Page 1 of After this Summer
PROLOGUE
INDIE
FEBRUARY
Ring.
Ring.
I’m sorry, the number you are trying to reach is no longer in service…
Stabbing the little red button on my phone, I cup my hands around my face and look through the window, praying I’m not seeing what I think I’m seeing.
What the hell is happening?
I try my key in the lock again but it doesn’t turn, and my heart rate kicks up in my chest as I stare at the empty and very vacant salon.
With trembling hands I scroll through my recent calls until I find the number for the contractor Toni had hired.
“Hello?”
“Dan? It’s Indie.”
“Wasn’t expecting to hear from you, Miss Kade,” he says as I press my hand to my belly.
“What do you mean?”
He pauses, as if he’s surprised by my question. “Miss Howell canceled the contract when she called on Tuesday—said there was something wrong with the permits. Tried to call her a couple of times but the number has been disconnected.”
It sounds like he’s talking underwater, his voice garbled and unclear as his words repeat over and over in my head.
This can’t be real. Days ago my life had been amazing.
My boss for the last five years had asked me to be her partner in Sheer Perfection and I’d agreed.
Enthusiastically.
The ink had barely dried and my check just cleared before we’d made plans for renovations and upgrades to services. We’d made the arrangements, hired the contractor, and celebrated the beginning of our partnership.
Everything seemed perfect.
Until two days ago, when I’d been too sick to leave the house. I thought I’d gotten food poisoning; I’d never been so sick in my life. Toni assured me she had everything under control and not to worry.
Focus on yourself. The salon can wait.
Sure.
I’d been lying on the floor in the bathroom when I realized my period was late.
Very late.
And two pink lines confirmed it.
“Miss Kade? Are you there?”
I can’t answer him. It feels like this is someone else’s life—as if I’m watching it from the outside. My vision is hazy as I look up into the sun, phone dropping to the sidewalk outside the hair salon where only days ago, I’d felt like all my dreams were coming true.
A dream replaced by a nightmare, and now it’s not just me I have to worry about. My stomach rolls again and I barely make it to the bushes before I throw up the water and crackers I’d managed to get down this morning.
