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“You mean it’s easier to fix something when you weren’t the one who screwed it up?”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’ve bailed me out enough times.”
Marcos shrugged. “No need to dwell on it all, I guess. You’ve given me a fresh start. I’m going to make the most of it.”
“Do you know where you’ll go?”
“I’m going to start in Rome, then maybe Paris, London. I don’t know. I want to see some city life for a while.”
“Don’t forget San Francisco.”
He smiled. “I’ll come see you when I’m ready. I need to get right with myself first.”
“No pressure. Just know I’ll be waiting impatiently.”
Marcos laughed. “You’ll forget all about me when you get back to Mary Ellen.”
“You may be right there.” He looked at his watch. “I might go and give her a call, tell her I’m coming home.”
“You do that. Give her my best, tell her thanks for letting me borrow you and sorry about the timing.”
Antonio smiled and walked away to make the call. The phone made the usual clicks and tones as it made the international connection and then he heard it ring. It only rang once and then went straight to voicemail. That was odd. He checked his watch. It was ten here, which meant it was two in the afternoon there. Maybe she was in a meeting?
He hung up and tried again. Maybe it was the connection that hadn’t gone through somehow? Nope. It went straight to voicemail this time, too. “Hey, bella. I miss you. I wanted to hear your voice. I’m going to bed soon. I guess you’re busy. I’ll call you tomorrow. I love you.” He hung up and went back into the house. That was the first time he’d missed her when he called. He didn’t like it.
When he woke up in the morning, the first thing he did was check his phone. He smiled when he saw a text from her.
Sorry I missed you. I had to go home.
I’ll call you when I get chance.
Love you. Oxo
He frowned and sat up in bed. Home? Did that mean she’d gone back to Ohio? Why? He tapped out a reply.
Is everything OK?
He stared at his phone for a few minutes, waiting for her reply, but it didn’t come. He got up and headed for the shower, feeling uneasy. He hoped her parents were okay.
He checked his phone again as soon as he stepped out of the shower and went to sit on the bed in his towel to read her reply.
Sorry. I’m pissed! My mom made it sound like there
was something up with my dad so I rushed back here.
He’s fine! It turns out David’s here and she wanted me
to see him. He fed her some bullshit about how he made
a big mistake and wants me back. I’ve told her, and I’ve told
him – I’m not interested! I’ll call you in the morning.
Antonio scowled. He didn’t want to wait. The time difference was a pain in the ass. He looked at his watch. Seven-thirty here was ten-thirty in California. But wait. She was in Ohio, that was Eastern time, so it would be one-thirty. Why was she up at one-thirty in the morning? He pressed his lips together. Was she with David? She said she’d told him she wasn’t interested—so, she’d seen him. Had she been out with him?
He stared at his phone. He wanted to call her and ask what was going on, but he shook his head. This was one time when he needed to be patient. He had to wait for her to call and tell him all about it. He picked up his towel and dried himself off. He had to keep pushing away thoughts that she was with David. It was crazy; it was just jealousy and there was no reason for it. She’d told him about it. It wasn’t like she was trying to hide anything from him.
He got dressed and ran downstairs. He was going to have to do something to occupy himself. He’d drive himself nuts otherwise.
