Page 47 of The Perfect Distraction

Chapter Fourteen

“Miss Beth?”

She stood up as Joey and Colton entered the room.

“Hi, Joey,” she said a bit too loudly.

“Hi. Dad said you were here.”

“Yes. How was your time with your mom?”

Joey didn’t seem fazed by her presence, but she still felt uneasy. What would have happened if they hadn’t heard the car door?

He shrugged. “Pretty good.”

“Apparently, Joey tried to call me when we were at the beach to tell me he was coming home early. But since we were…busy…I forgot to check my phone,” Colton said.

She knew full well how “busy” they’d been. Even though Joey was his responsibility, she still felt guilty.

“I wish I could have gone to the beach too,” Joey said, plopping down on the couch.

“Shoes,” Colton reminded him.

“We could always go there again,” Beth offered, holding out her hands to take Joey’s sandals from him. It came naturally to her—taking care of kids. She walked over and set the shoes on the doormat while Colton looked on.

“I’m hungry,” Joey said.

“Didn’t you eat dinner at your mom’s?” Colton asked.

“No. She’s going out to dinner.”

Colton exchanged a knowing look with Beth and then said, “Well. What would you like to eat?”

“Pizza!”

“Since I don’t have anything prepared, I guess we could order a pizza.”

“Can Miss Beth eat dinner with us too?”

Beth looked from Joey to Colton and then nodded. “Sure, if you want me to.”

While they were waiting for the pizza to be delivered, they sat in the living room and talked. As was typical of kids his age, he gave scant details about the time he’d spent with his mom and seemed much more interested in what she and Colton had done.

Colton told him that they’d gone swimming and found a Petoskey stone, which prompted Joey to show Beth his collection.

“Wow,” she said as she sifted through the jar of stones. “These are beautiful.”

“Grandpa helped me polish them,” he said proudly. “He could polish your stone too.”

Colton squirmed in his chair, causing Beth to glance over at him, and he gave her a tight smile. After the initial shock of Joey’s arrival, she’d settled into having him there, yet Colton seemed to be growing more uncomfortable. Was there some reason why he didn’t want her to meet his family?

The pizza delivery brought an end to their discussion, and a few minutes later, they were sitting around the kitchen table, indulging in cheesy slices and sodas. After a while, Beth brought up the tutoring schedule she’d made.

“I’d like to meet with you on Monday if your dad says it’s okay,” she said, glancing from Joey to Colton.

“Should be fine,” Colton said around a bite of pizza.

Joey didn’t seem quite as enthused. “Do we have to go to the library again?”