Page 22 of Wrong Number. Right Don.
By the time I finally get home, exhaustion sinks all the way to my bones. I lower myself onto the couch, curling one leg under me and holding a cup of ginger tea against my chest. It’sbecome a lifeline, and I pray it will help ease the terrible nausea. I flick on the TV for a few minutes of mindless vegetating.
Work was brutal today, and that was without the added pressure of seeing Sergei again and having to contend with his offer. After his mom was admitted, we got slammed with victims from a car crash, and Mia and I had to split our time between them all. I barely had time to eat, not that I was feeling particularly hungry.
The nausea never eased up, and I’d say Sergei’s offer somehow made it worse. All I want is to sit on my couch with some trashy television on in the background and forget what a strange day it was.
My phone buzzes in my lap, and I groan, not ready for my sliver of peace to shatter. But when I seeMomflash across the screen, I don’t hesitate to answer.
“Hey, Mama,” I answer, trying to infuse some cheer into my voice.
“Hi, sweetheart,” she says with a sigh, and immediately I know something’s wrong. “Do you have a minute?”
“Of course. What’s going on?”
“It’s the roof,” she finally says after a long pause. “Your dad and I were up there this afternoon, patching the leak by the attic vent again. But there are more cracks now. The water’s starting to come through to the ceiling in the hallway.”
I sit up straighter, anxiety curling tight in my gut. “Is it bad?” I ask, imagining their roof caving in on them.
“It’s getting worse. We’ve been trying to manage it, but between the animals finding their way in and the mold smell in theupstairs bedrooms…” she trails off with another sigh. “It’s just going to cost a lot of money that we don’t have.”
I close my eyes and rest my forehead against my knuckles. I don’t even have to ask how much. A roof replacement is expensive. Probably tens of thousands of dollars. I know they don’t have that kind of savings tucked away.
“I just don’t know how we’re going to afford it,” she says softly, more to herself than me.
My heart breaks a little at the tremble in her voice. My mom is the strongest woman I know, but the last few years have knocked her down. It’s been hard to see how much she and my dad have had to struggle when they’re so close to retirement.
“Don’t stress,” I say, swallowing hard. “We’ll figure it out.”
“We already took out a loan for the plumbing last year,” she says absently. “Anyway, I’m sorry to dump this on you. You’ve got enough on your plate right now.”
She has no idea just how much I do have on my plate right now. But I know she called me about this because she didn’t know who else to talk to. She’s scared.
I glance down at my stomach. I’m scared too, and when the time is right, I’ll have to tell her everything. Then Sergei’s voice drifts back into my head.“You’ll have your own room, full run of the house, anything you need.”
And two million dollars. More money than I could ever know what to do with. An offer that sounds way too good, so there must be something sinister behind it. And yet, I’m not really in a position to turn it down.
“I’ve got it,” I say suddenly, cutting off my mom’s worried ramble.
There’s a beat of silence.
”What?”
“The roof. I’ll cover it. Don’t worry about the cost.”
“Nicole—” she starts, her voice distressed.
“I’m serious,” I cut her off, my mind now completely made up. “I’ll get you the money by next week. Get the repairs scheduled.”
She’s silent for a long moment, and then she says very softly, “Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” I say, even though my hands are trembling. “I’ve got it covered.”
We say our goodnights, and I hang up. The moment the line goes dead, I stare down at my phone, heart thudding hard in my chest. Am I really about to do this? I turn the TV off and don’t give myself a chance to overthink it. I scroll to Sergei’s number and hitcallbefore I can lose my nerve.
He answers on the second ring. “Nicole.” He sounds utterly at ease.
So he did keep my number.
“Hey,” I breathe. “Is now a bad time?”
