Page 41 of It Was Always You

"Everything okay?" I heard Jen ask from outside thedoor.

"Yeah." I pulled the door open and walked out of the bathroom. "We have to wait three minutes before the result. You couldn't have gotten an instant one?" I asked, flopping onto the bed and running my hands over my face. "Is this your form oftorture?"

"Oh relax. I'm sure you’re most likely just stressed. We are just ruling this out," she said, grinning atme.

I buried my face under my arms and took a deep breath. "I miss him,Jen."

“You haven't heard from himyet?"

"No, he called the other night while I was sleeping, but he didn't leave a message, and he didn't answer when I tried calling him back. What if he never returns my calls again?" I began tocry.

"I'm sure he will. I mean, he has been waiting for you for all theseyears."

"My God, stop. You sound like Elliott. Now I know you have been hanging around him toolong."

"I have not. It’s the truth,Tatum."

Rolling my eyes, I got up from the bed and walked into the bathroom. Looking down at the test on the counter, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I wiped at both eyes and looked again. A lump formed in my throat and tears burned my eyes. There in the little window sat two pink, perfect littlelines.

"Did you hear what I said?" I heard Jen ask from behind me, but I didn't answer. I just kept staring down at the counter. "Tatum? What isit?"

I pointed to the test. "It’s… It’s got to be wrong," I said, holding it up so she could see it. Her eyes left my face and went down to my hands. "Right? It’s got to be wrong, right?" The panic built in me the longer she didn't answer. "Jen, saysomething?"

"I don't know what to say, Tatum. Maybe it’s faulty." She picked it up and looked at it. "I can run down to the store and grab another. Don't panic. I'll be rightback"

Jen was back in ten minutes. I still hadn't moved from my spot, still staring at that little window in my hand. I took the second test, this one a rapid response so I didn't need to wait, and again, the result waspositive.

"You and your damn ideas." I flopped down on the bed and broke into a full-on cry. Jen came over and sat at the end of thebed.

"It’s going to be okay, you know," she spoke quietly, smoothing myhair.

"Oh, Jen, what am I going to do?" Isobbed.

"Well, first you need to tellParker."

"I was afraid you were going to say that. Please, whatever you do, don't tell Elliott. I want Parker to hear it from me, nothim."

"You have myword."

I took a break fromthe paperwork that needed to be finished for Monday morning and decided to watch TV. There was never anything on Sunday nights, and I flipped through the channels trying to find anything that would take my mind offeverything.

I picked up my cell and, with a deep breath, dialed Parker. Again, it went straight to voicemail. He must be working or ignoring me. I hung up as soon as the machine came on. Why was I being such acoward?

Another deep breath, another dial, and again my call went straight to voice mail. This time, I decided to leave a message. "Hey, it's me. Can you please call me as soon as you get my message? We need to talk." I exhaled as soon as I put the phone down. Who would have thought that would have been such a hard call tomake?

Shutting the TV off, I grabbed my phone and laptop and climbed into bed and continued working while I waited for hiscall.

Monday afternoon, on my wayto work, I checked my voice mail. I had been working a ton of overtime, which was a good thing because as soon as I sat still, my thoughts went to Tatum. At this point, anything to keep her out of my mind was a good thing. It hadn't been one of my smartest moves, to run out on her without giving her a chance to explain, but I was so hurt at the thought of losing her again, I didn't have a choice—my flight response had won. But now all I wanted to do was hear her sexy, sweetvoice.

I had decided to shut my phone off last night, so I could get my paperwork caught up before leaving the station. I was even more frustrated with myself when I turned my phone on and found I had missed a call from her. She had called me a few times throughout the week, and I had wanted to return those calls, but by the time work was finished, it was way too late. But last night was the first night she had finally left a message, and she soundedstressed.

I pulled into the parking lot at work and saw my phone flashing with an incoming call from thestation.

"Harrison."

"Hey, Parker, it’s Randy. I was going over some releases and thought you'd be very interested to know that the guy who assaulted Tatum isout."

"What?When?"

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