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“Skylar. Did you hear me?”
She blinked at Annie glaring at her in the doorway. Crap. “No. Thinking about something else. Sorry. What’s up?”
“Phone. Line two.”
“Thanks.” She picked up the receiver and hit the flashing button. “This is Skylar Ellison.”
“Where the f**k is my wife?”
“Excuse me?”
“Don’t play stupid. Where’s my wife? And my kid?”
“Who is this?”
“You know goddamn good and well who it is. Now lemme talk to that bitch Nadia right f**kin’ now.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but Nadia isn’t here.”
“The f**k she ain’t. She ain’t been home in three damn days. The only places she ever goes is work and home and she sure as shit ain’t here.”
She forced herself to stay calm. “I suggest if you think your wife is missing, you contact the sheriff’s department and file a missing person’s report.” Skylar hung up.
Jesus. That man was a piece of work.
Nadia’s words, they’re all just like him, rang in her head.
Wrong. Kade wasn’t like that. Not at all. He’d never shown a single sign of violent behavior.
She looked around her office and groaned. She’d fallen behind since Eliza’s birth in keeping up with the piles of paper clutter. A dozen cardboard boxes were stacked against the wall. Suppliers’ catalogues, trade magazines, junk mail, all stuff she needed to go through before she tossed it in the shredder.
Wasn’t she the boss? Couldn’t she make someone else do the drudgework for a change? Congratulating herself on her sneaky cleverness, Sky dialed Annie’s extension and said sweetly, “Could I see you for a minute?”
Annie swung open the door, propped herself against the doorjamb. “I know that look, boss. No way. You’ve been puttin’ off cleanin’ this office for two months. I ain’t doin’ it for you.”
“Dammit. How did you know? Please? I’ll pay you extra.”
“Huh-uh, not worth it. Besides, I already went through all this junk once and sloughed it off to you because I didn’t know what the hell to do with it.”
“That sucks.”
“Buck up, little camper. This is why you get paid the big bucks. Don’t forget, tomorrow is your day in the kiddie ward and you ain’t passin’ that off on me, neither.”
“Why did I hire you again?”
“Because I’m a snappy dresser and I can smell bullshit a mile away.”
“Speaking of bullshit…The last phone call. Did you know that was Nadia’s husband?”
“Yeah. Caller ID. Third time he’s called today, but he finally asked for you.” Her eyes glittered. “Mean motherfucker needs to die. I offered to help Nadia pull a ‘Good-bye Earl’ on him, but she wouldn’t go for it.”
“You offered to kill the man with poisoned black-eyed peas?”
Annie grinned. “Or a poison kiss with a black powder Smith and Wesson. Whatever works.”
Sky shook her head. “Forget I asked.”
With a resigned sigh, Skylar plopped on the floor in front of the first box. An hour later ninety-nine percent of it was in the trash. She eyed the other eleven boxes. Maybe she ought to save herself a bunch of time and just chuck the whole works.
Nah. If she tackled one box a day, she’d be done in two weeks. Easy. Doable.
A visit to check on Eliza in daycare and she returned to work, steering clear of any more distracting wet daydreams about her favorite naked cowboy.
Kade returned home later than usual. Quieter than usual too. Looking exhausted again. He changed into an outfit similar to hers, ratty sweat shorts and a tank top since they were both out of clean clothes. He lavished attention on Eliza while Skylar caught up on mountains of laundry. They were running low on baby supplies and groceries.
She frowned. When was the last time she’d been to the store to stock up? At least a month ago. Before Kade moved in.
Had Kade ever picked up diapers and formula? She wandered into the living room and saw Eliza on a blanket on the floor and Kade lying on his side next to her.
He said, “I think she’s gonna roll over soon.”
“She’s too young.”
“Not accordin’ to Brazelton. Lookit how fast she’s kickin’ them legs. Any time now she’s gonna be rockin’ and rollin’, ain’t you, baby girl?”
Eliza grinned and made a goo noise.
That girl was shameless when it came to charming her daddy.
“You know, I think she’s teethin’, that’s why she’s been so cranky.”
“Could be.”
“Isn’t she supposed to be gettin’ another round of shots at four months?”
“Yeah. I haven’t made the appointment yet.”
“Huh. Well, we don’t want her fallin’ behind schedule. Be best if it was taken care of right away.”
Skylar crossed her arms over her chest. “Why don’t you take care of it? Eliza sees Dr. Monroe. She’s in Moorcroft. Set it up in one of the convenient Monday through Friday, nine-to-five timeslots, wait with other sick kids for two hours for an appointment that lasts ten minutes. This time you can hold her when she screams as they poke needles in her legs, since I know how much you love needles. And you can walk the floor with her for two days afterward because the shots always make her sick and cranky.”
“Hey, now. Don’t get defensive. I was just sayin’—”
“I know exactly what you were saying, Kade. You want to be involved with every little thing? Here’s your chance. And while you’re at it, why don’t you pick up diapers and formula because we’re almost out. And we’re running low on food and laundry soap and cleaning supplies and everything else it takes to run this household.” She spun on her heel and stomped to the laundry room.
Thwack. She threw the sopping wet clothes in the dryer. Stupid spin cycle wasn’t working. Might as well wring the damn clothes out by hand or it’d take forever for the load to dry. She couldn’t hang them outside since it was still raining.
By the time she’d squeezed out the excess water in the laundry tub, hung up the drip-dry items, started another load and swept up the last of the powdered detergent she’d spilled all over the floor in her fit of anger, Skylar had calmed down some. And realized she’d been a total jerk to Kade. The man always did everything she’d asked, a lot of times he did things before she even thought of them. He was nothing but sweet and cheerful, helpful and kind to her and to Eliza, and she’d snapped at him like a fishwife.
