Jack still held her hand and her awareness of him was at an all-time high. He rubbed his thumb over her fingers. “No, Callie, thankyou. For allowing me to stay a little longer today. Now go get that bacon.”
She let his hand fall and leaned down to kiss Jonathan on the head. Jack looked envious. “Sweetheart, Mommy’s going to run to the store. You can stay here with daddy. Is that good with you?”
The boy shoved another handful of cereal in his mouth and nodded. Then he leaned back and looked up at his father, feeding him a few bites of cereal. The look in his eyes was filled with adoration and Callie nearly cried. Why couldn’t they be together all the time? Jonathan needed his father in his life. She wouldn’t even admit, though, how much she needed him too.
* * * *
Callie had been gone for about fifteen minutes when the phone rang. Jonathan looked up at Jack, maybe thinking he would get up to answer it. Ruffling the boy’s hair, he said, “We’ll let the machine get it. It’s probably someone for Mommy.”
The answering machine clicked on and Callie’s sweet voice asked the caller to leave a message. The voice that responded was one Jack hadn’t heard in a while. One he never wanted to hear again. Victor Cabrini.
“Callina, I believe I dropped a cufflink at your house yesterday during Jonathan’s party. I’m on my way up to Boston for the week and thought I would stop in and see if I could find it. It was one that my wife gave me right before she passed. I’d hate to lose it. Hopefully you’re there and I’ll be able to check. I’m a few minutes from the house. I’ll see you then,”
The blood in Jack’s veins turned to ice. He needed to leave and fast. Victor couldn’t see him here. The man still had no knowledge that he and Callie had been together and he couldn’t know. All three of them would be in danger if he did. He glanced down at Jonathan who was bopping his head to the music on the show he was watching. What would he do with his son?
“Hey, pal, let’s go for a little walk. We can watch the rest of the show later.”
Jack lowered the foot of the recliner and shoved his feet into the work boots sitting next to it. Jonathan needed shoes too. As he reached down to tie his shoes, he heard a car pull up in front of the house. He peeked out the front window. Victor’s limo. Shit. Out of time.
