Page 92 of While You're There
She practically leapt for the bed when her phone vibrated. It wasn’t a call or a FaceTime like she was hoping for, though. It was just a text from Rhett.
Ev: Thanks for the update. I’ll let Quinn know re: Friday. Love you.
She stared at the screen and tried to cool her raging temper. The message was just so… short. Dispassionate. Impersonal. It could have been typed out by anyone. It could have been sent to anyone for that matter. She flopped dramatically onto her bed, running her hand up and down the bloated stomach that made her look like she was pregnant.
Where was he that he was able to text, but not return her call? How could he not even ask how she was feeling? And that thing about Quinn… What the hell? She had already been in touch with his assistant and confirmed that Rhett was ticketed for the early evening flight tomorrow. All he had to do was check his email or glance at his beloved calendar, and he would have known that. She had already taken care of all the arrangements herself, just like she’d done almost everything for this egg retrieval herself.
She knew she’d regret it if she texted back in anger, so she scrolled down and opened up the next message on the screen instead.
Tori: I’m moody and hormonal. Want to cash in that raincheck and take me to get ice cream?
A response came through almost immediately.
Fielding: Can we just take a minute to appreciate the poetry of that text? I mean, damn, Victoria Thompson. You’re a temptress. With an offer like that, how could I refuse?
She rolled her eyes at his teasing. His second text came through before she even had a chance to respond.
Fielding: I’m at Jake’s right now, but he just started one of his stupid two-hour workouts, so he’s not invited. Should I pick you up at your house?
Tori: Yep. Hurry up. I’m hungry.
She had just enough time to let Penny out and put her shoes on before Fielding pulled into her driveway ten minutes later. She felt her tension instantly melt away as she sank into the plush leather front seat of his huge Infiniti SUV.
“Hey,” she greeted him quickly before messing with the buttons on the center console.
“Hey yourself,” he replied, giving her a quizzical look. “Whoa, wait. Hold up. That one’s the seat warmer,” he said as he tried to reach over and turn off the button she had just pressed.
“I know that,” she hissed as she swatted at his hand. “I don’t need you to mansplain your car’s features to me. My back is killing me. I can’t take anything for it, but heat helps.”
Fielding pulled away his hand like he’d been burned. “Shit. That sucks. Sorry, Tor. How’d your appointment go this morning?”
“It was fine,” she huffed out. She hadn’t exactly planned to go into detail about the appointment with Fielding. But no one else had asked. “Everything looks good. There are lots of follicles, and they’re optimistic about what they’ll be able to get. I just have to do the trigger shot tonight, then the actual retrieval is Friday morning. I can’t wait for this all to be over.”
“The trigger shot is the last one, right?”
They had done enough Internet research together by now that Fielding had turned into a walking encyclopedia on egg freezing. She originally teased him about it before he reminded her that he had been pre-med in college, so he already had a foundational understanding of the female reproductive cycle. He also couldn’t resist making multiple dirty jokes about all the primary and secondary research he did on the female reproductive system in college, but she let those slide.
“Yep. Last one,” she confirmed.
He gave her a little smirk before putting the car in reverse. “So does that mean you don’t have anything to do until tonight?”
“Yes,” she answered tentatively. She could see his wheels spinning.
“Good. I’ve got an idea.”
She sighed appreciatively. Rhett was distracted. Lia was busy on the farm. And she’d already dumped enough on Jake this summer. It was nice to have Fielding’s support and company. “I’ll play along, but your idea better involve ice cream as promised. I wasn’t kidding about being hormonal.”
“I’ve got you,” he assured her. “We’ll go to Valley Cream first. But I have a grander vision for this day. I’m going to take you on an official valley cruise. Well, I guess it’s not anofficialvalley cruise because those usually involve a few joints. I’m guessing if you can’t have ibuprofen, you probably don’t want any weed? Yeah. No. Of course not,” he answered his own question when she shot him a look.
“Right. So we’ll do the kiddie version of the valley cruise. Here’s how it works: We coast down 303 with the windows down and music up. Then we drive through the valley, singing at the top of our lungs and making all the classic stops. We’ll start at Valley Cream, then we’ll go eat our weight in grilled corn from that farm stand near the Tow Path. We’ll end our adventure at Brandywine Falls, where we willnotshare a blunt while stuffing our faces with kettle corn.”
“Oh wait, kettle corn is an option? Idowant the kettle corn,” she professed.
“Thank God,” Fielding muttered as he backed out of the driveway. “You were going to break my Ohio-born-and-raised heart if you weren’t up for two types of corn today.”
She was struggling to keep her eyes open when her phone finally vibrated in her hand. She accepted the FaceTime call, even though this was going to be more of a one-sided video chat since she was already lying in bed in the dark. She still wanted to FaceTime, though. It made her feel a little less alone to actually see him at least once a day.
“Hey, beautiful,” Rhett greeted her as she lowered the brightness on her device.
