Page 119 of Something Borrowed, Something You

Chapter 41

— Natalia —

I was confused when I woke up to the sound of a phone ringing. The blinds were drawn, and I wasn’t sure what time it was or where I was at first. But the hard chest acting as my pillow reminded me. Hunter was out cold—he didn’t even flinch at the sound of the phone, so I reached over to the nightstand and grabbed his cell. The phone stopped ringing just as I picked it up, but the missed call read UNCLE JOE. I checked the time before setting it back down. It was 9 a.m. Damn, we’d both slept late.

I gently nudged my sleeping giant. “Hunter.”

“Mmm?” His eyes pinched shut tighter.

“Your phone rang. And it’s late. Almost nine.”

He opened one eye. “Sit on my face.”

I laughed and smacked at his shoulder. “That’s your response when I wake you up and tell you that you missed a phone call?”

“What? I like to eat right away when I wake up.”

“It was your uncle.”

Both his eyes opened, and his face turned serious.

“What?”

He leaned up on his elbows. “It’s only six in the morning in California. If he’s calling me this early, there’s a reason.”

“I didn’t think of that. Well, hurry, call him back.”

Hunter swung his legs and sat up on the edge of the bed. But he didn’t immediately reach for his phone. At first I thought he was taking a minute to wake up, but then I caught sight of his face. “What’s the matter?”

“Uncle Joe ran the test. He said he’d call as soon as the results were in.”

“But it’s only Thursday. You said results weren’t due until Friday.”

“He said probably Friday. I don’t know. He could be calling about something else. But…”

His cell phone started to ring again. We looked at each other for a few rings before he answered. “Hey, Uncle Joe. Give me one minute, okay?”

He covered the phone. “You sure this is what you want? You don’t want to know. It’s a big decision, Natalia.”

I wasn’t sure of much, but I was certain of one thing. “You’ll leave me if it’s positive. Your life won’t be the same. I’ll leave it up to you. But I don’t want to take those risks. I don’t need or want to know.”

He stared into my eyes for a long time before nodding. Then he lifted the phone back to his ear. “Hey, Uncle Joe. Before you say anything, I want to let you know that I’ve decided to not find out the results. So if that’s the reason you’re calling, I don’t want to know.”

I heard a man’s voice through the cell, but couldn’t make out the words he was saying. Hunter stared off, listening intently.

“Uh-huh. Right.”

Hunter’s eyes raised to mine and held. “Natalia and I decided we don’t want to know.”

He looked away again while he went back to listening. I couldn’t sit still. I wrapped the sheet around me and stood to pace the floor.

Hunter kept nodding and said yes a few times. At one point, he rubbed his temples with his free hand. It made me nervous that maybe his uncle had called about something else, that something bad had happened.

After a few minutes that felt more like hours, Hunter cleared his throat. “Okay. Thanks, Uncle Joe. I’ll give you a call tomorrow.” He pressed End Call and shut his eyes, looking down.

“What happened? Is your aunt okay?”

My heart jumped into my throat when he looked up. Tears streamed down his face.

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