She’d just started to drift off into a lovely dream that involved Lucius and a wedding in the clouds, when the phone on the bedside table rang. She rolled over to snatch it up before the sound woke Mikey. “Hello?”
“Did I wake you?” Lucius asked, his voice dark and rich, though she could hear the exhaustion running through his words.
“It’s okay. I was just drifting off.” She checked the clock, made the swift calculation between West Coast time and East and frowned. “What are you doing still up? It’s nearly three in the morning.”
“Just going over some last minute reports before turning in. I’ve been trying to sew everything up early, though it’s not looking too encouraging.”
Disappointment flooded through her and she struggled to keep the sound of it from filtering through her voice. “When will you be back?”
“Closer to the end of the week. Thursday, if I’m lucky, but I’m not sure if I can make it.”
She plumped the pillows behind her and relaxed against them. “Where are you?” she asked.
His soft, knowing chuckle had her toes curling and sent shivers racing down her spine. “In bed. You?”
“The same.”
“Ah… Give me a second to get an image.” He released a sigh she’d only heard when they were both naked and he first slipped inside her. “Yes, there it is. What are you wearing?”
“Your pillow.”
He groaned. “You’re killing me.”
“It smells like you, not that that’s much help,” she confessed. “I miss you.”
“I miss you, too, sweetheart. It won’t be much longer, I promise.”
Silence settled between them, while the want grew thick. “Lucius…” she whispered.
“Me, too.” He cleared his throat. “Okay, if we don’t change the subject, I’m not going to get any sleep tonight. You…you remember Mikey has a checkup tomorrow?”
She strove to divorce herself emotionally, but it was far too late for that. Longing clung to her like Lucius’s scent to his pillow. “Nine o’clock,” she confirmed. “It’s on the calendar.”
“I wanted to be there for it. I almost postponed it a week, but it would have given the Ridgeways more ammunition to use against me.”
“I’ll take notes during the appointment. Fortunately, I’m really good at it.”
“I appreciate it. You know that, don’t you?”
“I do know.” A plaintive cry came through the baby monitor beside the phone. “I think Mikey misses you, too.”
“I hear him. Anything wrong?”
“He’s just a little fussy tonight. Maybe he’s cutting another tooth. Or maybe he knows I’m talking to you and wants his fair share of your attention.”
“I know you have to go. Give me a quick update before you do. How are the wedding plans proceeding?”
“Good. Great, in fact. I think we have everything covered except for my dress. Trinity and I will be shopping for that on Wednesday.” She released a sleepy laugh. “Technically, I guess that’s tomorrow since it’s now Tuesday morning.”
“Get something beautiful. Money’s no object.”
“Lucius—”
He sighed. “Just do it, Angie. It’s only money.”
“Okay.” There was so much more she wanted to say to him. So much she didn’t dare. At least, not yet. “Mikey says I have to go now. Call me tomorrow?”
“I’ll try.” He hesitated, the words they both longed to speak hovering between them, hanging in the airwaves across the three thousand miles separating them. “Give our boy a hug from his… Aw, hell, from me. Good night, sweetheart.”
“Good night, Lucius.”
He couldn’t say it, Angie realized. He still couldn’t say the words he longed to. Give our boy a hug from his daddy. That’s what he’d meant, what was in his heart. She could only hope that he’d soon be able to say them aloud putting words to the emotions he still denied.
She crossed to Mikey’s bedroom and lifted him out of the crib. “Daddy says good-night, little guy. Is that why you’re fussing? Because he wasn’t here to tell you in person?”
Flipping on the overhead light, she carried him to the changing table. He blinked through his tears, his crying jag leaving his face red and blotchy. Or she assumed it was from the crying jag until she unsnapped his sleeper and saw that his face wasn’t the only part of him all red and blotchy. Panicky fear swept through her. Something was wrong. Seriously wrong.