“Yes. They didn’t look that bad yesterday. And she’s been really tired today. I’m worried.” She lowered her voice to a near whisper.
“Any blurred vision or headaches? Those can be warning signs of preeclampsia.”
Katie bit her lip. “I’ll have to ask her to be sure. Thanks for the help.”
“Sure. I meant what I said about making things up to you. I’m going to do better this time, Katie. I really think we can make things work this time.”
“Whoa, wait a minute. Don, we aren’t getting back together. I have a boyfriend.” Even though that wasn’t technically true, she was sure that even Bennett wouldn’t begrudge her using him to get out of this situation.
“Yeah, I met him. The weird guy you work for.”
Katie’s breath turned to dust in her chest. “You met him? When did you meet him?”
Don didn’t answer at first. Katie could feel her anger rising. He probably hadn’t meant to tell her that. Now she was starting to wonder if Bennett’s sudden and unexplained disappearance from her life wasn’t so unexplainable at all.
“When, Don?”
“Last week. The day I spent the night. He came to the house early that morning with some tired-looking flowers. I told him that I was back now so you didn’t need to spend your days working for the weird Alexander anymore.” He chuckled at his own joke.
Katie closed her eyes, trying to rein in the desire to reach through the phone and choke her ex-husband. Of course Bennett wasn’t talking to her. Her sweet, sensitive Bennett was a superhero in so many ways but even superheroes had their fatal flaws. His was feeling like an outsider. Someone like Don sneering at him and calling him weird was exactly the kind of thing that would hurt him. Especially if he thought that she was back together with her ex-husband and about to leave him.
Katie wanted to cry but also to drop everything and go find Bennett to explain. But first she had to go and check on Ridley.
“Thank you for the information, Don. I’ll let you know if I have any other questions.”
“Wait. You aren’t mad?”
Katie sighed. “Why would I be mad? You were just doing what you always do. It would be like being angry with a snake for biting someone. That’s what snakes do. But if you thought that little stunt accomplished anything, all it did was make me love him more. Because he could have told me what you said to turn me against you and he didn’t. Even when he’s upset, Bennett Alexander is a hell of a man.”
She hung up while Don was still spluttering over his response and immediately went to look for Ridley. Hopefully her friend wouldn’t be annoyed with her for waking her up but if she was, Ri would be mollified with hearing some gossip. The story of the jealous ex-husband who sabotaged her love life was exactly the kind of drama Ridley loved.
Katie pushed open the door to Jackson’s office slowly. The blinds were closed so it was dim in the room. She tiptoed over to where Ridley was sleeping on the daybed. When Katie touched her hand, the skin was startlingly cool to the touch.
“Ridley. Ridley, wake up.”
As her voice got louder and louder and Ri still didn’t respond, Katie’s fear only increased. She pulled out her phone again and dialed 911, wishing with every part of her soul that she hadn’t wasted so much time talking to Don and had checked on Ri earlier.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
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Bennett woke up on Sunday morning exhausted but determined. He rushed through a shower and then downstairs to the main level. Once he had coffee brewing, he mentally evaluated his options.
He didn’t have a plan yet although he’d spent the drive home from D.C. the prior night brainstorming ways to approach Katie. The drive hadn’t been particularly productive since he hadn’t come up with much more than, “I miss you.”
Although it was simple, perhaps simple was best. Bennett still wasn’t entirely sure whether Katie was really getting back together with her ex-husband but either way, he wanted her to know how he felt. Even if it required swallowing his pride and putting himself out there.
Has that ever worked for you in the past?
Bennett ignored the niggling voice of doubt. He’d had bad experiences trusting women in the past, that was true. But he couldn’t believe that what he’d had with Katie wasn’t genuine. Ever since she’d come into his life, everything around him seemed brighter. Better. He had to believe that was based on something real.
But he couldn’t deny that if he found out it wasn’t, the knowledge was likely to break him in half.
A knock at the door interrupted his swirling thoughts. With a longing glance for the still brewing coffee, Bennett walked through the lab to open the door.
“Dad? What are you doing out here? You know you can use your key.” Bennett stood back to let his father come inside. His parents both had keys and his mother certainly didn’t hesitate to use hers.
Mark chuckled. “You’re a grown man, son. And grown men need their privacy. Don’t want to interrupt anything.”