Chapter 346: Chapter 346

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Menu I pressed my fingers against my temple and sighed. “Baby, Mommy can’t come right now. You know I have a job, right?”

From the other end, I heard Leo’s voice chiming in, slightly farther from the phone.

“Mom, if you don’t come with us, we’re going to cry.”

I bit my lower lip. My son sounded completely serious.

For the past ten minutes, my twins had been trying to convince me to join them on this trip. And truthfully, I wanted to. I missed them. But I had responsibilities–I had to be at the coffee shop. Taking more than a single day off just wasn’t an option.

“Mommy, everything is set,” Luna continued, her voice carrying a hint of mischief. “We talked to Dad, and he planned the whole vacation. He already gave us permission to go with you.”

I could only imagine how persistent they must have been to get Kane to agree to this. A pang of guilt settled in my chest. I didn’t want to disappoint them.

“It’s okay, Mommy,” Leo murmured, his voice quieter now. The call was still on speaker, making his words crystal clear. “If you don’t want to come, we understand.”

Closing my eyes, I exhaled deeply. “Baby, I’m really sorry. Just give me some time to figure things out, okay? I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

There was silence on the other end, and then–without another word–they hung up.

Frustration swelled inside me as I gripped my phone tightly.

After mulling it over for a few moments, I unlocked my screen and scrolled through my contacts, searching for Margot’s number.

Just as I was about to dial, my phone lit up with an incoming call from her.

I answered immediately. “Margot?”

“Hey, good morning,” she greeted.

“Morning. I was just getting ready to head to the shop.”

There was a brief pause before she spoke again.

“Selene, you don’t need to come in today.”

I blinked in surprise. “Why not?”

“The shop is going to be closed for the next four days.”

Confusion flickered through me. “Is everything okay?”

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Menu “Yeah, everything’s fine,” she assured me. “The shop is in my daughter’s name, and this morning, some people came by asking for paperwork. I had to call her about it. She’s coming back in three days, so we’ll reopen once she returns to the pack.”

I listened closely, absorbing her words. Margot’s daughter had been away for years–she hadn’t set foot in the pack for a long time.

At least this meant Margot would finally get to see her again. That was a silver lining.

“Don’t worry about anything,” I told her gently. “If you need help with anything, just let me know.”

“You’re so sweet,” she said warmly. “To me, you’re like a daughter. You know I’d never hesitate to ask.”

After we hung up, a wave of relief washed over me. I hadn’t even needed to request time off–I’d been given four whole days.

Smiling brightly, I immediately called my kids back.

Luna picked up, but her voice was laced with disappointment.

“Hello?”

“Baby, I’m coming with you two.”

“Really?” Her voice lifted into a singsong tone, the excitement unmistakable.

“Yeah, really.”

“Okay, Mommy! We’ll come pick you up tonight!”