Page 20 of Reckless Love
“He’s a little pickier than I’d like, but we’re getting there. Um, Rhodes, I need a favor...”
“Yeah? What’s up?”
“I need you to take Levi a little earlier than we talked about.”
“How much earlier?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Carrie, you know I’ve got the wedding this weekend. I can’t take Levi until Sunday morning. What happened to wanting him at your family’s this weekend?”
“Something has come up.”
“What’s come up?”
“I need to go out of town,” she says.
I stare at the ceiling and count to five. I don’t have the energy to deal with Carrie’s shit right now. She loves Levi, but what she loves even more than that is trying to keep a constant drama train in motion.
“I’ll call my parents and see if they can come. If they can’t, you need to figure something out, Carrie.”
“I shouldn’t be penalized for going out of town one time when you travelall the time.”
“No one is penalizing you. We share custody over our son and part of that agreement is that when it’s my time to have him, I take care of him and his arrangements. When it’s your time to have him, you’re supposed to do the same.”
“Can you talk for even two seconds without the condescension?” she snaps.
I pick up a stress ball and squeeze it so hard it bursts and little gooey balls spill out onto the floor. The towel I used to wipe my sweat doesn’t do a very good job of cleaning it up.
“I said I’d call my parents. I don’t know if I can find more help than that this late, so I suggest you look for backup too, if you’re determined to go on this little getaway.”
“Fuck off, Rhodes. I know your parents have a jillion employees that are thrilled to do whatever they ask.”
My parents don’t have a jillion employees, but I also don’t bother correcting her about this.
“Well, let mefuck offthis call and find out who can help then.” My insides are yelling, but I sound surprisingly calm.
“Was that so hard?” Carrie has the audacity to laugh.
I squeeze my fists and take a deep breath before hanging up on her. I’ll blame poor reception if I have to.
After a quick shower, I FaceTime my mom. She picks up, her smile lighting up the screen.
“There’s my boy.” Her smile falters. “Hey, what’s going on, my sunshine?”
“Hi, Mama. It’s good to see your face.” I try to smile, but my mom just frowns more. “Carrie’s just coming in at the last minute, wanting to change the schedule.”
“What else is new?” She shakes her head. “I don’t know if she will ever grow up.”
“I hate to ask this, but…I’m supposed to be going to Bree and Alex’s wedding and it was Carrie’s weekend, but she has an opportunity to travel…somewhere. Is there any way you could come? You can totally say no, but I told Carrie I would ask.”
“We would love to spend a few days with Levi!” she says excitedly.
“Really? You could get here tomorrow and deal with him mostly without me?”
She waves me off. “I know how to handle little boys, you know. Besides, he is an angel.”
I laugh. “Yeah, someone is a Gigi through and through.”