Page 98 of Honest Boys Don’t Play

My phone rings and I fish it out of my pocket. I’m expecting Luke to call any time, so I answer without looking.

“Wait, who is this?” The voice on the other end asks.

“Mom?”

“Bertie?”

I freeze on the sidewalk. “Yeah, did you need something?” I ask, trying to keep my voice flat and even and not let my panic rise in my voice.

“No, I was trying to call someone else. Sorry about that.”

The line goes dead and I stare down at the blank screen of my phone.

What the fuck?

I haven’t spoken to either of my parents in months, and she accidentally calls me now and that’s all she has to say? No, how are you? Did you have the baby? How’s my grandchild?

Anger like I’ve never felt before simmers in my veins.

Especially now that I have a child of my own, I can’t imagine acting the way they have over my pregnancy. I’m an adult. It might’ve been an accident, but it wasn’t like the world ended.

I find myself ringing Luke as I speed walk back to my car.

“Hey,” he greets in a cheery voice.

“I’m so pissed off right now; you have no idea.”

“Whoa.” There’s shuffling on the other side like he’s moving to a different spot to talk. “What’s wrong, baby? Is everything okay with Rory?”

“Rory is a perfect angel,” I reply, unstrapping him from the stroller so I can transfer him into his car seat. I still plan on feeding him before I go, but I can’t hold him, my phone, and take the stroller down. “I got a wrong call from my own mom, and she didn’t ask about me or the baby at all and I … I don’t know what I expected, truly, but it wasn’t that.”

“Oh, honey.” He says it softly, gently, but not pityingly.

“I don’t know why I care.”

“Because it’s your mom,” he answers easily. “I feel at a loss as to what to say to you right now. I don’t know how to make this better.”

“You can’t.” I load the folded-up stroller into the trunk and press the button to close it before I join Rory in the back.

I put the phone on speaker and pull my sweet boy into my arms. He squirms, giving a cry of protest but immediately settles the moment he’s latched.

“I just wanted to hear your voice,” I add. “You always make me feel better.”

“I miss you. Both of you.”

“You’ll be home soon.”

“Next week,” he groans.

“It’ll be soon,” I repeat and I’m not sure if it’s for my benefit or his.

“Soon,” he echoes.

I hang up and finish feeding Rory. I’m about to head home, but something stops me and I end up scooping Rory into my arms and heading back to the store.

Lina spots me and smiles. “Did you forget something?”

“Yeah, I did actually.”