Page 64 of Storm

I know Richard has been in his head, so he probably wasn’t thinking as he wrote back. I have every intention of being there next week for her blood pressure check. No stress test this time, but I want to get eyes on her for myself.

CHAPTER 30

RICHARD

It’s been over four weeks since Miriam gutted me at her bus stop. I’ve been worthless at work, unable to keep focused on my cases and making mistakes left and right. Not until my partner sat down and expressed his concern over the future of our practice did I realize I needed to take a few days to get my head straight.

I missed her appointment and probably another. I’ve received updates, but I can’t keep it all straight. It wasn’t on purpose. Dates have been jumbled in my head and with the lack of sleep, my work hours have been scattered, so I was an entire two days off my calendar by the time I realized I missed it.

Even Kevin texting, “Where are you?” didn’t pull me from my dark thoughts and bring me back to reality.

As soon as I understood I dropped the ball, I texted Miriam to explain why I wasn’t there. Her “No worries” text didn’t sit right with me, and I spun even lower. Then I did the craziest thing without a thought.

I downloaded a program to learn Spanish. It came out of nowhere, but it was an automatic reaction to realizing I’ve fucked up again and the only way I knew how to start taking steps to be a better human fucking being.

Between work hours, when I’ve struggled to sleep, I’ve been pouring through slides and recordings, repeating them to myself in the dark of my room at night, practicing pronunciation. One thing I’ve learned since I’ve started is Miriam loves to curse.

A knock on the door startles me and I strike quite a few computer keys when I jerk in my chair. I’ve barely been back a few days and I don’t quite have my feet underneath me yet. “Yeah?” I call out.

What I don’t expect is for my door to swing open and the woman who’s been occupying my thoughts for the last month strides in, pissed and fired up, ready to go to battle. “We need to talk,Dick.”

Dropping into the chair closest to me, the first thing I notice is she’s lost weight. “Miriam,” I murmur, not sure what else to say, completely blindsided that she’s here.How the hell did she get here?That thought swirls until I can’t hold back. “Did you ride a bus all the way here? My God woman, that’s incredibly unsafe in your condition!”

The moment it comes out, I know it was the wrong thing to say. If she were a fictional character, I swear she’d turn into a steaming engine, smoke billowing from her ears. Instead, she presses her lips together and breathes heavily through her nose.

“Would you call your boys and tell them we all need to have a talk? I have about two hours before I need to get back to my family and I have shit to say to all of you.”

“What’s going on?” I ask, ignoring her anger and more focused on the severity of her words.

“Please,” she bites out. Nodding, I pick up my cellphone and quickly text Kevin.

Me: Miriam is sitting in my office and not so politely requesting your presence. Would you call Tate and Ez on your way here?

He responds immediately.

Kevin: On my way. What’s going on?

Me: No clue, but she’s furious.

Setting my phone down, I say, “Done. What happened?”

“I think the more important question is, whatdidn’thappen?” She’s leaning forward with hands clenched tightly in her hands, most likely holding herself back from lashing out. I literally have no clue what she’s talking about.

I wrack my brain for anything I could have done to her. We haven’t spoken in weeks, so I haven’t been rude. I haven’t gone back to her place to confront her again. My father has been helping me put together a plan for the future for the child in the event something happens to me. The only thing that’s fully ready to go is a college fund. We just need the baby’s information, which is impossible until he or she is born.

Miriam is slowly blinking at me, her lip curled up as if she’s ready to attack.

What the hell did I forget?

“The fucking appointment for DNA testing,” she hisses. “I assume that’s what you’re trying to figure out right now. You didn’t show upagainfor the appointment andnowthey won’t let me schedule a third time because of not one, buttwono shows!”

As she’s scolding me, she slowly stands up and plants her hands on the edge of my desk, her winter jacket parting just enough for my eyes to catch the small swelling of her stomach.It’s only a hint as her shirt stretches across it, but it causes me to suck in a gasp.

She looks down at the sound to see where I’m looking, then whips her head back up to shoot daggers. Her silent warning isdaringme to make a comment, so I bite my tongue. Today, because I’ve so obviously fucked up, I’ll keep my thoughts to myself.

Sitting back down, she crosses her arms and looks away. “We’ll wait until they get here.Por qué siempre soy yo quien tiene que lidiar con hombres idiotas?” I tilt my head, and actually fucking smile for the first time in a month. I understood a bit of that, having picked up onwhyandidiot men. She doesn’t need to give me anymore details. “Feel free to work while I wait.”

I jump, finding myself staring at her mouth, waiting for more Spanish I can pick out. With a cough, I clear my throat and focus back on my screen. We don’t say a word when Kevin lets himself in. He immediately senses the tension in the room, so instead of saying anything, he sits in the chair next to Miriam, analyzing her when she won’t notice him staring.

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