AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’ve never known him to spend more than a few nights with anyone,” he said.
Sam laughed and walked out of the kitchen. As I heard him jog up the steps, I sat there at the table. His words hung heavy in the air behind him.
Iwenttosleepsoon after, but my dreams were restless and ridden with anxiety. I dreamed I was walking down a dark road at night, looking out for Jake. But he wasn’t there. I kept hearing his voice and reading text messages from him, telling me he’d be just around the next bend or right around the corner. But he was never there. By the time I woke up naturally around 6:30 a.m., I was sweating.
Jake and I were supposed to be flying to Grand Cayman that evening, but by midday. he still hadn’t called me. I tentatively packed my bag, but the truth was that I still didn’t know how things stood between us. I zipped up the bag and left it by the doorway. If he called, I would be here, waiting for him. I silently cursed myself for bringing up Jake in front of my brother. Sam’s comments about Jake’s past had put a lot of doubts in my mind.
While I sat with some eggs and a cup of coffee, my phone rang.Jake!I picked it up but didn’t recognize the number on the screen. Who could it be?
“Hi?” I said, answering the phone.
“Good morning!” said a familiarly airy, shrill voice. “Is that you, Alicia?”
“It is,” I said uncertainly. “Who’s speaking?”
“This is Dr. Knightly. Your doctor. You remember me, right?”
“Oh, of course. Good morning, Dr. Knightly. What is it?”
“Well, as you may know, Alicia, last time we were together I took a blood sample. I wanted to see if you could come over. I want to do some more blood work.”
Blood test?I remembered the test, for sure.
“Is something wrong? Am I – is the baby okay?”
“I think we should discuss it at the appointment, don’t you think?”
“Sure. What day did you have in mind?”
There was a pause. “Today,” said Dr. Knightly.
My heart leaped in my chest.Is it that bad? Is my baby going to be okay?
“I’m supposed to be flying to Grand Cayman this evening …” I said uncertainly.
“Alicia,” said Dr. Knightly, “I have to impress on you how urgent it is that I see you. You really can’t come today?”
“Okay,” I said, trying not to panic. “I’ll be there at 2:30 p.m.
“Excellent. I’ll see you then.”
I put the phone down, feeling sick with fear.
Chapter 12
Jake
Weweresupposedtobe flying out to Grand Cayman at 4:30 p.m. that day, but it was a day that didn’t seem to want to end. I was in meetings, writing emails, and looking at financial statements all morning. I hadn’t even stopped for lunch when, at 2:30 p.m., I tried to call Alicia from my office. Alicia always answered her phone. Unless, of course, she was in the air.
I was confused. Logging into the company schedule, I noticed that she wasn’t scheduled to work today.
I went into personnel and spoke to Caroline.
“Caroline, can you find out if Alicia Matlock is on a crew log at all today?”
Caroline typed into the computer.
“No, she’s not working today.”
