Page 59 of The Complication
These rich people…they were all a little crazy, but I liked their crazy. Was this what it was like when Sandro Botticelli had landed the patronage of the Medici during the Renaissance?
20
DECLAN FOSTER
Where the hell is he?
I sped through the thin traffic, both hands gripping the wheel tight while my palms grew slick with sweat. I tapped the Bluetooth phone button on the wheel and barked, “Call Parker,” but I didn’t have high hopes. As expected, the phone rang several times before going to voice mail.
Something was wrong.
Panic twisted in my stomach. I shouldn’t have gone in to work today. This was what happened when things were going too smoothly. Parker and I had been dating for two weeks. He and Joy had been living with me for a month. Joy was crawling. Well, it was a wiggle-scoot-crawl, but she was getting much faster. And Parker was making plans for the new mural in my office at home.
See? Perfect. Everything was perfect.
Except this morning Joy was fussy and not eating. Parker noticed she had a low-grade fever but thought it might be teething. Her first tooth had poked through last week, and it looked like there was a second one ready to break through.
What he said made sense, but something in my gut had argued that it was more. That I should take a personal dayand stay home. At the very least, I could have worked from home so I could help keep an eye on things.
But no. Parker had laughed and brushed a kiss to my cheek, saying that I was worrying too much.
And I’d believed him.
Fuck. Why the hell wasn’t he answering his phone? I’d been calling off and on for the past two hours, but he wasn’t picking up. I’d gotten a hold of Franks more than an hour ago and he’d said that Parker had rushed Joy to the pediatrician.
Not taken.
Rushed.
They’drushedto the doctor. Something was very wrong, and for reasons I couldn’t understand, Parker wasn’t responding to my demands for information.Fucking thoughtless!
Early afternoon traffic remained light the entire way from the office to my home. As I hurried out of the office, I’d snapped an order to my assistant to cancel my meetings and inform Sebastian that I’d left because of a personal emergency. I’d explain to him after I’d gotten the full story from Parker.
Tires barked and squealed as I whipped the car into the driveway and roared toward the house. I didn’t even bother putting the car in the garage. It was faster to go in through the front door. If Joy was sick and they were home, it was likely Parker had her in her room, which was on the second floor. If not, I’d track down Franks and find out what the hell was going on.
I jumped out of the car as soon as I killed the engine and raced into the house. My heavy footsteps pounded across the marble floor and echoed along the stairs as I ran upstairs. As I turned into the hall with Parker’s and Joy’s bedrooms, Parker stepped out of his bedroom.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I roared. “I’ve spent half the day calling you and you couldn’t be bothered to return a single one of my calls!”
Shock widened his eyes for a heartbeat, but fury replaced it instantly. He charged at me and grabbed my wrist, tugging me to my bedroom. “Fucking asshole,” he hissed. “If you wake her up with your shouting, I swear to God I will strangle you. I just got her to sleep.” This was all said between clenched teeth as we walked briskly to my room.
When we reached my room, Parker left the door open, likely so he could hear if Joy started crying. He released my arm and glared at me. “Keep your goddamn voice down.”
“What the hell is wrong with you? Why haven’t you called me? I’ve been worried sick all morning and afternoon. Do you have any idea how many times I’ve called you and gotten your voice mail?”
“Called me?” Parker repeated, looking flabbergasted as he patted the pockets of his ragged jeans. “Fuck. My phone. It’s still on the damn charger.”
“I’ve called you twenty-three times,” I enunciated. Shoving my hands through my hair, I paced away from him, muttering to myself. “I knew I shouldn’t have listened to you this morning and left. I should have stayed here, but I trusted you to be thoughtful enough to keep me updated on Joy’s condition. Do you think I don’t care about her?” I held out my hands to Parker so he could see how badly they were shaking. “No one. No one has ever made me so furious and frightened at the same time. Do my feelings mean so little to you?”
“What? No!” Parker snapped, his voice jumping above a whisper. He groaned and rocked on his heels as he shoved his hands into his messy hair.
Now that I’d let all that out, I took a good look at him. His complexion was pale, and the top half of his hair was pulled back in this short ponytail. He wore a stained T-shirt and jeans. He looked like hell, and I’d just spent the past minute shouting at him like a fucking lunatic. God, I was an ass. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d lost my temper, but Parker sent all my emotions to extremes.
“Fuck.” Parker groaned. “I’m sorry. Right after you left for the office, Joy started puking. And then there was all this diarrhea. It was a real shit show. Literally. I spent the first couple of hours talking to the pediatrician’s office and cleaning her up. The second she was clean, she’d either puke or fill her diaper or both. I couldn’t figure out where it was all coming from. She was crying and her fever spiked. By the time I got the pediatrician to sneak me in for an appointment, my phone was dead. I put it on the charger while I got her ready to go, but forgot it there when I left the house.”
“What’s wrong with her?”
“Virus,” Parker announced with a heavy sigh. “There’s a bug going around right now. Lasts twenty-four to forty-eight hours, but it’s pure hell. People can’t keep anything in their bodies. But it’s particularly dangerous for very young kids because they get dehydrated so easily. The doctor gave me a prescription and instructions to help, but also gave me warning signs to look for in case I need to take her to the emergency room.”
