“Hello?” Kerry fumbled with her cell phone and packages as she bumped the condo door closed with her hip. She dumped the grocery bag on the kitchen table, then dropped her purse on the floor before easing into a chair.
“Hi, darlin’. How’s Albuquerque treating you?”
The silkiness of Damian’s voice slid over her like warm honey, sending her stomach into a kamikaze dive.
“It’s okay. I’m off today, did a little bit of shopping. How’s everything in Amarillo?”
So, this is what we’ve come to. Nonsense chatter, saying nothing while saying everything. Next he’ll probably ask about the weather.
“The same as always. How’s the weather?”
She rolled her eyes. “Fine. How’s your weather?”
Damian sighed, and she could picture him running his fingers through his hair. Silky strands, curled at the edges of his collar.
“Kerry, are you happy? Is this what you really want?” he blurted out.
“Of course.” The two words came out before she even thought about it. She was happy, wasn’t she? This whole thing proved she was an independent woman.
“I miss you.”
Oh God. If she didn’t get off the phone, she would disgrace herself by sobbing her way through the conversation.
She took a deep breath to calm herself. “I miss you, too.”
“Come home.”
“I am home.”
A full minute of silence followed while Kerry chewed on her lip, wanting so much to say what he wanted to hear, but too stubborn to say it. “I, um, have to go, Damian. It’s time to, um, do stuff.”
“Good night, darlin’. Dream of me.”
She pushed the end call button. Dream of him? That’s all she did, day and night.
Kerry stared out the window at the billowing white clouds before she peeled off her jeans and T-shirt, tossing them into the hamper on the way to the shower. The warm water slid down her face, mixed with her salty tears.
****
The next morning, Kerry slipped the ignition key into the column and shifted into drive. She was all the way out of her driveway and at the first traffic light before she realized she hadn’t fastened her seat belt. Cursing at her muddle headedness, she snapped the belt shut.
Another day, another dollar, and after work, another night of munching on cookies before heading off to bed to toss and turn. If this kept up, besides the extra weight, the bags under her eyes would be able to carry groceries.
The noise from the employee cafeteria greeted her long before she entered the room. Six-thirty and the place buzzed. Kerry grabbed a cup of coffee and a raisin bran muffin, then took a seat against the wall, where hopefully no one would join her. She chewed slowly as she stared out over the room.
“Hey, girl, where were you?”
Beatrice Eden, another Labor and Delivery nurse on her shift, snapped her fingers in front of Kerry’s face. She pulled out a chair and sat, then placed a tray filled with her usual breakfast—bacon, scrambled eggs, biscuits with gravy, and coffee—in front of her. Kerry was continually amazed at the amount of food the slim nurse could eat.
“Oh, merely thinking.”
“You seem to do a whole lot of that. You got something on your mind you want to share with the class?” She grinned in between bites of biscuit slathered with thick gravy.
Kerry shrugged. “No, nothing really.”
Beatrice swallowed, and leaned in closer. “If you need someone to talk to, come tell me about it, okay?”
“Sure.” She rose and slid her chair in. “I’ll see you upstairs.”