Page 3 of The Logic of Loyalty

“Hey, baby,” she says into my neck.

“Ugh, gross.” I feel her lips move into a smile against my skin at the sound of our disgruntled child. I look up into the hallway and frown. Our disgruntled, wet child.

“Why is our boy a little drowned poodle?” I continue speaking into her riot of fragrant curls. At this, she pops her head up and starts to, unfortunately, untangle herself from me.

“We’ll talk about that later,” she says quietly, so Jacob can’t hear.

“Okay …”

“Oh. Hey, Trevor,” Josh says, exiting the kitchen with a baby in his arms.

“Josh,” I respond kindly. Probably.

“Hey, Josh.” Paige throws me a look, so maybe not so kindly. “Trevor stopped by to eat lunch with us. I hope that’s alright?” Her asking for his permission is not my favorite thing. I get it, but I don’t like it.

“Of course, Paige.” He gives her a nod and pats my boy on the shoulder, all while feeding the infant strapped to him. I notice his hair is also wet.

“What did you bring us, Dad?” Always Hungry Jacob asks me, already walking confidently across the Brights’ home toward the back porch.

“Guess.” I head back to the door to pick up the bags I happily dropped to catch my wife.

Once I’m out back, I lift them into the air, and he cheers. “Yes! Did you get me the Heroic Beast with pickles?”

He bounces in his seat while he waits for Paige and me to settle at the table on the Brights’ covered back porch. I reach into the bag and pull out each of our sandwiches. “Oh, shoot, you wanted pickles? I thought you wanted something else on it.” His little face falls for a moment before he fixes on a smile for me.

“It’s okay, Dad. I’m just glad you got me the Mega sandwich.”

He sounds honest enough, but I know my boy. “Is it okay if I asked them to put on extra pickles?” I hold out his sandwich that has a large Extra Pickles sticker on the wrapping.

“Yes!” he says, earlier enthusiasm returned as he nabs his sandwich from my hand.

“And for my love, a spicy Italian sub with way too many veggies and mayo.” Her eyes are soft as she takes it from me, but then she frowns when she reads the label.

What did I do? “That’s … not your order?”

“Oh, it just says ranch on the sticker, not mayo. I’m sure they just made a mistake.” She carefully unwraps her sandwich, and her eyebrows pinch together. “Oh, it’s fine.”

I drop my sandwich before I even unwrap it. “Can we scrape off the ranch? There must be some packets in the bag, or maybe Josh—” She places her hand on mine when I’ve reached out for her sandwich. Her wrong sandwich.

“Honey, don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine. Ranch is not that bad, honest.”

Fine. What a horrible word.

“If you’re sure. I’m happy to fix this, baby. I was trying to help out by feeding you. This doesn’t quite hit the mark I was aiming for.” Her beautiful face is full of understanding, and I hate myself a little.

“Thank you for thinking of me, Trev.”

“Always, Paige.” But it isn’t enough to think of her. I was supposed to get this right. I’m about to suggest another solution when my phone rings. It sits face up on the table, Krista’s name lighting up the screen. I answer it, leaving the table so my family can start eating without me yapping over them.

“Whitaker.”

“Hey, Trev, it’s Krista. Your one o’clock is here early. You told me to let you know as soon as they arrive.” I check my watch. 12:15. What the fuck? Why the hell would they be so early? “Mr. Mendez said he’d prefer to be finished by one o’clock instead of just starting.” She says it quietly, as if trying not to be overheard.

I look over at the table where my wife scrapes her sandwich, and my son devours his massive, pickly meal. Just like that, the thirty minutes I got with my family and away from hell disappear before my eyes. “Alright. Thanks, Krista. I’ll see you soon.” I hang up before she has a chance to say anything else and return to my family, shoulders hunched with my disappointment.

“Ya gaw-a go, Dad?” my boy says with a mouth full of food.

“Yeah, kiddo. I’m sorry about this.” I reluctantly hug him, then my wife, unhappy to leave my peace so soon. “You’ll tell me about the hair later?” I ask Paige quietly.