Page 50 of Players Like Us
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Daniel poured a bourbon and sat out on the deck. Meredith had fallen asleep an hour ago and he decided if she wasn’t feeling better soon, she was going to the doctor. Tired, jittery stomach, throwing up… Enough was enough. He didn’t like seeing his wife like this and had to make sure he wasn’t the cause of it, which was why he’d been staring at his phone for the past fifteen minutes. No way did he want to make this call, but...
He’d do anything for his wife, and then there was Rachel. Daniel owed her for all of the years he’d been unbending and unavailable. Did he love the idea that she’d fallen for Neal Alexander? No, but that wasn’t the point. He sipped his bourbon, enjoyed the burn before he punched out Alexander’s number.
The guy answered on the second ring. “Hello.”
“Neal? This is Daniel.”
“Is Meredith okay?”
No ignoring the fact that the guy cared about his sister. “She’s good. Actually, that’s not 100% true. She’s been really tired lately and her stomach’s been jumpy and she’s gotten sick a few times and…”
“So are you saying you’re making her sick?”
This was why the guy annoyed the crap out of him. “No, I’m saying I’m worried about her.”
Pause and a hesitant “Has she taken a pregnancy test?”
Pregnancy test? “I don’t think so. Why? Do you think she could be pregnant?”
“Excessive tiredness, upset stomach, I would start calculating days...and go buy a pregnancy test.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.” Daniel blew out a long breath. Pregnant? “I was starting to get really worried.”
“It’s not like I know much about the whole baby thing, but those are kind of the basics, I think.”
Pregnant. A baby. Daniel tossed back his bourbon, stared at the glass. A baby. “Okay, I’ll check into that.” Pause and then “Thank you.”
“Uh...sure. Is that why you called me? To talk about babies and pregnancy tests?”
Daniel shook his head, wished just once the guy would not be a smartass. “I called for two reasons. Your sister wants to make everything right in the world and that includes me and you finding a way to get along.” Before the guy could toss out another wisecrack, Daniel said, “I’m not saying we have to hang out or watch ball games together, but...”
“My jaw and other body parts are safe?”
“Right.” Daniel stared into the night, wished he’d called Ethan for talking points to negate Neal Alexander’s smartass responses. Ethan always knew what to say and how to deliver a message.
“You must really love my sister to agree to this phone call.” A long sigh filled the line, followed by a quiet “I will try not to antagonize you, how’s that?”
“Sounds like an impossible task.”
Laughter burst through the line. “True, but Meredith is a dreamer so let’s give her a few shreds of hope we can get along.”
“Okay. Agreed.” Daniel supposed this conversation wasn’t horrible. “Thank you.”
“You’re watching out for my sister, so thank you.”
“Sure. The other reason I called has to do with my sister.”
Long pause. “I haven’t done anything recently that would warrant another punch.”
Which meant he’d done something in the past that would warrant another punch. Daniel opted to skip that part and not ask for details. “I’m not sure if you know or not, but my sister’s here in Reunion Gap meeting with your brother and his partner regarding their new restaurant.”
“I heard.”
“I guess you would since you’re the one who brokered the meeting. My sister told me a few other interesting bits of information about you.”
He ignored that comment. “She’s quite talented. I expect she’ll do very well.”
