“Raoul!” DB called, getting the attention of his deputy who’d just walked in. “You need to relax,” Jose whispered, leaning in closer to me. “She’s absolutely fine.”
I was saved from answering by Raoul walking up and popping a squat beside me so he could see Liv.
“Hey, cutie. Heard you haven’t been well,” he cooed, letting her grab his hand and give it a harsh tug.
Jesus, I hope he’d washed his hands after touching something – actually, make that anything – at work! Realizing what I was doing, I tried to shake it off, remembering the advice my mom had given me. It was hard, but I was going to try.
“What, did he radio it in or something?” Tabby snorted, pointing at DB who just looked innocently at the ceiling. “You did? You radioed in that she was sick? With a cold?”
Ignoring her questions, DB focused on Raoul and invited him to sit with us, just as someone else walked up to the table – my sister. I’d never been more relieved to see her in my life.
Standing up with Liv and not even saying hello first, I held her out so she could see her. “Here she is, what do you think?”
“Uh,” she blinked, looking like she didn’t have a clue what I was talking about. “I like her outfit. Is it new?”
“Not her outfit,” I growled. “Do you ever check your messages? She’s sick.”
Looking Liv over a little more closely, she put the back of her hand against her cheek, frowning each time she moved it, and making my anxiety levels go up. Like they needed that help! “She seems fine, a little bit warm maybe. Why don’t you just take her to the doctor?”
Sighing in frustration, I pulled my phone out of my pocket, unlocked it and held up the message I’d sent to her. “I did take her to the doctor, and if you read your messages, you’d know that.”
“I went to visit Mom and Dad yesterday and left my phone there by mistake, so that’s why I didn’t get it. They’re coming here tomorrow, though, so I’ll get it then and reply with what the doctor said. She has a cold, give her Tylenol and fluids, and stop being a big titty baby,” she snapped.
Rose was three years younger than me and the same age as Jose, twenty-seven, and we’d always been close. Our parents had lived in Piersville until two years ago when they’d retired to Austin, after falling in love with their dream house, and setting up home. It was close enough to see us whenever they wanted to, but also far enough away that at times like this I missed them.
Then something related to what she’d said at the beginning hit me… I was a stressed man because his princess was sick, that was today’s excuse for the fact it took me a while to realize what I had.
“Where exactly did you leave your phone?” I asked slowly, the sinking feeling starting to grow in my gut. Sitting down next to Raoul and giving him a dirty look, she ignored the question as she said hello to everyone until I repeated it again. “Oh, I left it on the table, but you know them – they’re charging it in the kitchen so I don’t miss anything important.” A dirty grin split her face right then as the reason for my question became clear to her. “So, yeah, they’ve probably read your text.”
Here’s the thing, it wasn’t that I didn’t want my parents to know about Jose and Olivia – far from it – but I hadn’t gotten around to telling them about the change between us yet. It was still too new, and my parents had a habit of taking over, especially my mom. She would get excited, want to come and see both of them even though she’d already met them, quiz Jose, steal Liv… and I wasn’t sure Jose was ready for that.
“Hey, can I borrow your phone a sec?” Rose asked, the question just registering through the panic in my brain, so I didn’t think twice about passing it to her. That was until I heard the click of a camera.
“Uh, Rose?” Jose asked slowly. “What did you just do?”
“I took this photo, see?” she held my phone up to show Jose the screen. Leaning forward slightly, I saw a picture of me looking down, just as Liv reached up for me. I hadn’t been aware of what was happening, sure, but it was an awesome photo. It also made me think about the fact that I was able to look after her on autopilot, which was something real parents did, wasn’t it? Any happiness I felt at that fled, though, when she added, “And I sent it to my mom.”