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“What’s the problem?” I ask. “Did she say?”
She shrugs. “She wants you to call back. She said it was urgent.”
Tenley gives me a concerned look as I get up and go outside, grabbing my cell phone from my pocket. I switch it on and go into a stairwell before making the call.
“Mrs. Johnson. It’s Brooks Gentry. You called about Jace?”
“Yes, he threw up today at recess. He has a little fever. He’s with the nurse now, but he needs to be picked up within the hour.”
“I see,” I say, relieved that’s all it is. This should be no problem. Ellie can go and pick him up. Which reminds me. “Ellie should be able to—”
“I called your sister. Three or four times. There was no answer.”
Shit. She was still drunk this morning and smelled like a human Oktoberfest. I don’t know when she stumbled to bed, since I was chatting with my stranger, but if it’s like the past few times she’s gone out, it was probably after four.
She could be sound asleep. But this late? My mind goes to all sorts of bad outcomes. Traffic accident. Alcohol poisoning. I’ve heard of that, of people going to sleep after a long night of drinking and never waking up. Or someone could have slipped something into her drink and she’s out cold. “All right. Tell him to hold tight. I’ll be there.”
I end the call and try my sister. Once, twice. Nothing.
My mind spirals to an image of her lying cold and dead in her bedroom.
And here I am, at work, as if nothing’s wrong.
The alarm bells going off inside build as I go to my office, grabbing my things in a whirlwind. As I’m about to leave, Tenley pokes her head in. “Half day?”
I ignore the fact that she seems so triumphant over giving me a dose of my own medicine and shake my head. “Emergency at home.”
She leans against the jamb. “Really.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Because, color me shocked, but it sounds like she doesn’t believe me.
She shrugs. “It’s just funny how conveniently you get called away for an emergency, right when we have all those depositions to slog through.”
I suck the inside of my cheek. I don’t have time for this. And I know what that look she’s giving me means, but I don’t have time to give her an explanation, nor do I need to. It’s a private family matter.
“I’m working from home the rest of the day. Call me if you need me.” I stalk over to the conference room and pile the giant binder into my arms, then turn around to find her watching me. I maneuver past her, trying to tuck the unwieldy thing under my arm. “I’ll be back in tomorrow bright and early with my thoughts.”
She says nothing, though she doesn’t have to—her stiff posture says it all, but she can believe what she wants. I know she thinks I’m a slacker who’s always had it easy, but I don’t have to prove anything to her. Despite our miniature heart-to-heart earlier, when I swore she was looking at me in a totally different way than ever before, she’s not as unthawed around me as I’d hoped.
If she only knew that I never talk about my past to anyone.
At least, not in a professional setting.
Honestly, I’m surprised I opened up to her at all. I was just thinking about the Perry kids, and how awful this divorce could go for them, and I guess I was musing out loud.
I’m waiting for the elevator, when I catch her still sitting in the conference room, watching me, a look of mild concern on her face. It’s small, but it could be a sign she’s wondering if she misjudged me. Or maybe she’s trying to figure out what she thinks of me, processing what she wants to believe with what she’s starting to see.
Either way, I don’t have time to think about it.
I manage to wrangle the binder from Hell into my car and drive all the way to the school, picking up my ailing nephew from the nurse’s office, who falls like a rag doll into my arms.
Once he’s in the car, Jace leans his head back, breathing hard. I put a hand on his forehead. He’s hot, clammy. I don’t have a barf bag and he looks like he might puke again. “Just take it easy, Bud. I’ll get you home in a jiff.”
I do, thankfully, without incident. Gathering the kid’s dead weight into my arms, I go to the front door and push it open, looking around.
No Ellie.
The place is exactly as I left it.
“Brooks?” Jace moans, his eyes closed, his breath hot on my neck.
“Yeah. I’m here. Let me get you to bed.”
He mumbles something as I’m bringing him upstairs.
“What’s that?” I ask.
