Page 112 of Bad Decisions & Back Roads

Something shuttered behind his eyes.He shrugged like he was trying to pretend it didn’t matter.“Amy only lets me see him once a month.She found someone else.Got married.Moved a few hours away.”The ache in his voice caught me off guard.

“I’m sorry.”I meant it.“That’s hard.”

Before he could answer, a tiny missile launched into me.

“Mommy!”Sofia squealed.

I barely caught her before she knocked us both over, laughing as her arms wrapped around my waist.The familiar scent of strawberry shampoo clung to her.

Then Timothy appeared behind her.He took one look at Justin and stilled.Not aggressive.Not jealous.Just alert in that quiet way he got when he was assessing a threat.His gaze slid to me first.Always me.Checking.Reading.Making sure I was okay before anything else.

“How was the fairy princess breakfast?”I asked Sofia, but my gaze stayed on Timothy.

Sofia launched into an enthusiastic retelling involving glitter, waffles, and a near diplomatic crisis over a plastic tiara.

Vinny lumbered over, awkwardly dressed in a plastic armor suit that seemed a few sizes too small for his tall fifteen-year-old frame.He carried a huge plastic sword that Sofia immediately tried to steal.His eyes moved from me to Justin and then to Timothy, reading the tension and preparing for battle, perhaps with the plastic sword.The kid might not be a Hurst by blood, but he’d been raised to react like one, which meant protect the family at all costs.

Timothy leaned close enough for only me to hear, “Please don’t ever make me do that alone again.”

A laugh burst out of me before I could stop it.How I loved this man.The strange heaviness of seeing Justin again eased under the warmth of Timothy beside me and Sofia jumping around to get the sword from Vinny.

I glanced back at Justin and offered him a gentle smile.“You going to the keynote address?You should hear him speak.”

Sofia sing-songed between jumps, “It’s Uncle Josh!”

I said, “We gotta go.Take care of yourself, okay?”

“Yeah,” he said after a beat.“You too, Gia.”

Timothy scooped Sofia into his arms without effort and reached for my hand with the other.The second our fingers laced together, I relaxed.

“You okay?”He knew me well enough to understand old ghosts could still rattle bones that had long since healed.

I squeezed his hand back.“I’m good.”

I was.I leaned into his side as we walked toward the massive ballroom together.“I don’t want to sit through another lecture this week.”I looked up at him.“Promise me the rest of this trip is only theme park rides and overpriced food.”

His mouth curved slowly.“After that princess breakfast, I deserve a damn vacation too.”

“Amen to no more princess breakfast nightmares,” Vinny declared.“I’m not sure this armor will come off without cutting it piece by piece.You have to help me out of this before we see Josh.He’ll never let me live this down.”

Sofia burst into giggles.

“Nope,” I said.“He needs to see the full level of your commitment to the breakfast.We also need pictures.”I whipped out my phone and got one of Vinny holding up his hands to shield his face.

When we reached the ballroom where the keynote was supposed to be held, staff immediately redirected us across the street to the stadium instead.Apparently, the turnout had exploded beyond anything they anticipated.

It took over an hour to battle through the crowds and security lines before we finally made it backstage to the green room.By then, Josh was already getting mic’d up.Erika stood in front of him, smoothing imaginary wrinkles from his shirt while he held onto her like he needed one last second of normal before stepping into the circus.

Josh caught sight of Vinny still trapped in the plastic armor suit and burst out laughing.

“Why are there so many buckles?”Vinny demanded, twisting in place while Josh wiped at laughter tears and tried to unbuckle him.

Three organizers swooped in to escort Josh toward the stage, but Vinny remained behind in visible distress, yanking at pieces that refused to come off his arms.Erika tried helping.That somehow made it worse.One arm finally popped free so suddenly Vinny nearly punched himself in the face.

Josh doubled over, laughing so hard that the makeup artist had to keep chasing him with powder while muttering threats under her breath.

Timothy shook his head, laughing.