AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“So you feel like you can live with this?” I asked him.
He rubbed his neck and nodded.
“You know, now we’ll never know where she is,” I realized.
“Did you ever think you’d know?”
“I guess not.”
He passed me my tea and I sipped it, and we stood there in silence. What he had done would either cement us together for eternity, or divide us in a way that could never be healed. I was not sure which.
Chapter 58
“Hel-lo! How’s the mommy to be?” asked Alexa.
I looked at the clock. It was six o’clock in the morning, which meant it was five in Madison. I sat up in bed and moved the phone to my other ear while Adrian continued to doze beside me.
“Hi Alexa. Is everything o
kay?”
“Sure.” There was a crunching sound like an apple being bitten into, followed by muffled chewing. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”
“Umm, a little bit. What’s going on?”
“I need to come to Savannah. It’s getting cold here. I need a break so I can focus on my book. I was thinking November. That would be perfect for you two because then you can celebrate Thanksgiving with everyone, and I won’t have to.” She laughed and took another bite.
“You need a break to read?”
“No,” she said, exasperated. “I’m writing a book. Two books, actually. The coffee table book I told you about last time I saw you, and a new book. But neither is going as well as I had hoped. So we need to switch. Okay? Is Adrian there? Put Adrian on.”
I looked over at him. He was still breathing deeply, but looked like he was faking it. I poked his shoulder and set the phone against his face.
“Hmmm?” he asked.
“It’s your sister.”
I got up and went into the bathroom, but I could still hear Adrian’s side of the conversation. His voice was slurred and sleepy: “Why are you calling this early? …November is three days away. …Are you coked up or why are you talking like a maniac? …I am going back to sleep, call me when it’s daytime. …In March. Mid-March. Saint Patrick’s Day, I think. … No we don’t know its name. …I don’t know if pregnant women can fly or not. …Okay, I am going back to sleep now. …Goodbye. …Alexa, call me later. …Bye.”
I came out of the bathroom and put the phone back where it belonged. Then I got back in bed beside Adrian, but without touching him. He did not reach for me. It had turned out that if I pushed him away enough times, he eventually stopped trying.
“Are we going to Madison?” I asked.
He just grunted.
“Adrian, are we going to Madison?”
“I guess so,” he said.
“I don’t want to.”
He grunted again.
“Tell her we need more notice.”
“Shhh, go back to sleep,” he said.
I pulled the covers up around me, so just my nose and eyes were uncovered.
