She had to pull the phone away from her ear for a moment to draw a deep, shuddering breath and compose herself, before she could manage a steady, ‘Hello, Raffa... What a surprise...’
‘If you say it’s nice to hear from me, I’ll find you and spank you, pregnant or not. Why have you had your phone turned off?’
‘Erm...I couldn’t sleep. So I turned it off and forgot to turn it on again.’
‘I saw all your calls listed and was worried to death. I’ve been trying to call you non-stop.’
‘Sorry...’ She caressed the phone. He’d been trying to call her. Lovely phone. She’d never turn it off again. Ever.
‘I spoke to your sisters, and all they’d say was you’d gone to ground, and that maybe you needed some space. The way they said it made it sound like space from me, so...’
‘So you were speaking to Eva, I’m guessing,’ Leila supplied as her head began to clear.
‘Maybe,’ Raffa agreed wryly.
He didn’t want to get her sister into trouble. That was nice.
‘And did you? Do you?’ he pressed urgently. ‘Need space, I mean. Talk to me, Leila. I need to hear your voice.’
Raffa needed to hear her voice. She looked around the room as if the furniture would be good enough to confirm that she was actually awake and this wasn’t one of her nightly Raffa dreams. ‘I’m fine now. I don’t need space now,’ she added in case he thought he should ring off. Better release her death grip on the phone before her fingers dropped off. She couldn’t hold him on the line by strangling the receiver.
‘So you’re well, Leila?’
She was now with Raffa’s voice rolling over her like honey. ‘Quite well, thank you.’
‘Quite well.’ He laughed at the prim expression. ‘Your doctor wouldn’t tell me anything—apart from the fact that I shouldn’t worry as you were in good health and the pregnancy was progressing as planned.’
‘Doctor-patient confidentiality,’ she agreed, silently thanking her lucky stars that Raffa hadn’t heard the news about their twins yet. She couldn’t bear him to hear that from anyone else. And she wasn’t about to tell him over the phone. ‘So, where are you now?’
‘Outside your door.’
What?
‘Did you hear me, Leila?’
‘You’re as bad as my brother.’ She flared as her heart went crazy. When Tyr disappeared they never knew when he was coming back. ‘Sorry...’ She composed herself—just about. ‘I heard you.’
‘Well? Aren’t you going to let me in?’
Like a runner off the blocks she catapulted into action, or rather she used her unusual weight distribution as leverage to stumble forward and up, slowly straightening until she was upright. Turning full circle, which was harder than it sounded when your belly took up half the room, she hardly knew where to begin. Heading for the door by a circuitous route so she could plump cushions and straighten throws as she went, she couldn’t help wonder how a wood shack would stand up to a castle.
Cosy. It was cosy. And she loved it and lived in every inch of it, that was how.