Page 21 of A Merry Little Christmas
‘It’s nobody. Really.’
‘Maybe it’s urgent?’
He shook his head. ‘It’s not. I’ll call them back later.’ A muscle was twitching in his jawline as he switched the phone off and pushed it back into his pocket.
He turned away from me then and clicked the kettle back on. And as he made the coffee, I sat down at the table, shivering a little in my skimpy attire, missing the warmth of his arms around me.
‘No sugar in mine,’ I warned him, a little too late.
‘Damn!’ He shook his head impatiently. ‘I don’t know why I did that. Iknowyou don’t take sugar.’
‘Never mind. It’s fine. I sometimes do take sugar if I need the energy,’ I assured him.
But he ignored me and threw the contents of the mug impatiently down the sink, and he proceeded to make me a fresh one.
‘No sugar.’ Turning, he presented the drink to me with a sheepish smile.
‘Are you okay?’ I asked, feeling a little alarmed. Caleb was usually so calm and laid-back. He had to be, being the boss of a building company, where deliveries were sometimes late and bad weather could stall work at the site for days on end. He was one of the most even-tempered people I’d ever met.
He sighed and ran a hand through his dark brown hair, making it stick up a little. ‘Yes. Yes, I’m fine. Just tired.’
I nodded. He did seem exhausted. His eyes had that slightly puffy look, as if he desperately needed to catch up on some sleep.
Who had been trying to contact him just then? Not Amanda, surely? You’d hardly be phoning your boss about something to do with work at gone midnight!
A cold hand squeezed my heart.
Unless... maybe she hadn’t been calling about work at all. Maybe she’d called for a late-night chat the way lovers liked to do... just to hear their partner’s voice?
I shivered as I took a sip of my coffee.
Caleb sat down opposite and we drank in silence, and I knew I’d lost him again. He was still distracted after those phone calls,I could tell. And when at last he smiled at me and said he should be going because it was getting late, I didn’t try to persuade him to stay.
‘Thank you so much for the bracelet. I love it,’ I told him at the door.
‘You’re welcome.’ He leaned forward and kissed me on the lips. ‘I’m sorry it was late.’
I shook my head and smiled at him. Then I remembered we were having dinner the following night. He hadn’t mentioned it. Maybe he’d forgotten about it?
I opened my mouth to ask him, but at that moment, he reached for my hand, squeezed it hard and murmured, ‘Take care of yourself, Katja.’ Then he turned and walked away to his car.
The smile froze on my face, but I held it in place as I watched him drive away.
But as I closed the door, a feeling of nausea settled inside me.
And as I discarded the flimsy dressing gown and wrapped myself in my comforting towelling one instead, I knew that it wasn’t only the freezing temperature that had sent a chill through me as I’d stood at the door, waving him off.
There had been something so unsettling andfinalabout Caleb’s last words to me.
Take care of yourself, Katja . . .
CHAPTER ELEVEN
As soon as I woke the following morning, memories from the previous day started running through my head.
Thinking Caleb might be planning a surprise for my birthday . . . the anti-climax as the day wore on when I didn’t hear from him... and then his uplifting visit around midnight, presenting me with the gorgeous bracelet for my birthday... but then the strange way he’d left, squeezing my hand and telling me to take care of myself. Almost as if he might not see me again! Which was ridiculous, of course.
But then there were the phone calls he’d been receiving that seemed to unsettle him...
