“It was movie day,” he replied, standing in her doorway. He frowned as he watched her. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” She ran a hand through her hair to find it super tangled. “Why?”
“You look sick.”
Laura looked over at the mirror hanging on the wall and had to agree with his assessment. She looked awful. Her hair was a mess, and her mascara was all over her cheeks.
“I'm okay,” she told her brother. “I just fell asleep.”
“In a tornado?” he asked. “'Cause that's what it looks like.”
She threw her pillow at him. He ducked, and it bounced harmlessly off the door.
“Where's your sister?” she asked. She wanted to go back to bed, but she had to get up and be the parent. At least she didn't feel too hung over. She stood up and stretched.
“Getting a snack,” Dallas answered. He picked up the pillow and chucked it back at her.
“A snack?” Laura caught the pillow and put it on the bed. “No. It's almost dinner.”
Laura hurried past Dallas to the kitchen where Ivy had a bowl and cereal out. She was just pulling the milk from the fridge when Laura caught her.
“Ivy, what are you doing?” Laura asked, putting the milk back in the fridge.
“Getting a snack. I'm hungry,” she explained, looking annoyed.
“It's basically dinnertime,” Laura informed her. “Can you wait twenty minutes while I make dinner?”
Ivy sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes. “I guess.”
Laura looked at the bowl and raised her eyebrows. Ivy sighed again but put the bowl and cereal away like it was the hardest thing she'd had to do all day. Laura shook her head. She was not looking forward to the teenage years with these two.
“You two can watch a movie,” she offered. “Dinner will be ready in just a little bit.”
Ivy fell onto the couch, but Dallas happily went over to their selection of DVDs and picked one out. Laura stopped paying attention to them and pulled out her phone expecting to see a message from Ethan. But there wasn't one.
She rechecked the time, trying to ignore the way her stomach tightened. He probably just forgot or got busy. She did make him late, and he did have meetings. Still, she was nervous.
You land yet? Call me :)
She hoped the smiley face at the end made the text message sound less needy. She'd already texted him twice since he took off. She knew it was overkill, but she couldn't stop the feeling that something bad had happened to him. She needed to know he was okay.
She pulled out some chicken breasts and started some Rice-a-Roni in a pot. She had some broccoli in the freezer that she would add to the simple dinner. She tried to focus on cooking rather than the fact that he hadn't called her yet.
What if the plane went down? What if there was bad weather? What if there was an earthquake when he landed and it swallowed up the plane?
She rolled her eyes at the last thought. Even that was a bit much. She laughed to herself as she cut into the chicken.
What if he never comes back? What if he leaves just like they did?
She froze knife in midair and raw chicken all over her hands. Icy fear ran down her spine, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood upright. She was used to him in her life. She wanted him in her life. She wanted him in her siblings' lives. The idea of him not coming back was terrifying.
She remembered coming home from work and having to tell her sister and brother that their parents were never coming home. She wasn't sure she could do that again if anything happened to Ethan. She wasn't strong enough to do it again. It would destroy her, and she knew it.
She thought she could handle him flying, but this was more than that. If anything happened to him, on an airplane or a car or even just walking down the street, she wouldn't survive it. She'd lost too much. She couldn't lose him too.
Panic rippled up and down her skin like she was covered in ants. She threw the knife in the sink and washed her hands, trying to take deep breaths. She was too close to him, and she just realized the danger now.
He could hurt her without meaning to. He would hurt her without meaning to.