Squeezing the phone tighter between her suddenly clammy fingers, she cleared her throat. “I told you I’d call and so I’m calling.”
“You’re in labor? It’s still too soon.”
She shook her head, then realized that he couldn’t see her. “No, I’m not in labor. The other promise I made you.”
Silence came over the line, then he softly said, “Our baby has the hiccups?”
She nodded, then rolled her eyes at herself. How ridiculous that she’d called him to tell him something so trivial. He was two hours away. She’d promised to tell him so he could place his hands on her belly and feel the magic inside. He probably thought she was crazy.
“Yes,” she said, feeling foolish. “The baby has the hiccups. I can feel them with my hands, so I really think you could, too.”
But he didn’t ask her why she was calling to tell him something so trivial, nor did he tell her she was crazy. He simply said, “I’ll be right there.”
She believed him. She didn’t question the two-hour drive from Nashville to Chattanooga. Nor did she tell him it was doubtful the baby would still have the hiccups two hours from now. Goodness, she hoped not! Instead, she told him to be careful, which he couldn’t have been because a knock sounded on her front door twenty minutes later.
When she saw Charlie on the other side of the peephole, she unlocked the door and flung it open.
“Charlie? How?” she asked, not understanding how he’d gotten there so quickly.
Looking a bit sheepish, and maybe a little uncertain as to what kind of welcome he’d receive, he reminded her, “I told you I’d be right here.”
“But...how did you get here so quickly? No matter how fast you drove, you couldn’t have gotten here this quick. I’m not even sure if you could have gotten here this quick by helicopter.”
He shrugged. “I didn’t have to drive fast to get here. I was just outside Chattanooga when you called.”
She stared at him incredulously. “You were?”
He nodded.
But that meant... “Why?”
He gave a half-shrug. “I had a premonition about those hiccups. Let me in before Mrs. Henry calls the law?”
He smiled and it was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen, making her take a step back.
He came into the apartment. She closed the door behind him, turned to look at him, not quite believing that he was really there, that he’d been on his way to Chattanooga when she’d called.
“You having any other premonitions?” she asked, not sure what to say now that he was here. She felt ridiculous for calling him, and yet he had already been on his way to Chattanooga. Why?
A light shining
in his eyes she hadn’t seen for quite some time, he grinned down at her. “A few.”
“Such as?”
“That I’m going to kiss you and you’re going to tell me that’s okay.”
Her heart grabbed hold of her ribs and rattled them around a bit. “You’re sure that’s your premonition?”
He nodded. “Is that okay?”
She should tell him no. She really should. But he had just driven for two hours.
“I suppose it’s okay.”
He kissed her. Her mouth. Her throat. Her face. He kissed her as if he were starved for her and hadn’t seen her in a month of Sundays rather than just a couple of weeks ago.
He kissed her as if he’d missed her.