Hey. Just checking in. Wanted to make sure you made it safely. Call me, okay?
I tried to go back to work, but my mind kept wandering back to Beckett. I eventually gave up, curling up against the panes of my bay window to watch the ships as they crossed the waters at night.
I nearly jumped out of my skin when my phone rang sometime after two in the morning. The relief I felt when I saw his name on the small screen was immeasurable.
“Hey, you.” I was proud of myself for sounding so calm.
At first, Beckett didn’t say anything. I could hear him breathing on the other end, but it didn’t sound relaxed at all.
“Beckett?” I waited, but he still didn’t say anything. “Baby, talk to me. What’s wrong?”
“Harper’s sick,” he said in a choked voice. “She’s in the hospital.”
“Oh, no, what happened?”
“Appendix, I think they said. She had to have surgery.”
“Is she okay?”
“I think so.” His voice lacked the confidence I’d grown to expect from him, which had me clutching the phone a little tighter with unease. Beckett’s career depended on him knowing the details, so his uncertainty rattled me.
“Beckett, you’re really worrying me. Is it just Harper, or are you upset about something else?”
“I just…” I heard him take a deep breath, but he couldn’t finish the sentence. “Fuck, Ry, I…”
I’d only ever heard him this upset once before. The day he found out his mom failed her third and final drug test, surrendering her rights to him forever. I couldn’t imagine what would be causing him this much distress.
Doubt reared its ugly head, grabbing me in its snare.Was it last night?Was Beckett regretting what we did? No, it couldn’t be. He’d felt it, too.Hadn’t he?
“Please talk, baby. You’re starting to scare me,” I said.
“I gotta go.”
“Beck, no—” I started to protest, but he already hung up. I tried to call him back right away, but it went straight to voicemail. My insides were churning, and I tried to calm myself down by working through the facts.
His niece is sick and in the hospital.
She had surgery, but she’s okay.
Beck’s just upset, because he loves her…right?
Even if all that was true, my gut told me there was something else going on, but I didn’t have a clue what it could be.
I tried to call Amelia, needingsomeoneto talk to, but she didn’t answer either. Tears pricked my eyes as I tried Beckett one more time, before shooting him a text.I’ll keep my phone on. Just call if you need me. Anytime, day or night. I’m here for you.
I didn’t know what else I could do besides wait for an update, so I dragged myself upstairs to bed. I couldn’t sleep though, not with the scent of our lovemaking so potent on the sheets. I missed Beckett like crazy and was making myself sick with worry.
As soon as the first tinge of pink from the morning’s sunrise began to shine through my windows, I took a shower and threw on an oversized sweater, heading into town. I ran into Gerald Monroe, the city’s councilman. He stopped to talk to me about a project he had in mind for the upcoming historical museum. I took as many notes as I could, but my heart just wasn’t into the conversation and my mind was too busy worrying about Beckett to concentrate. I finally asked if we could arrange a time to talk about the order in further detail later. It sounded like it would be a big project, and a fun one, too.
I walked a half mile down the street to Amelia’s home and knocked several times. I could see lights on, so I knew she was home. When she didn’t answer, I finally dug the spare key out from its secret hiding spot near the outdoor faucet and let myself in.
“Ames?” I called, but there was no answer. The air was frigid, like she had cranked the AC during our heat spell a few days ago and forgotten to turn it back down. “Amelia?”
Concern bloomed in my chest when I still didn’t hear any sounds in the small house. I made my way down the hall toward her room, and nearly collapsed in fear when I saw her on the bed, limp and motionless in a position that told me shehadn’tjust been sleeping.
“Amelia!” I gasped, rushing over to her.
She weakly tried to bat my hand away, mumbling for me to go away. Her freshly dyed red hair clung to her sweat dampened face, and I reached to brush some of it away. That’s when I saw the bottle of pills on her bedside table, cap undone. Ice cold fear shot through my veins and I shook my friend, trying to rouse her.
