Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 82214 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82214 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
When the phone rang again, I almost walked into the hotel hallway to drown the sound behind a closed door. When the number showed up on my phone, I answered, vaguely recalling the first three digits of the apartment complex’s phone number.
“Christie Hannam.”
“Christie, it’s Darlene.”
My heart thumped. “Darlene?”
She sounded down, her voice slow and either bored or ashamed. “I was hoping this was your number. I hadn’t saved it yet, but anyway. Sorry. Not the point.”
The earlier panic and concern transformed into understanding as I remembered that Ryan had probably dialed Darlene when he still had my phone. She just hadn’t saved that number.
“Have you seen Ryan?”
“Excuse me?” I clutched the hem of my shirt. Then I realized she wasn’t accusing him of being with me, and we’d left on surprisingly good terms. “No, sorry. No, I haven’t seen him in a while. Have you called him?”
“I haven’t heard from him in a day or two. I don’t know. I thought things were okay. Has he told you? We talked for a while. About things.”
She suddenly seemed nervous to share her personal life with me. Funny. But if something was going on, I wondered what would make her hesitant to tell the same stranger to whom she had blurted her entire divorce story. “Well, I haven’t talked to him in several days now.” I was the woman he’d slept with barely days ago, and she was as eager to talk about him as if we were two friends talking about their exes. But if she was worried, maybe they were thinking about getting back together.
“Can you try to get hold of him? I just need to ensure we left things the way I thought we did.”
“Um . . .” What was I supposed to say? “I mean, yes, I’ll call him to check. Do you need anything?”
She scoffed. “A beer.”
A smile touched my lips, and I laughed in response. “Meet me if you want. I’ll buy the first round.”
“I’m game. Where?”
I gave her the address to the hotel, eager for an excuse to use that beautiful bar. When I called Ryan, the call went straight to voice mail, so I didn’t leave a message.
Darlene showed up looking happier than she sounded over the phone. Not a tear stained her skin, nor did a bag pull at her eyes lined with black liner and a soft brush of neutral, shimmery eyeshadow.
“You clean up nice.”
Darlene smiled and shook her hips as she sashayed across the lobby. She nodded in approval as she neared me, her lips pursing in consideration. “I do, I do. You are staying in a nice place. What brings you to Dallas again?”
“Work.” I shrugged.
“Oh. New job?”
“Yes.”
Her face lit up in a smile. She brushed past me and spun on the barstool beside me until she jerked to a stop. “Looks like we both have something to drink to. Let’s do it.”
We both ordered beers and nursed them quietly for a moment before Darlene’s face took on a more somber mood. I wiped the condensation from my glass on a napkin while she stared at her own for a good two minutes.
“Are you and Ryan doing okay?” I asked, trying to break the silence. And I had to admit I was too curious now not to ask.
“I’m not sure.”
I pulled my glass closer and took a long, slow drink. She didn’t say anything else.
“How’s your home life? Work?”
She perked up at the mention of work. “Actually, I had an idea after Ryan left that I’m going to look into. I was thinking about opening up a daycare.”
“Why a daycare?”
Darlene shrugged. “I sold pharmaceuticals, and after a while, I didn’t feel like I was doing much with my life. Sales just doesn’t get me off.”
I sputtered into my drink and hacked a cough. Darlene handed me a napkin but looked more amused than concerned.
“You okay?” She smirked and took another drink.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to do that. Just wondered about that last part.”
She giggled. “Oh, no!” Her words crescendoed into a squeal until she was full-blown cackling. “That’s so messed up. I’m sorry.”
“Wanna try again?” I offered with a smile.
Tears brimmed Darlene’s eyes. She cleared her throat and chuckled once more as she methodically turned her beer glass around and around. “Yeah, I dunno. I went a long time where Duke saw James more than I did. He works, but mostly from home.” Her rotating glass captured one of the overhead lights and turned her beer a bright gold when the light hit it right. When she paused, her fingertip trailed a drop of beer until it slapped onto the counter. “I don’t want to end up ignoring him as Ryan did.”
“Hey, it’s not like Ryan didn’t want to be there.” I swallowed. “I don’t think.”
She waved dismissively. “I know. It’s just . . . I’ve always loved kids. And I wonder how much attention James gets when he goes—it’s a big daycare—and I just think I could be there for him and maybe help some other parents while I’m at it.”