Page 76 of Playing for Keeps

Luke moved up the front steps. “Nah, it was Ethan who actually suggested a road trip, thought it might be a good distraction for me.”

“Good idea.” Anthony flashed me a smile.

“That’s me. The king of good ideas,” I said, following Luke into the house.

Alison was unpacking bags of food in the kitchen.

“Hey, honey,” she said to Luke in a warm voice. Then she saw me and froze. “Ethan.”

“Hi, Alison,” I said. I almost wanted to add “Surprise!” along with some snazzy jazz hands maybe, but I managed to restrain myself. Which was probably a good thing. Alison had never been a big fan of my humor.

She quirked her lips, but her smile was chillier than the snow on the mountain tops. In fact, there were probably glaciers that had more warmth.

“You boys want a beer?” Luckily Anthony was a naturally hospitable person. “And we were thinking maybe Thai takeout for dinner if you’re hungry.”

“Thai sounds good,” Luke said. He looked at me.

“You know me, any type of food is good food,” I said. “And a beer sounds great.”

Anthony went to order the takeout and I used the excuse of ringing Theo to escape the ice attack of Alison.

I went into the second bedroom.

Theo answered my call on the second ring. “Dad!”

“Hey, buddy.” I sat back on the single bed, propping myself against the wall on a pillow.

“We went to feed the ducks,” Theo said.

“I know, I saw in the photo Mum sent through.”

Theo told me all about the different ducks he’d seen and the one that was cheeky enough to grab the bread from his hand.

After we’d exhausted all duck-related subjects, I used my camera to pan around the room, which I knew was where Theo slept when he came here. “Guess where I am?”

“Wanaka!” Theo said excitedly.

“Yup. I’m here with Uncle Luke. And Nan and Grandad are here too.”

“Guess what, Mum? Dad’s in Wanaka with Uncle Luke and Nan and Grandad!” Theo called out.

Suddenly Char’s face filled the screen. “You’re all in Wanaka? Why didn’t you tell me you were going? Theo and I would have loved to come.”

Shit. She looked hurt. Now I felt epically bad.

“It was an impromptu thing. I was trying to cheer Luke up, you know, after the breakup. And your parents turned up unexpectedly. I think they thought Luke had come by himself to mope.”

“How’s Luke doing with the whole Jonathan thing?” Char asked.

“Uh…he’s okay.”

Shit. Jonathan. In the aftermath of our kiss, I’d hardly given a thought to the fact Luke had just broken up from a long-term relationship.

Char hesitated, biting her lip. “I’m glad you’re around to help him,” she said finally.

“I’m trying my best.”

“Right, Theo, say goodnight to Dad because it’s time for you to put on your pajamas.”