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Becca nodded. She couldn’t imagine that Jacob would fall for Jamie’s trick – that he wouldn’t believe her. But the fact that he’d turned his phone off gave her the sinking feeling that she might have to accept that was exactly what had happened.
There was nothing she could do about it tonight. She knew that. If his phone wasn’t working for some other reason, then surely, he’d get a message to her somehow to say goodnight. If he didn’t then … then, as Callie said, she’d know.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Where’s Dad?” Becca asked when she finally showed her face in the kitchen on Sunday morning. She’d barely slept, and she knew that she looked a mess.
She’d only fallen asleep a couple of hours ago. Before that, she’d lain in bed for hours, alternately crying and pulling herself together – clinging to the belief that she was overreacting to the whole thing. It had occurred to her around three o’clock this morning that she could call Slade, but she’d decided against it. For one thing, it was the middle of the night, and for another, she didn’t think Jacob would appreciate her bringing other people into it.
Maybe Jamie hadn’t even sent that stupid photo to Jacob. Or maybe Jacob hadn’t seen it if he did. Or maybe … maybe she didn’t know what reason there could be that Jacob hadn’t answered her last night. He hadn’t even replied to her texts. She’d seen that he’d sent one asking if she wanted to chat before she went to bed, but that had come in before everything happened with Jamie.
Ugh. That man was an asshole! She was going to call the agency today, no matter what. Even if Jacob believed that that photo was real and … she sniffed, and if he was done with her because of it. No! She refused to believe that was possible. Jacob loved her; she knew he did.
Her mom gave her a weird look. “Morning, Becs. Are you okay?”
Becca tried to smile and nodded. “I will be. Where’s Dad?”
It was strange that he wasn’t here in the kitchen. It had been a family tradition ever since Becca could remember, that her dad hung out in the kitchen with her mom on Sunday mornings after he was done with his early chores. Her mom made breakfast, and her dad hung out and read the paper.
Her mom shrugged and turned back to the stove. “He had to run out. He’ll be back. Do you want some breakfast?”
“Not yet, thanks.” She didn’t want to say that she wasn’t hungry – couldn’t stand the thought of eating. That’d give away that there was something wrong – something very wrong. She wasn’t going to be able to put it off for too long, though. Jacob was supposed to be arriving in a couple of hours. Since he still hadn’t answered her, Becca had no idea if he was still coming.
She blew out a sigh.
“Anything you want to tell me about?” her mom asked.
Becca shook her head slowly. She wanted to talk to her; she’d always been able to talk to her mom – and her dad. But she wanted to hang on to hope for as long as she could. Maybe there was some other explanation for Jacob’s silence, and he was still coming. If he wasn’t, she was going to have to tell her folks what had happened soon enough. Her heart sank. If Jacob didn’t come, she was going to have to figure out how on Earth she was going to get back in time for school tomorrow. She swallowed – she was going to have to figure out a lot more than that, too. If Jacob was done with her because he believed Jamie, she was going to have to find a place to stay and … She closed her eyes. She couldn’t face it. She could figure out the practical details of her life if Jacob was done with her – she could handle that. What she couldn’t face was the thought of a future without him. God, she loved that man.
“Where’s Dad gone?” she asked again, more to distract herself than anything else.
Her mom slid a plate of bacon and eggs in front of her. “Here you go. You need to eat something. He should be back in half an hour or so. You should probably take a shower and get dressed. Put some makeup on, make yourself feel better.”
“I’m fine.”
Her mom raised her eyebrows.
“I will be. You’re right. I’ll go up and get dressed.”
Her mom patted her hand. Everything’s going to be okay, Becs.”
Becca stared at her. Did she know somehow? It felt like she did. Becca almost sat back down to tell her all about it, but she thought better of it. If she did that, she’d only have to go through it all again when her dad came home. She’d be better off getting showered and dressed, and like her mom said, putting some makeup on. She might not feel ready to face whatever today was about to throw at her, but she could make herself look as if she was. She looked down at the plate in front of her.
“I can’t, Mom. I’m sorry.”
“That’s okay. Go and get dressed.”
~ ~ ~
“Thanks, guys.”
Jacob shook hands with Trick and Ollie before he exited the plane. They’d gone above and beyond for him this morning, getting him out here even earlier than they’d planned. He hadn’t been able to wait. He’d barely slept last night. If he’d been able to get a commercial flight that would have brought him any earlier, he would have taken it.
But of course, there hadn’t been any flights that would have gotten him here earlier than this. There hadn’t been any place open where he could buy himself a replacement phone, either. He could maybe have gotten one of those disposable ones, but that wouldn’t have helped him anyway. He needed to get one from his carrier – so that he’d be able to get his contacts imported. He hated the fact that he’d never memorized Becca’s number. He’d typed it into his phone that night after the carol concert, but he’d saved it and never given it another thought.
It had finally struck him in the early hours of this morning, that Becca’s folks were the kind who would still have a landline. A quick search on the Internet had shown that in a place with a population of – according to the Internet – roughly twenty-five thousand people, only twenty-three of them were listed with the last name Taylor. He was tempted to work his way down the list and call every last one of them. But he knew he’d hit the jackpot when he saw Chuck and Darlene at Taylor Farms. That had to be them. His hands had been shaking when he dialed the number, but relief had washed over him as he recognized Becca’s dad’s voice when he answered.
That had been a tough conversation, but it had led to him calling Trick and asking how soon they could be in the air. He felt bad dragging Trick out of bed early after the day he’d had yesterday, but he was giving him the next week off – and the plane for him and Elliott to do as they pleased. Even if that weren’t the case, Trick was a friend, a friend he knew he could rely on if he needed him – and today, he needed him.
