“Your house?”
“Yes. If you wish to sleep here after dinner, you can. For dinner, Courtney and Geoffrey will be present. I might ask Nicholas if he’ll also invite Francis over. You two seemed to get along when you met at the wedding party.”
She coughed in response.
“Are you alright?”
Before responding, she coughed a couple more times. “I’m sorry. My brain stopped working.” Very strange. “Saturday sounds wonderful.”
“Make sure you call Courtney because she is taking care of the bill.”
“I will.” More squeaks and giggles could be heard. “Willow, I have to hang up. I’ll call you tomorrow to flesh out the details. I love you. Bye!”
She ended the phone call immediately, and I shook my head. She was up to something, but for the time being, I would let her keep her plans private.
The car pulled up to the house and I slid out and trudged up the stairs. I felt beyond tired and I had no idea why. Maybe it was the terribly hot and clammy weather.
I was eagerly anticipating the arrival of fall’s chilly, crisp air.
A letter had been left on the counter next to an envelope when I stopped in the kitchen to get a bottle of juice from the refrigerator.
[Willow,
I left to do my weekly grocery shopping. Your courier sent this letter to you this morning. I should be home around six.
Laura.]
I took the envelope and found my maiden name scribbled on the front of it. I scowled as I opened it, unsure of what it might be.
The only writing was two brief sentences in the middle of a single white page.
[I know about the contract you signed with Nicholas. Soon enough, everyone else will be aware of it too.]
My limbs grew cold immediately.
Who had sent it and why?
About everything related to the contract that bound Nicholas and I together had been completely forgotten. Considering how much we cared for one another, it was essentially irrelevant. In fact, the only time it has come up in the past few weeks was when he suggested throwing it out completely.
After telling him I was okay with it, I proceeded to jump him.
I was unsure of whether he had ever gotten around to scrapping it or not.
I reached for my bag and got out my phone, dialing Nicholas as quickly as my trembling fingers could do so.
With each ring that went unanswered, my thoughts became more melancholy.
It might wreck everything if the contract came to light, even if Nicholas and I believed we were truly in love and happy. I ran to the bathroom when his voicemail message came on. The sinking feeling in my stomach added to my nausea.
I emptied the little contents of my stomach before returning to the kitchen to give him another call. I dabbed my perspiring face with a cool, damp cloth as the phone rang.
Still no response.
Damn it!
Perhaps something had happened to his batteries.
I grimaced and dialed his office number while shuddering at the sound of Julia’s voice.
She answered, “RHI.”
“I have to talk to Nicholas. I am his wife.”
“Oh. I apologize. He requested that his meeting with Ms. Hewitt not be interrupted. I’m available to take messages.” Her comments were made more difficult to the stomach by her phony, saccharine tone.
“No. Nevermind.” Before returning to the bathroom, I hung up.
Miss Hewitt? Why was he meeting Rosemary?
I was now sobbing in addition to feeling under the weather. Nicholas had ignored my calls and was in a meeting with Rosemary. Of course, it was so important that he couldn’t talk to his stupid wife, who had received a threatening letter.
I was a wreck.
I brushed my teeth and cleaned my face once more before making my way upstairs slowly. I removed my jeans, adjusted the air conditioning to a freezing setting, pulled the drapes closed, and climbed into bed.
I removed my jeans, adjusted the air conditioning to a freezing setting, pulled the drapes closed, and climbed into bed.
I wished this day had never happened.
Fortunately, I was exhausted enough to fall asleep quickly. Unfortunately, when Nicholas woke me up a few hours later, I was a drowsy and irate ticking time bomb.
“Willow?”
I moved away from him and pulled the blankets up over my head. Asshole.
The bed dipped and he curled up next to me. “What’s wrong, Willow?”
“Leave me alone.”
“Not till we speak. Your phone was off, why? I have been trying to reach you for hours.”
I might have yelled as I threw the covers off me and turned to glare at him.
“My phone? My phone? You didn’t pick up when I called you repeatedly. Even though I tried calling your office number, that bitch said I couldn’t disturb your meeting with Rosemary.” I threw a pillow at him.
It fell far away from him.
My explosion caused his mouth to drop in surprise. “I forgot to turn it on after a meeting with the executive staff. When I turned it back on and saw your calls, I phoned you immediately.”
I huffed and collapsed once more and turned away from him.
“Hey.” He slid up beside me and encircled my body. “That wasn’t a meeting with Rosemary. She barged in, babbling nonsense and I told her to get the fuck out. I never told Julia that I didn’t want to be interrupted.” He turned me to him and kissed my temple. “I will be having a serious talk with Julia tomorrow, I promise.”
I rolled my eyes. I knew what his definition of a ‘serious talk’ was. I wanted Julia to have a discussion with my bare fists.
When I stayed mute, he sighed. “Is everything all right? Why did you call so many times? I was so anxious.”
I grabbed the letter on my nightstand and hurled it at him.
He sat up, his arms around me leaving me feeling cold. “What on earth is this?”