Waking Up Pregnant(84)
No, she tamped down that insidious little hopeful part of her looking for any excuse or justification to see him. Anything to ease this hollow aching part of her that had opened up the day she moved out and secured his promise to give her some space as they adjusted to the new phase of their relationship. They’d be seeing each other soon enough once the baby arrived.
But Gail was bluffing because no matter what Darcy and Jeff had respectively told her about Darcy’s move to her new place, Gail wasn’t stupid. She wasn’t blind. And she wasn’t one to manipulate her son for sport. So no worries. That text wasn’t going anywhere.
Still this was the most entertainment she’d had since ripping her heart in half when she moved out of Jeff’s place. Maybe she wasn’t ready to give it up just yet.
“You do that, and I’ll tell him...I’ll tell him...” What lie she’d never actually tell could she threaten Gail with—ha! She had it. “I’ll tell him Grant put a move on you! You’ll have that promising young doctor’s blood all over your hands. So how about them apples, Gail?”
Darcy waited for the gasp, the cough, the laugh or the escalated threat, anticipating whatever the response with glee. Ready for whatever her friend had to lob back at her. But all she got was Gail staring at her, wide-eyed and stock-still.
The seconds stretched, and Darcy’s brows began to creep skyward. “No. Way.”
Gail blinked, looked down at the floor where she made a small circle with the toe of her shoe. Finally she shrugged. “Give me the file and I’ll tell you about it.”
Three things ran through her mind at once.
First, Grant didn’t value his life the way she would have expected him to.
Second, Wow. No wonder Jeff didn’t know how to lose.
And third, rename her list as “Why Gail is my hero” and add this as the top line item.
Handing over the file, she tried not to think about what ran through her mind next. How relieved she was not to have to be heading back to her lonely house. How grateful she was for what would probably be the only distraction powerful enough to keep her mind off the man she couldn’t stop missing.
* * *
The door swung open and Connor squinted out at him. “Not that I’m not happy to see you. But it’s four in the morning, Jeff. What are you doing here?”
Yeah, what indeed. Trying to keep himself from making a seriously monumental mistake. And calling in a favor to do it.
“Needed to get out of the apartment for a while. So I went for a drive. Ended up in the neighborhood. Thought I’d stop in.”
“Two hundred miles is a bit of a drive.”
“Yeah.”
“You look like hell.”
Jeff gave Connor a once-over, taking in the bedhead that put the other man’s hair on par with his own, the wrinkle running across his cheek and the unfocused look in general. “Coming from you, that’s saying something.”
“Ha. So you want to come in, or was this just a drive-by?”
“I need you to take my phone. Darcy asked me to give her some space. And I’m trying. Really, really hard. But I haven’t seen her in two weeks. And even though I’ve talked to my mom and Grant and they both say she’s doing great, I haven’t seen her. Not being able to—hell, the only reason I’m not knocking on her door right now is because I forced myself to turn left instead of right...and keep going. And the only way I’m not going to call her and tell her that I can’t stand another damn day like this...when I need to be able to stand a whole damn lifetime like it, is if you take the damn phone out of my damned hand. Please.”