Rachel, Out of Office

by Christina Hovland

  “Uncle Travis was helping me look for my toothbrush,” Rachel said quickly. She raised her arms and then dropped them to her sides. “But we found it. Yay.”

  “Brady stole Mr. Pretzel. He won’t tell me where he hid him.” Kellan was on a rant and clearly wasn’t too concerned about the current state of his mother, his uncle, and their…toothbrush situation. “I know it was him because I left Mr. Pretzel under my pillow and only Brady knows where I keep him.”

  Rachel turned her rabid gaze to Travis, mouthing, Help.

  Travis pointed to her lips.

  She must’ve understood what he meant because she was swiping around her mouth with her fingertips. “Tell you what? I’ll go put my toothbrush away. Then Uncle Trav and I will come help with the Mr. Pretzel search.”

  “Hurry.” Kellan’s shoulders slumped.

  Travis could relate to that feeling.

  Rachel shooed her son out of the room with the ease and practice of someone who had done it a thousand times before.

  As soon as he was gone, she clicked the lock on the door.

  “You said you locked it.” She turned a fiery gaze on Travis. This time it had nothing to do with the fire from their chemistry experiments.

  No, she looked like a dragon about to breathe fire. To be honest, she scared the piss out of him with the way her skin flushed.

  “I did.” He scrambled to his feet and pulled on his shirt. “I guess I accidentally unlocked it, too.”

  “Accidentally?” she said with a hiss. “Do you know what happens when there are accidents?”

  Um…the kid walks in on his mom in an awkward position with his uncle?

  “There cannot be accidents.” As quickly as it started, the fire banked, and she fell against the wall, her back to the plaster.

  “Rach?” Dave knocked. “Have you seen Mr. Pretzel?”

  “No,” she called back. “Give me a minute to finish changing. I’ll be right there.”

  “Okay,” Dave replied before his footfalls disappeared down the hallway.

  Travis moved toward Rachel, hands up like he was prepared to be arrested. “Scale of one to ten, how pissed are you right now?”

  She rubbed her forehead. “That depends,” she said, and suddenly she was smiling. “Are you going to help me find my toothbrush again later?”

  “Tonight.” He let out a holy-fuck-thank-God-that’s-over breath. Then he ran his hands up and over her shoulders. “After everyone is in bed and I’ve installed a second lock on your door, I will help you find all the toothbrushes.”

  That got him a smile.

  “Then I’m not mad.” She wiped around the edges of his mouth with her thumbs. “There’s makeup remover in my bathroom. You should probably use that—it’s in the pink bottle.”

  “Will do.”

  “And…uh…wait five minutes after I leave…so…”

  She didn’t finish the thought—so we don’t get caught together. She didn’t have to.

  He understood why they needed to be secretive, for now. He didn’t like it. Didn’t like the way it made his back teeth set on edge or his limbs itch, but he understood.

  Standing on her tiptoes, she pressed a breath of a kiss against his lips. “When you’re done here, we’ll probably need your help to find Mr. Pretzel.”

  “It won’t be as fun as the toothbrush hunt, but you’ll be there, so I’ll deal,” he murmured against her mouth.

  She smiled, but the effect of it didn’t quite meet her eyes.

  Yeah, they’d need to figure out how to handle this thing between them before they had a real accident. The kind of accident they couldn’t cover with a toothbrush and Mr. Pretzel.

  The problem was, he wasn’t sure how they could approach the situation reveal without facing the damage of a fallout.

  Deep down in his gut, he worried it would affect everyone.

  But it’d be Rachel who suffered most.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “New house rule: no one can touch anyone.” — Chris, Florida, USA

  Rachel

  “Brady.” Rachel was only yay-far from losing her shit. “Where did you put Mr. Pretzel?”

  “He ate my gummy bears.” Brady shoved his index finger toward his brother.

  This was the response Brady was giving to everything.

  “We don’t point like that.” Rachel glanced to Dave and Travis, who were tearing apart the closet in search of the missing stuffed pretzel toy. “It’s rude.”

  Apparently, if Rachel was following the train of activities correctly, Kellan had eaten into Brady’s special stash of gummy bears. The ones Rachel didn’t know existed that someone had bought in Confluence.

  In retaliation, Brady had held Mr. Pretzel hostage in an unknown location until Kellan replaced the candy or came up with a suitable alternative.

  So far, none of Kellan’s suggested resolutions had been acceptable to Brady and his demands.

  “Fine. How about you can have all my underwear, you jerk.” Kellan said this with not an ounce of concern that his mother was standing right there.

  Rachel did not have time for this.

  Or patience.

  She opened her mouth to explain to Kellan the consequences for name-calling—no electronics for the rest of the day—when there was a throat clearing from the doorway.

  “There are my boys,” a deep male voice said.

  Gavin?

  Rachel turned and, sure enough, Gavin was standing, arms wide, waiting for one of his boys to run in for a hug.

  Neither of them did as he expected, seeing as they were currently in a standoff.

  No, they did what Rachel expected. They took their argument to the new authority figure in the room.

  “He stole Mr. Pretzel.” Kellan ran to Gavin, but not like he clearly had hoped. There was no hug, no welcome, just more finger pointing.

  “He. Ate. My. Gummy. Bears.” Brady clenched and unclenched his fists.

  On any other kid, it would’ve been cute because it wouldn’t have been Rachel’s issue to deal with. As it was, the clenching and unclenching was not cute. Not at all.

  “They. Were. Left. Out.” Kellan went into a showdown with his brother.

  Shit. Shit. Shit.

  “Boys.” Rachel strode to them. “Separate.”

  Kellan had a look in his eye. She knew that look. It came right before he got physical with his brother.

  “What’s going on?” another voice asked from behind Gavin. Female. Damn.

  Yes, that would be Dakota and her impeccable timing.

  “I’m not sure,” Gavin said with a misplaced chuckle. “Sounds like there’s a problem with gummy bears.”

  Kellan took that moment to shove Brady right into the wall.

  Brady shoved him back, harder.

  Rachel gave a heavy sigh.

  “Stop it!” she said. “Both of you.”

  They did not stop it. Instead, they continued back and forth three or four times before Rachel finally dove between the two of them. Gavin stood at the door with his mouth open like he was trying to catch flies.

  “Give me my gummy bears back, and I’ll give you your pretzel.” Brady’s little body heaved with self-righteous indignation while Rachel played bouncer, keeping them apart.

  Gavin finally broke free of his trance and scooped Brady back. Dave took Kellan.

  This, this right here? This was why twins were hard on a single mom. Sometimes you needed two full adults—or more—to deal with the conflict.

  Kellan got a look in his eye. Some might call it a gleam, but whatever it was, Rachel didn’t like it.

  Yes, she clocked the exact moment that Kellan had the idea.

  The idea that he could throw up the gummy bears to instigate the return of the pretzel. She couldn’t say exactly how she k
new this was his intention, just that every hair on her body was standing on end with the way Kellan looked at his brother. And the only thing that could make the night worse?

  Vomit.

  “Don’t you do it,” she said, big breaths heaving from her chest now. “Do not throw up those gummy bears.” She was pointing, even though she’d just told her other son not to do it.

  Meanwhile, Kellan was already lifting his index finger to his mouth in what felt like a slow-motion drama.

  “If you throw them up on purpose, there will be no more swimming for the rest of the summer.” Rachel managed to grab hold of Kellan’s wrist before he made it to his mouth.

  Gavin apparently took issue with her punishment. “Rach, we just got here; that’s not really fair to Dakota and me—”

  “Rach?” Travis cleared his throat.

  She ignored him because she had two boys who needed a reminder that she was in charge. And, apparently, their father needed a not-so-subtle reminder that he needed to back her up. Even when it “wasn’t fair to him.”

  “No electronics for the rest of the week.” She started counting out their punishment on her fingers.

  None of them decried the unfairness of the punishment. Probably because her tone was the one that she used only when she was really serious.

  “Early bedtime tonight. And if Mr. Pretzel is not returned in the next thirty seconds, I’m going to follow through on the no-swimming rule. You can watch your dad and Dakota swim, but none of your body parts will touch the lake again for the entirety of the summer. You can sit here at the house and…color…or something.”

  Dammit. She’d been on a great roll until it fizzled out at the end.

  Travis slipped Mr. Pretzel into her counting hand. “I found him.”

  Well, that put a damper on the mad she’d been nursing.

  “Where?” She gripped the stuffed pretzel in her fist.

  “In the bathroom. Under the towels,” Travis said, tilting his head toward the room in question.

  He also held out an oversize bag of gummy bears that was still decently full and two boxes of s’mores-flavored toaster tarts. “These were with the pretzel.”

  Dave loosened his grip on Kellan, his expression one of pure compassion. “Sorry, Rach. I think the gummy bears came from our last trip to town. I didn’t realize that’s what he bought, or I’d have given you a heads-up.”

  “Okay, well.” She blew out a breath. “Crisis averted, I guess.”

  She handed the pretzel to Kellan.

  “I’m keeping these.” This she said to Brady.

  “That’s not fair.” Brady seethed.

  “We’ll discuss their return after we’ve all had time to cool off.”

  “Rach.” Gavin stepped toward her. “Why don’t I take the boys for a bit? You really look like you need a break.”

  “Really, Gavin?” She did. But she did not need Gavin pointing out that she needed a break. “Do I?”

  He took a step back.

  She turned her full attention to him. “You didn’t mention you were coming.”

  They’d spoken, oh, only twelve hours ago, and he’d said nothing, nada.

  “Gavin has news,” Dakota said, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “We both do.”

  “What kind of news?” Travis asked.

  “News I need to discuss with Rachel.” Gavin didn’t even look at his brother.

  “What kind of news?” Rachel asked, since Gavin wasn’t talking to Travis, apparently.

  “Things…there are some things I need to talk to you about.” Gavin had the look that he’d had when he told her that he was proposing to Dakota. The same one that Kellan had had when he’d gotten the idea to throw up gummy bears. The one that made the little hairs on the back of her neck tingle.

  Rachel’s cell buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and checked the caller ID, then she immediately slid her thumb across the screen to turn it on. “Cassie, hi, what’s up?”

  She hurried through the call as best she could, leaving the boys with Gavin and their uncles while she returned to her bedroom to grab her laptop and send out an emergency newsletter for Cassie.

  When she pulled open the door to her bedroom, it wasn’t Travis pacing the hallway; it was Gavin.

  “Hi.” She shoved her hands into her back pockets, then realized that it might make her breasts stick out, so she dropped her arms. “Have you been waiting for me this whole time?”

  He shook his head. “Got here a minute ago. Was just rehearsing a little before I knocked.”

  Rehearsing was not reassuring. She forced herself not to assume anything about what he wanted to say. They’d always been sensible when it came to the boys. There was no reason to think that would change now.

  “What’s up?”

  “Can I come in?” He nodded to her bedroom.

  Now it was her turn to shake her head. “Let’s go to the study. That’s where I usually work anyway.”

  He gave a subtle nod. “Works for me.”

  She followed him to the study, tracking the lope of his stride. Something was bothering him. Her mind started cataloging the things he could be upset about. From Dakota being pregnant to him asking her to head back to Denver, since they were here now, none of them was that big of a deal. It’d stink if she had to go back to Denver without Travis, but it wasn’t the end of the world. She’d see him when he got back.

  “You might as well just spill whatever it is you need to say.” She scrubbed at her cheeks with her palms once they were inside.

  He took a deep breath.

  She raised her eyebrows.

  He gulped and finally said, “I’m moving to Boston.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “Mom needs a time-out before I get in trouble.” — Carla, Georgia, USA

  Rachel

  Gavin was moving? Gavin was moving?

  Whatever she thought could’ve happened after his appearance didn’t hold half a candle to this.

  Boston was much, much worse than anything she could’ve cooked up with her imagination.

  So much worse.

  The worst.

  Moving across the country meant rehashing custody agreements, child support, explanations to the boys.

  Rachel couldn’t seem to get her limbs to move.

  “What?” Rachel finally asked. “What’s in Boston?”

  “Dakota.”

  “Dakota?” Now she was just repeating him, and that was ridiculous. “Dakota lives in Denver.”

  “She’s opening a gallery in Boston.”

  Why Boston? Couldn’t she get animal inspiration anywhere? And Rachel happened to know for certain that there were plenty of bathtubs to use for inspiration in Colorado. Animals, too. Loads of animals and bathtubs. Dakota didn’t need Boston when she could have the Rockies.

  “But your family is in Denver. The boys are in Denver,” Rachel said, instead of the other stuff that she was thinking but was best left unsaid.

  Thank goodness she hadn’t dropped her filter in the midst of this ridiculousness.

  Yes, his family was the obvious reason he should stay, but it also seemed that in this case, the obvious was the most pertinent.

  “How do you feel about bringing them to Boston?” Gavin asked, glancing up at her with Brady’s same piercing eyes full of hope.

  “For a visit?” It would totally wreck her schedule, honestly. Even if Travis agreed to fly them out in the company plane.

  Wait.

  That look on Gavin’s face.

  Shit.

  He didn’t mean a visit.

  “You don’t mean for a visit,” she clarified, sitting on the leather sofa because her legs didn’t seem to be able to hold her up anymore.

  Her face had turned numb.

  Damn. Dammit. No, h
e didn’t mean for a visit.

  She gripped the edges of the cushion. “I feel like you’ve lost your mind to even ask me that.”

  “Okay.” He ran his hands through his hair. “This is okay. We’ll just have to adjust our schedule with them. They can fly out to Boston a few times a year.” His voice got pitchy.

  She got splotchy when she got upset. His voice got pitchy.

  “Your job is in Denver.” Rachel could not believe this was happening. He couldn’t be serious, asking her to uproot their kids to move across the country.

  He paced. Again. “I can work virtually, like you do.”

  Working virtually was not a walk to the lake. It was a full-time, all-the-time exhaustion fest that drained a person. It would be extra hard for him, given he was in charge of the actual staff in the Denver office. Of course, it was possible. Still…

  “Don’t do this to the boys,” Rachel whispered. Don’t take away their dad, too.

  She could be a lot of things for her kids, but she was beginning to think she couldn’t be everything.

  “Rach…” He studied his feet. “We’ll figure this out. We always figure this stuff out. This time, it’s no different.”

  “Is this really what you want?” Rachel asked. “You want to upend our boys? Even if it’s just you who moves to Boston, their whole lives change.”

  “No.” He shook his head. “It’s not what I want.”

  “Then why are you even considering it.”

  “Because if I don’t go with Dakota”—he stood, paced to the window, then back again—“she’s going without me.”

  That didn’t sound like an excellent start to their soon-to-be marriage. Not that Rachel was the expert on that kind of thing.

  Rachel’s cell rang. She checked the caller ID. Cassie.

  Gah.

  She clicked it off and shoved it in her pocket.

  “Do you need to get that?” Gavin gave a pointed glance at the pocket where she’d shoved the phone.

  She did need to get it, but for once she didn’t have to question her priorities. “This is more important.”

  “Rach.” Gavin sat next to her on the sofa. “I have to figure this out because it’s my issue to sort. But we’ve always worked together when it comes to the kids. I don’t want that to end.”