“Gillian.” His voice explodes down the line. “What the hell is going on? Is this true? Where is my son?”

Nerves pool in the pit of my stomach.

“Dennis—”

“Are you actually in Miami?”

“Dennis, listen to me. Yes, we’re in Miami. Mom’s here, and me, and we brought Sam. He’s fine. Everything’s—”

“What the hell were you thinking, Gillian? This is unacceptable. I left him with you because I trusted you! I did not give you permission for this!”

I swallow, and glance up at Mom, who’s staring at me open-mouthed. I’m guessing at the volume Dennis is speaking, she can hear every word too.

“I know, Dennis…it was a decision we had to make quickly. It’s only for a day. They’ll likely be back to Westchester before you are—”

“That is not the point, Gillian. You’re just, just enabling your sister’s insane schemes…This is the last thing my son needs right now.” He barely catches his breath between words. “I expected more from you, Gillian; I thought there was at least one sane person in that family. Can you imagine? I wake up here, check my flight updates, and what do I see? This message from your sister, telling me my son’s halfway to Florida. You’re lucky I don’t have you arrested for kidnapping!”

My jaw drops. Is that even possible? No one asked if we had Sam’s parents’ consent when we got on the plane. It was just a domestic flight…

“Dennis…” I don’t know where to begin trying to talk him down, and I’m not even sure I should try. “I can understand it’s been a shock, but I don’t think I betrayed your trust. We—we wanted to get him home in time for your return and the school term so we made a bit of a snap decision. Sam’s the one who was so set on coming here.”

“And since when do ten-year-olds get to make executive decisions about their lives?” Dennis snaps.

“I—I think it’s important, don’t you? This news has been a shock”—I look over at Mom—“for all of us, and this could really help…”

“Introducing him to some deadbeat alcoholic,” Dennis says.

“I…” I don’t know what to say to that. It’s not that I have any particular loyalty to Lorna, but she was Dad’s sister. And she’s Abigail’s birth mother, and Sam’s biological grandmother.

“She had an alcohol problem, Dennis. That doesn’t make her a bad person.”

“That woman,” he says, voice trembling with rage, “is not family. She has no right to be in my son’s life.”

“Well, this isn’t about her,” I say, surprising myself with an answering fierceness. “This is about Sam—”