Page 123 of Until August
August
Workingin a busy kitchen was an adrenaline rush like no other. I was riding the high, my body buzzing as the night ended.
We’d just served the last table when my phone chimed. Not with a call but a video chat. I’d talked to Sage four or five times a week since he left, but he wasn’t supposed to use his phone this late at night. Hell, he shouldn’t even be awake right now.
Sage only ever talked for five minutes anyway. He always acted like it was top secret and he was two minutes away from getting caught and having his phone privileges revoked.
My mind immediately jumped to conclusions, though. If he was calling me at this hour, something was wrong.
I swiped the screen, my stomach in knots when his face didn’t appear. I didn’t even know what I was looking at because the screen was dark.
“Sage,” I said, worry making my tone sharper than I’d intended. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
I’d moved away from the line and stood off to the side, but Nicola looked over at me, concern etched on her features.
His voice sounded muffled when he said, “Hi.”
“Can you show me your face? The screen is dark, and I can’t see anything.”
“That’s because I’m under the covers. I wanted you to see the tattoo. It’s not there anymore. So I need a new one.”
That was the big emergency? My body flooded with relief as I walked down the hall and took the call in my closet-sized office next to Nicola’s.
His face appeared on the screen when I sank into the swivel chair and propped my feet on the desk. The nightlight in his room cast enough light on him that I could make out his face and see that he was propped against the headboard.
“I’ll give you a new tattoo when you get home next week,” I promised. Satisfied with my response, he nodded. “But you shouldn’t be up so late.”
“I have a lot to tell you.” And I wanted to hear every little detail, so I didn’t stop him when he launched into a one-sided conversation about his day.
For the most part, our conversations were typically one-sided. They consisted of Sage listing all the cool things he’d done from the moment he woke up until the present. Usually, I loved hearing about his day.
Unfortunately, today’s topic revolved around the fantastic house they’d gone to see.
“…and there’s a waterfall that goes into the pool and everything.” He was tripping over his words in his eagerness to share every detail. “Oh, and the best part? You can practically walk out your door, and you’re on the beach. Like, right on it. Because you know how we can’t really walk to the beach from our house now because it’s on a cliff, and you can see the ocean, but you can’t just walk down to it and go in the water?” He stopped to take a breath.
I nodded, and with each word that left his lips, it felt like a stone sinking into my stomach. “Yeah, I know.”
“Well, with this house, you can. So we could just grab our surfboards and go. It’sright there.And the waves are like…whoa. Ginormous. But Travis said that you have to face the fear, and pretty soon, I’ll be surfing those waves like a champ.”
Another stone. “I don’t doubt that for a minute.”
“Yeah.” He had a little dreamy smile like he imagined how great it would be to walk out the front door and be on the beach. We talked for a few more minutes, and then he said he had to go and ended the call the way he always did. With a quick goodbye and a promise to call tomorrow.
I pocketed my phone and spun around in my chair, meeting Nicola’s gaze. I hadn’t closed the door, and she was standing on the threshold. I had no idea how long she’d been there, but it had obviously been long enough to catch the gist of the conversation.
“August,” Nicola said softly.
I didn’t want to talk about it. I didn’t even want to think about it. And I sure as hell didn’t want her pity.
“I’m fine,” I said brusquely as I tried to brush past her. She grabbed my arm to stop me.
“Where are you going?”
“We need to do a deep clean tonight. It’s been almost a year since the last visit from the health inspectors and—”
“Seriously? That’s what you’re thinking about right now?”
“If you want that Michelin star, everything has to be perfect.”
