Then she saw Eric.
Her smile disappeared.
Then she saw the envelope in his hand.
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She stopped cold.
“Eric, I can explain.”
My son slowly stood.
“No. First, you’re going to explain why you packed our children’s documents before leaving town, and why your suitcase is missing from our bedroom.”
Vanessa went pale.
Brooks appeared at the edge of the room holding Vanessa’s tablet.
“Mom?”
She turned.
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He held up the screen.
“Why does this say our flight leaves tonight?”
Eric crossed the room and took the tablet.
Vanessa lunged toward him.
“Don’t!”
He pulled it out of her reach.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
He stared at the passenger list.
Then at Vanessa.
“Vanessa… who the hell is the fourth ticket for?”
She said nothing.
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Eric looked back at the screen.
His expression changed.
Not anger this time.
Confusion.
“Wait.”
He looked closer.
Then he laughed once, without humor.
“That’s me.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
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“The fourth ticket.” He turned the screen toward me. “It’s mine.”
That made even less sense.
I had spent the morning believing Vanessa planned to leave my son and take his children somewhere without telling him.
But if Eric had a ticket too, then what exactly was she doing?
Vanessa sank into a chair.
“You were supposed to be working until tomorrow.”
“I am supposed to be working until tomorrow.”
“No.” She looked at him. “You were supposed to meet us tonight.”
“How, Vanessa? Through telepathy?”
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“I was going to tell you.”
“When?”
“After I picked up the kids.”
Eric stared at her.
She buried her face in her hands for a moment.
“My ticket is separate. I booked mine first. That reservation is yours and the kids’.”
“Where are we supposedly going?”
“To my mom’s.”
That was the argument, apparently.
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Vanessa’s mother lived several states away and owned a small house nearby that had been sitting vacant since her aunt moved into assisted living.
Months earlier, Vanessa had suggested they move there.
Eric hadn’t said yes.
But, according to him, he hadn’t said no either.
“I said we’d talk about it when this project was finished,” he told her.
“You always say that.”
“Because I can’t quit my job every time you’re frustrated.”
“I never asked you to quit your job.”
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“You asked me to move three states away.”
“I asked you to talk about it!”
