Page 69 of Forever Mine

“But we haven’t even ordered anything to eat,” she complained.

“That’s the point. Let’s go.”

I swung my legs out from under the table and got up. “Come on, I have to go home and talk to Scott.”

Rita grabbed her purse and got to her feet. “Don’t you have a data plan?”

“It’s not the same. Plus, I need privacy.”

She kept pace with me, mumbling about me spoiling her evening. “Hugh could come and pick me up from your place,” she offered. “He won’t mind coming back for a good reason.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said, when we sat in the car. “I’ll keep Renée. You and Hugh can have an unscheduled date night.”

Her grin stretched wide. “Now that sounds like a great plan.”

Only Rita’s warning about driving like a mad woman and causing an accident prevented me from flooring the gas pedal. I kept my eyes on the road and made it safely to her house within fifteen minutes. Another ten minutes took me to my townhouse.

Mom looked at the clock and back at me when I walked into the dining area where she was playing cards with Angel and Renée. They looked at me with questions in their eyes.

“Don’t mind me,” I said. “Renée, I’ll take you home early in the morning.”

I got a glass of water from the fridge and over my shoulder, I said, “I’ll be in my room.”

They shooed me away, and I sailed into my bedroom, closing the door behind me.

I threw off my shoes and exchanged my dress for a tank top and shorts. Then I got on the bed, booted up the laptop and contacted Scott.

He responded after a minute.

I breathed easier when his familiar face appeared. Though his hair was tied back, it was untidy as though he’d been digging through it. Scott wore a gray tee-shirt, and his eyes pierced me under his furrowed brows. “Is everything all right?”

My breath hitched, I was so eager to talk to him. “Yeah, it is. I have something to tell you.”

A crooked grin lit his face. “Is that why you’re back this early?”

“Yeah, I wanted to … ”

A heavily pregnant belly moved into the space behind Scott, capturing my attention.

“Vaughn?”

“Um … ” The woman moved out of the range of the laptop’s camera, while I wondered what the heck was going on.

“Scott, I think … ”

The woman sat next to him while I swallowed around the painful mass in my throat. What I wanted to tell him flew clean out of my mind as I studied the woman on the screen.

Her hair was dark brown like her eyes. A dusting of freckles covered her snub nose and cheeks. She didn’t exactly look triumphant, but the open curiosity in her gaze mirrored mine.

My focus shifted to Scott and I didn’t know what to say. My words dried up.

The picture on my screen went haywire as if Scott had picked up the laptop and relocated. When he came back into view, he seemed angry. “Sorry. That was Lucy. There’s no simple or sensible way to explain this, but she’s—”

“Scott, stop.”

My anticipation had burned to cinders and my mouth was as dry as a fireplace filled with ashes.

“Okay, but will you at least let me tell you—”

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