it makes sense. He’s avoiding her again because Ted’s home, but she’s done not seeing him. She wants him to go to her place for a few days. She must know he’s going to be on break. I can’t let him hang out at the house alone, so I’ll probably have him go there or come to work with me.” He’s going to be pissed, but there’s nothing I can do. I’m sure as hell not leaving my fifteen-year-old alone to get into all sorts of trouble—even if he’s been behaving lately.
“I actually took the week off to hang out with him,” she says, shocking the hell out of me. “We can come have lunch with you, and maybe you can take a day off, and we can do something fun.”
“You took off work?”
“Yeah...I hope that’s okay. I didn’t mean to overstep. You’ve just been kind of out of it and—”
“Whoa, stop. I just can’t believe you would do that. Thank you.” I reach up and kiss the tip of her nose. “I’d say we should go away, but I’m swamped. My dad...” I swallow thickly, hating what I have to say next. “My dad must’ve been sick because he left me in a bind. None of the books are current, and he handled everything...and with quarterly reports due...”
Savannah frowns. “Let me help you.”
“What?” I heard her, but she already has a job.
“Ben, I took the week off anyway. I can help you sort out the mess, and we can go away for a few days.” Her face lights up, and even if I thought it was a horrible idea to leave right now, there’s no way I can say no to her. Because while I should be here, handling the mess my dad left me, Savannah and Brody need me more.
“All right. Let’s do it. If you don’t mind.”
“I don’t. You can show me everything tonight since Brody won’t be home until ten, and I’ll get it all sorted for you next week.”
“Well, in that case, there’s only one thing left to discuss. Where do we go for vacation?”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Savannah
“Nope, it’s not happening.” I shake my head. “You go, and I’ll safely stay right where I am...with my feet firmly on the ground.”
Ben and Brody laugh.
“C’mon, Sav,” Brody whines. “It’s not that bad. Trust me, you’re going to have fun.”
“That’s what you said about the Tower of Terror! I almost died. That freaking elevator...” I shiver in remembrance. “The way it went down and my body went up!” I shriek. “Nope. Not happening.”
More laughter.
“You’ll be belted in tight,” Brody argues.
“Yeah, because it goes fast and upside down, and did I mention fast? You go, and while I’m waiting for you, I’ll sit my ass down and eat one of those delicious Mickey Mouse ice creams...and maybe a pretzel.” Mmm...yeah, those sound yummy.
“You’re going,” Ben says, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the long line. “We’ll sit next to you, and I’ll hold your hand. And when you have fun, and you will, I’ll even go on it with you again.”
“Yeah, let’s go,” Brody adds. “We didn’t fly all the way to Orlando so you could go to Disney and Universal for the first time and not ride all the good rides.”
“Fine.” I huff, knowing he’s right. When we discussed where to go away, and Ben and Brody learned I’ve never been to a single theme park, they insisted that’s where we go. This is our second day and fourth park, and all the other ones were great, but of course they saved the scariest ride for last.
“Besides,” Brody says. “Tomorrow is Universal and Islands of Adventure, and the roller coasters there are way faster.”
Ben elbows him in the ribs, making Brody grunt in pain.
“They get faster than this?” I hiss.
“You’ll be fine. Let’s go. And afterward, I’ll buy you an ice cream and pretzel, and we can go find some more animals to take pictures with.”
Brody snorts out a laugh, and I glare. “Keep it up, and I’ll make you take more pictures with all the princesses again.”
The line goes slow, and finally, we make it to the front, where it lists off the millions of reasons you shouldn’t ride this ride and what will happen if you do.
“Great, you see this?” I point at the sign. “This is their way of saying, ‘If you die, it’s not our fault.’”
Both guys laugh.
“It’s only for people who have heart trouble, problems with motion sickness, or are pregnant,” Brody says. “Are you any of those?” He quirks a playful brow, not knowing that there’s one thing on this list I wish I were.
“No,” I murmur. “I’m none of those.”
As if Ben knows what just went through my head, he pulls me into his side and kisses my temple.
It’s finally our turn to get on the ride, and after meeting a fake Aerosmith, we’re prompted to get into the fake stretch limousine, which will take us to the fake concert—if we don’t die on the way.
Once we’re locked into place, Ben’s hand finds mine, squeezing it so I know he’s there. The music blasts into our ears, and then we rocket off into the dark. The second we hit the first turn, I’m screaming my head off, but they were right. It’s fun! We’re jolted left and right and upside down. Blurs of neon signs fly by while we jam out to some rock ’n’ roll, and what feels like seconds later, we come to a stop—the ride over.
“So, what’d you think?” Brody asks, wearing a shit-eating grin on his face.
“I think that was freaking awesome, and we should go again!”