A Wonderful Kind of Love (Kinds of Love 2)

Her text message alert went off, and Laura let out a sigh of relief. She dried her hands and reached for the phone, relieved that he had finally messaged her.

Except it wasn't a message from him. It was a picture of baby Miri in the outfit Laura had bought her. She looked absolutely adorable, but it wasn't what Laura was looking for. She texted Mia a thank you and then pulled up Ethan's number.

Please call me. It's important.

Her stomach was in knots as she set the phone on the counter. She closed her eyes and searched for strength inside of herself.

“It's just a plane ride,” she whispered to herself. “It's just a plane ride. He's fine. Millions of people fly every single day and are absolutely fine. It's safer than driving.”

She still felt the ball of ice in her stomach grow. Who cared about millions of people? She cared about one. Anything could have happened to him.

She jumped as her phone began to ring and vibrate. Her hands shook as she picked it up and saw Ethan's number on the screen. Her relief was palpable as she sighed and nearly collapsed into the kitchen counter.

“Ethan?” she answered before the second ring even went off.

“You messaged me?” He sounded annoyed. She could hear voices in the background.

“Are you okay?” she asked, her hand on her stomach and her knees weak with relief.

“Of course I'm okay,” he replied. “Why wouldn't I be?”

A tear trickled down her cheek, and she wiped it away with the back of her hand. “I didn't get a message, and I kept thinking the worst had happened.”

“I'm fine, Laura. I don't know why you didn't get my text, but I did send one as soon as I landed,” he told her. “I must have been in a dead zone and it just never sent.”

“I was just worried.” She tried to keep her voice level and happy, but it betrayed her and quivered.

“Laura, you realize I will be traveling a lot, right?” he asked.

“I know,” she said quickly. She felt a little silly now for all the text messages, but she had been worried. “I thought I could handle it. I just got worried when I didn't get a message.”

“I did send you a message,” he replied. “Look, I'm in the middle of a meeting. I can't be on my phone right now. I'll call you back.”

Laura stared at the screen as the line disconnected. She was glad he was okay, but not so impressed by the call itself. She had been legitimately worried about him, and he'd just blown her off. That wasn't how the phone call was supposed to go.

Her chest squeezed hard against her heart, and she wiped another tear from her cheek. She really cared about him, but did he care about her? He had to know how worried she would get with him flying, yet he just brushed her off. Maybe he didn't care as much as she thought he did. Did she make a mistake?

Laura took a shaky breath and checked her messages to see if she just missed his message, but there wasn't one.

Did he really send one?

She hated that she even had to wonder. Of course, he sent one. It would probably just come through in an hour, and she'd chuckle and laugh at how late it was. It happened all the time, especially up in the mountains where she didn't get good reception.

Still, the niggle of doubt remained. Anger bubbled up, and even though she knew it was irrational, it didn't stop her from feeling it. She knew she was overreacting about him not messaging her, but she wasn't most people. Most people didn't have a history of losing loved ones to airplanes. She had a valid reason to be worried when people she cared about got on a plane.

Laura hated this. She hated feeling like this. She slammed the phone down on the counter and went back to her chicken. The butter in the pan was burning, and she needed to get dinner going, not worry about a stupid message. She tipped the chicken into the pan, covered it and washed her hands before going to the couch.

She hugged Ivy and Dallas to her as she sat on the couch between them and let dinner cook. They both leaned into her, smelling of sunscreen and grass. They were safe. They would never do this to her. They were the only thing in her world that was constant.

She needed to focus on them. She needed to focus on people that wouldn't leave her.

Chapter 31

Ethan

It felt good to be back in his office. Things were where he expected, and his life made sense here. He knew where his pens were. He knew where the coffee was. He didn't have to hunt and search for everything. Plus, the hustle and bustle of the office were the soundtracks to his life.

It felt like home.