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Crawling back onto my bed, I set up the call on Skype and when I connected I was surprised to see James in the background when Colby answered.
“What’s he doing there?” I snapped, my chest instantly tight when I recognized my brother.
“Hi, Sawyer, Uncle James picked me up from baseball.”
“He did what? Why? Never mind. Where’s your mom?” Hearing how clipped my tone was, I drew in a deep breath and tried to control my exhale. A knot formed in my stomach at the thought of James with my family and I was a thousand odd miles away.
“On her cell phone in the laundry room,” he replied.
“Who is she calling? Don’t answer that, can you go and tell her I need to speak to her, buddy?” I asked, my anxious heart raced as did my mind as I wondered why the hell James was involved with them when I was away.
“No, it’s my call tonight, remember? I’ve got homework to finish and if you start talking to her now, I won’t get my time because Mom has talked Uncle James into staying for dinner.”
“She’s what?” I barked in disbelief, because Billie knew I didn’t completely trust James. “Just get her for me real quick,” I snapped again, as frustration rose from my belly and fear gripped my chest.
“Mom, Sawyer wants you,” he called out without moving, and continued to stare toward me through the screen. I’d seen him have a few tantrums when he wanted something, but the look on his face was different, and I hadn’t missed the flash of anger in his eyes, like I had chosen his mom over him. Obviously, this hadn’t been the case, it was that she was the only person who could explain James’s presence and help me rationalize his need to be at our home on a Thursday evening.
“Hey, Sawyer,” Billie cooed, her sweet smiling face full of love, which looked in stark contrast to the anger that had built inside me while I’d waited for her to come and speak with me.
“What’s he doing there?” I ground out, my jaw locked tight and the pissed-off tone left no question of how I felt about this. My brother being at my home while I was gone had felt like a betrayal.
“James was kind enough to pick Colby up from baseball today.”
“He picked him up? How did you even have his phone number?” Colby had gone over to where James was sitting on the edge of our couch with a beer in his hand, looking awkward, which was most likely due to me catching him there, I thought.
“I don’t want him there when I’m not there,” I blurted out, sounding forceful and demanding.
“Stop this. What’s with all this suspicion? I’ve had it since the wedding when I asked him for it to text him Tricia’s number.” She huffed out a breath in frustration. “Why do I even have to explain this to you? While you’re away, I still have a job to do here. Today I was due to have a meeting with some clients who are remortgaging their portfolio of houses. They live a couple of hours out of town and were delayed in reaching the office. As it was a complex set of circumstances, the meeting ran late and I had no one to pick Colby up. I tried Logan several times, but it went to voicemail and when I tried his parents, neither of them picked up.”
“Why not ask, Tricia?”
“She had already left the office and was on her way to her parents’ place. I was desperate, you were gone, and I made a decision to prevent my son from being stranded alone in the dark. If you can’t understand that then there’s something wrong with you.”
“Sorry that happened, but you know how I feel about him after—”
“Then you don’t trust me, Sawyer Michael Wild,” she snapped back.
“Of course I trust you, but—”
“There are no buts, you either do or you don’t,” she snapped. “You choose to go away to do what you do, and I support you one-hundred-percent. Meanwhile, when you aren’t around, I need to be free to make decisions in the best interests of all members of this family.”
“I agree, but James—” I began and knew I sounded irrational, but sometimes despite reassurance, I still had a nagging doubt that just wouldn’t go away.
“Indeed, but what would you have had me do, given the circumstance? James did us a favor today and I, for one, am grateful. Now I’ve asked him to stay for dinner, but he looked nervous and hadn’t felt it appropriate, if you must know, but it’s at Colby’s insistence he’s still here. I knew you’d react badly to this and to make the situation more comfortable for all concerned, I just called Tricia at her parents’ place and invited her as well.” She sighed, heavily and I knew she had grown tired of explaining herself.
When she huffed out her breath, I knew my reaction had exasperated her and I felt certain this had been the first time I’d really disappointed her. The thought of it knotted my stomach.
Without another word, she turned on her heel and left me. Fuck. “Colby, Sawyer’s free if you want to talk to him.” My heart hurt for arguing with her, but I couldn’t be blamed that I felt nervous about James being around my girl, while the rational side of me argued Colby was there. And she was right, I believed in Billie.
Colby came back to the screen with a moping look on his face. “I don’t have time to tell you what happened now. I’ll tell you about baseball on Sunday when I get home from my dad’s house, but right now I need to do my homework and wash up for dinner.”
Calling his mom back to the screen he wandered off, and I got the feeling neither wanted to continue the conversation. When Billie came back to her laptop there was so much I wanted to say to her; so much more I could have said, but I knew if I stayed on the call I’d most likely have challenged her again about James being there.
The parallels were scary; I had gone home two days early when I found James and my ex Charlotte, together in the home I shared with her. I had two days until I was due home and it felt like déjà vu when I knew James was there with Billie.
To say I performed badly during our gig that night would have been a kindness. My timing, concentration, and vocals were off, not that the audience noticed, but the rest of the band had.
“What the fuck was that?” Wiggy screeched when we finally left the stage.
