Page 37 of Drake Eternal

Then, I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes, letting the stress of the issue drain out of me just a bit.

Kate would be all right.

I didn’t get back to the hotel until nearly eight, exhausted after spending another couple of hours in the OR dealing with a trauma patient who needed specialized neurological surgery and I was there and the best person for the job. I got into the room, had a quick shower, and then dressed in my hotel-issued robe and sat on the bed with my laptop, reading for my goodnight Skype with my girls.

Sure enough, at around nine o’clock my time, I heard the jangle of the incoming Skype session and opened the window.

“Hey, there,” I said, smiling at the face of Sophie, who was leaning into the screen. “How’s my girl?”

“Good,” she said, matter of fact. “We had spaghetti and meatballs. Grandma made them specially for me.”

“And her wonderful garlic buns?”

She smiled at that. “Yes. Garlic buns. Plus, we had some ice cream.”

“Sounds delicious. I had a bowl of minestrone soup and a ham sandwich at the hospital cafeteria, so your food sounds like heaven.”

Kate leaned in and smiled. “Good old hospital cafeteria food. What would you do without it? We’re lucky we have Elaine’s wonderful cooking.”

We spoke for a few moments about their day, and then Sophie went to the kitchen table to do play with some new plasticine Kate bought for her.

It meant we had some time to ourselves. I wondered if Kate would say anything about Friday night.

“I got your text,” I said with a grin. “I had to spend a little longer in the shower, if you understand my meaning.”

“I got yours and haven’t had time yet to find any relief. But I will.”

“Send me a pic. I need the distraction. So, you’re catching a flight on Tuesday?”

Kate nodded. “I wanted to come Monday, but we didn’t get a good departure time, so I decided to check Tuesday.”

“Good.”

We spoke for a while about the beach house and how Ethan was doing, and how he wanted to come to Ethiopia to visit Liam’s grave.

She still hadn’t said anything about the photo, so I didn’t as well. I didn’t want her to think I was suspicious. I also didn’t like keeping anything from her.

Torn, I pressed on, speaking about plans for moving into a bigger hotel suite when she and Sophie arrived.

Then, Sophie came back over to show me what she’d made with the plasticine.

A unicorn.

“It’s great,” I said, although it looked more like a unicorn pig than horse. Still, it was a good attempt.

Kate took her laptop over, and I said hello to Ethan and Elaine, who were in the living room watching some game on television.

Then, Kate, Sophie and I said our goodnights and blew our kisses, and then I ended the call.

When the call disconnected, my smile fell, and I felt a sense of gloom.

Why hadn’t Kate mentioned anything about the party and how Carlton was holding her hand?

I didn’t believe she was unfaithful, but something happened and maybe she didn’t want me to worry unnecessarily by mentioning it.

I sighed and put away my laptop, turning on the news to get some distraction.

Sleep was a long time in coming…

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