Page 63 of Deprived No More

As I retract my cell from the very bottom of my bag, beneath crayons, breath mints, and half a dozen other things that I could probably live without, I notice a text on the screen.

Unknown number

10:55 p.m.

Unknown number: It’s the correct number, Kat. There’s no sense fighting it anymore.

CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR

Kat

My heart is suddenly in overdrive.What the hell?Looking over my shoulder, I verify I’m alone before quickly shooting a return message.

11:40 p.m.

Kat: I’m a happily married woman.

There. Maybe this will put a stop to this nonsense. I’m shaking as I clutch my phone to my side, walking toward the bedroom. I’ve barely taken two steps before I notice a reply. But there’s a voice message instead of the usual text. Spinning in the opposite direction, I head to the laundry room to put some distance between Nick and I should he walk out. I’m not ready to share this with him tonight. It’s late, and we have a full day tomorrow. But there’s no way I can sleep without hearing this. I’ll drive myself crazy.

Unknown number

11:42 p.m.

Unknown number: “Marriage is an obstacle, but we can get by it. There’s no sense fighting this any…”

I listen to it several times, knowing I’ll probably continue to do so tomorrow. The voice isn’t one I recognize. But it’s so garbled it almost sounds as if there’s something intentionally distorting it. The end of it is cut off before it goes completely silent. Listening one last time, I decide to stop torturing myself. It’s making me feel physically sick. Who is this? And how am I supposed to sleep now?

* * *

“Olivia, I’m so happy you’ve managed to secure another show. But I’m sad I’ll miss seeing you over the holidays.” I try to focus on my friend, not the warring emotions inside me. She’ll be leaving soon, and I need to give her my full attention. Not think about the twenty times I replayed that voice message in my car while sitting in the parking lot before she arrived.

“I know. It’s become a fact of life for me now. Once I don’t enjoy it anymore, or the cost to my family is too great, I’ll stop. But for now, Mac says to follow my heart.”

We place our orders for our usual with the server as she delivers our coffees to the table. There’s a sense of déjà vu as I sit here with Olivia. We’ve met either at Belleview Café’ or here in this farm to table eatery so many times over the years. There’s a comfort in these moments here with her. Knowing I can tell her anything.

“So, how are things at the Barnes’ house? Did you two ever have a discussion about another baby?”

Unable to hide my immediate wince, Olivia catches my expression and mirrors it back to me. “Yeah. That didn’t go over well at all. But he’s agreed to table the discussion for now since I have bigger issues to deal with.”

Abruptly, Olivia shifts her position in her seat and looks at me with deep worry lines on her face. “What’s wrong, Kat? What do you mean you have bigger issues to deal with?”

“I saw Mark recently. He came into the emergency room as a patient, and it caught me off guard.”

Olivia puts her fork down and looks at me with an uneasy expression. “Kat, of course, it caught you off guard. That guy put you through hell.”

“Well, the part that bothered me was my feelings weren’t necessarily fearful. It threw me for a loop how guilty I felt. That this strong, virile man is unable to walk and living in and out of rehabilitation centers because-”

“Because he made some terrible fucking choices, Kat. This isn’t on you.”

“I know. I’m just struggling with it because… oh, I don’t know, Olivia. I guess I haven’t dealt with all of this as much as I thought. And now… well, now I’m worried he’s started up again.”

“What?”

“I got a text at work last night from an unknown number. I thought, there’s no way. I fretted over it for hours until I finally text back that I thought whoever the person was had the wrong number. But they knew my name.”

“Kat,” she stammers before covering her mouth with her hand.

“What did it say?”

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