I chuckle. “You know what? If you fly, you can catch the bubbles.”
Peony watches a few more bubbles bump into branches, then holds up her arms. “Fly!” She bounces up and down, her feet not leaving the grass, her knees doing all the work. “Fly! Fly!”
Her trust in me has grown considerably in the past two weeks, and a bubble-light warmth fills me. I hoist her up, laughter rolling through me.
It might be time to introduce her to my father and Kellan again. To introduce her to Lucas and Troy. To see if she’ll give them a chance now she has accepted me.
“Okay, Athena. More bubbles.” I nod at her.
She pulls the long hoop from the solution and blows a stream of bubbles.
“Ready to pop them?” I lift Peony toward the closest bubble.
She pokes it with her finger, and it bursts. Peony and Athena cheer.
I move her to another bubble. She claps it between her small hands. We chase a few more, Peony popping each one.
My phone rings in my pocket. I consider ignoring it. I’d rather notinterrupt the precious time I have with my daughter before I have to get back to work. But it’s the tune I programmed for Emily, and she would only call me at this time of day if it was important.
I lower Peony onto my hip, her little legs straddling me, and answer the phone with my other hand. “Hey, Em. What’s up?”
“Hi. I’m sorry to interrupt you while you’re working, but Zara has her rheumatologist appointment this afternoon. I can’t drive her anymore because I’m now dealing with a work crisis. I know you’re super busy with your deadline, but can you take her?”
I frown—and not because Emily barely took a breath in all that. “What rheumatologist appointment?”
Emily mutters something that sounds suspiciously like, “Oh, shit.”
“What rheumatologist appointment?” I repeat, my tone harsher this time.
Peony squirms in my arm. I crouch, lowering her to the ground. She toddles off after a small butterfly flying around the flower beds.
A thickening silence stretches on the other end of the line. I walk along the stepping stones leading to the garden beyond the hedge. “Don’t make me ask a third time, Em.”
“She has an appointment this afternoon in Portland,” Emily says, defeat carrying the words on a sigh. “I said I would drive her, and Kellan was fine with that. But he got called away on an emergency and I need to stay here…and no one else is available to drive Zara to Portland.”
My frown deepens. “Why does she need to see a rheumatologist?”
A bird somewhere above my head squawks as if in reply, and Peony’s faint giggles reach me from the other side of the tall hedge.
“Samuel and her family physician suspect Zara’s eye inflammation and her chronic pain might be linked.” None of what she’s telling me is news—other than the rheumatologist appointment.
Why didn’t Zara ask me to drive her when she found out about the appointment? Why didn’t she tell me what Samuel and her physician suspected?
I get the location and time deets from Em and text Zara.
Me: I’ll pick you up at 1 p.m.
That will give us enough time to get there.
Zara: Pick me up for what?
Me: Your rheumatologist appt
That you never told me about.
Zara: You don’t need to come. Em’s driving me.
Me: Change of plan. Emergency came up.
