Temptation Trails - Page 157

Eyes on his phone, he walked into the dining room. The table was strewn with a random assortment of snack foods—healthy and unhealthy alike. Bags of chips, a bowl of nuts, bananas—plus several discarded banana peels—oranges, a plate of cookies, a block of cheese with a knife sticking out of the top, pepperoni slices, and an open bag of beef jerky.

Theo stood next to the table and I got the impression he’d been wandering around the perimeter, grazing as he went.

“Hey, Harper,” he said.

“A snack? This is a feast.”

Owen pocketed his phone. “We were doing football drills.”

“I guess you worked up an appetite.”

“He’s in a bulking phase,” Theo said around a mouthful of food.

“What do you know.” I put my hands on my belly. “Me too.”

“Help yourself,” Theo said.

Marlene came in and greeted me with a warm smile and a hug. She started to say something, then did a double take at the snack smorgasbord.

“What’s all this?”

“Don’t worry, Mom, I brought most of it.” Theo grabbed a bag of chips and tore it open. “Well, some of it. I think we ate most of your bananas.”

“You’ll spoil his dinner,” she said, gesturing toward Owen.

Owen looked at me as if to say, see?

“He’s a growing boy,” Theo said. “Besides, I kicked his butt outside. He’ll be a bottomless pit for the rest of the day. Trust me.”

“Boys,” she said on a sigh. “They never quite grow up.”

“Who doesn’t grow up?” Paul shouldered his way in and nudged Theo out of the way so he could grab the beef jerky.

“Boys.”

He grunted and grabbed the knife holding the block of cheese. He held it up for a second, scrutinizing it, then took the entire thing with him into another room.

“Paul,” Marlene said, following him.

Owen took out his phone again, looked, and stuck it back in a pocket.

“No answer?”

He shook his head. “He’s probably just busy. Happens a lot when he’s working.”

That was true. Although he wasn’t supposed to be working.

“The good news is, he’s taking a few days off.” I grabbed an orange and started peeling, releasing the scent of citrus into the air. “So that will be nice.”

“Why? Is he okay?”

“I think he’s pretty tired.”

Owen shoved his hands in his front pocket, but didn’t say anything. I knew what that meant. He was worried about his dad.

Theo met my eyes and we seemed to understand each other. He grabbed a second bag of chips and slipped out of the room.

“Hey.” I moved closer and rubbed a few circles across Owen’s back. “Are you okay?”