She stepped back and let him close the door. He reversed out of the parking spot and sped away.
Krissa pressed her hand to her mouth and watched his car pull out of the parking lot onto Ocean Drive. Should he be driving right now?
A mother carried a baby in a car seat past Krissa and into the clinic. Did that mother even know how lucky she was?
A man walked out of the building, studying a prescription. Probably something that would make him better, whatever his problem was.
Nothing would fix this problem.
And now she was supposed to go meet with a client? Jesus. Her world had just been shaken as if a six-point-O tremor had rocked the San Andreas Fault just behind those mountains over there, and she had to go talk about employee rewards and incentives.
She turned, searching for her car, momentarily unable to remember where she’d parked it. She pushed her hair back off her face, her silk blouse sticking to her back beneath her suit jacket. She started walking, blindly, heels clicking on the pavement.
She paused, blinking, looking around her. Lord, she’d walked right past her car.
She sat in the car for long moments, her head feeling like a bubble.
It was good to have an answer. To finally know. They’d talk. They’d figure out what they were going to do next.
She blew out a breath, pointed the air conditioning vent directly at her hot face, and drove to her meeting at Phoenix Insurance to discuss her plan to help improve their staff morale.
He wasn’t answering his cell phone.
Krissa ended the call and dropped her phone to the counter.
After her meeting at Phoenix, she’d gone home, changed into shorts and a tank top, then made dinner. She had no interest in eating, but still she’d prepared one of Derek’s favorites—beef bourguignon, with little potatoes and a salad. The beef slow cooking in the oven filled the house with the rich aroma of herbs and red wine…but he still wasn’t home to eat it.
Where the hell was he? He hadn’t mentioned any client meetings tonight. She glanced at her watch again and sighed.
She wandered across the kitchen, terra cotta tiles cool beneath her bare feet, and stood at the sliding glass doors onto the deck. She stared at the Pacific Ocean. Evening sun glinted off the waves, whitecaps dotting the intense stretch of azure from foamy shore to hazy horizon.
The time when she needed him, when they should be together, bolstering each other, reassuring each other, Derek had done another vanishing act. Poof. Krissa swallowed painfully and leaned her forehead against cool, smooth glass. She needed him. Needed to know he was okay. Needed to knowtheywere okay.
The phone rang.
She turned and ran for it, almost tripping over the table. “Derek?”
“Uh…no. It’s Nate.”
Krissa blinked. “Nate.”
“Yeah. I gather Derek’s not there?”
“Um, no.” Her mind spun uselessly. Nate…omigod. She’d completely forgotten Nate was arriving tonight.
“He was supposed to pick me up at the airport,” Nate continued, amusement coloring his voice. “Where the hell is he?”
“I wish I knew.” Her heart thudded slowly in her chest. “I’m sorry, Nate. I was expecting him home for dinner and he hasn’t shown up yet. I completely forgot about you.”
“Well. Thanks so much.”
“No…I’m sorry. I just…” What to tell him? Her mind was a big empty space, full of nothing but pain, longing and fear, with no room for remembering details of daily life like Derek’s old friend arriving to stay with them.
“I’ve been calling his cell phone and he’s not answering. He must have forgotten, too.”
“Nice.” Now a touch of annoyance edged his voice.
“I’m so sorry. Look, I’ll come get you. It’ll take me twenty minutes to get there.”
