Page 149 of A Dangerous Kind of Love

“Katie?” he says, reaching for it.

He takes it from me, his voice shifting as he brings it to his ear. “Hello?”

I don’t hear what’s said next. I get up and walk to the end of the table, each step slow and automatic, like my body’s moving without me. Sarah’s beside me now, saying something. I stand there, staring straight ahead, the world coming back in pieces that don’t quite fit together.

“Katie?” Her hands are on my shoulders now, shaking me. “Katie, are you okay? What’s going on?”

I blink at her.

“My mom,” I say, the words thick.

She frowns, confused. “Your mom? What about your mom?”

I swallow, but it doesn’t help. Everything in my head buzzes wrong.

“She’s dead.”

“Oh God,” Sarah says, wrapping her arms around me.

I don’t move. I can’t.

“I want Michael,” I whisper, my voice thin and frayed.

“What, sweetie?” she asks, pulling back, her hands still on me.

“I want Michael,” I say again, louder now, panic creeping in, breaking through the numbness. “I need him. I need Michael right now.”

Tears burn behind my eyes before they finally spill over.

“Please,” I say, grabbing onto her sleeve. “Please just take me to him.”

Chapter 52

Sarah

Iguide Katie into the passenger seat and buckle her in because she doesn’t even seem to notice the seatbelt. She keeps dialing his number over and over, and each time it rings out, she hits call again, her thumb moving automatically like if she stops, something worse will happen. When it goes to voicemail again, she lowers the phone into her lap and stares straight ahead, not blinking or moving.

“Sweetie,” I say gently, pulling out of the lot, “he’s not answering?”

She shakes her head. “He told me he had to work late tonight,” she says, her voice flat, distant. “He probably doesn’t have his phone on him.”

“Will he be at his house?”

“He’s in San Francisco.”

“Why don’t you come to my house then? We can call him there.”

She shakes her head. “No. He’ll come home.”

She cried the entire way out of the bar, but now there’s nothing, no tears, no sound, no reaction, just that empty stare.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” she snaps.

“Okay,” I say, calmly.

She knew this was coming. We all did. With her mom’s condition, it was always a possibility, just not like this, not this soon. She was only sixty, and Katie thought she had more time.