Page 48 of Forbidden Dark Vows

I call my dad next. He’s in the office and comes to the phone holding a second conversation with someone only he can see.

“… until Harry gets back. Karl Weiss speaking,” he says into the phone.

“Dad?” Pause.

Why is my heart skipping right now? I hear the muffled sound of him covering the phone, his voice sounding as if it’s underwater, and then he says, “Where the fuck are you, Harry? I’ve not heard from you since the funeral.”

“I know, sorry, Dad. Something really important came up, and I had to get away fast.” Another pause. “I’m in Scotland.”

“Fuck!” I can picture his shoulders slumping as he turns away from the desk to face the window. “When are you coming back?”

“Soon. I don’t know.” I sense Ruby’s eyes on me, curious, waiting for me to tell him, and I can’t look at her. “Dad, I?—”

“I don’t know isn’t good enough, Harry. You go off gallivanting around the world and leave me here to deal with this shit. You’re needed here, unless you want this business to?—”

“What do you mean?” The words stick in my dry mouth. I knew I should’ve finished that pint of water. “What’s going on?”

“I’m not telling you over the phone. Let me know when your flight gets in and I’ll arrange for the car to pick you up from the airport.”

“I wish you would tell me.”

It’s a lie. I wish I hadn’t called him, saved our news for when we got back, because I’m sober now, and this feels like the end of our adventure and our first steps into God only knows what.

“I’ve got to go, Harry. Someone has to keep this business afloat.”

“Dad, wait a sec. I have news.”

The line clicks and I’m left with the buzzing sound of a dead conversation and a swirling sensation in my gut.

“What is it?” Ruby’s eyes are wide. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know.” I don’t want to spoil our time here talking about my business.

“We have to go home, don’t we?”

I nod. The party is over.

17

RUBY

It feels even moresurreal to be traveling home again.

The mind adapts to its new surroundings, survival instinct, I guess, making it the new normal and replacing the old. We’re quiet during the flight, each lost in our own thoughts. When we were flying to the UK, we had the unknown on our side, like going on vacation and not knowing what to expect when you arrive. But now…

I know that Harry is worried about his business. He wouldn’t tell me what his dad said, but it clearly wasn’t good news. I feel guilty for keeping him away for so long, but whenever I mention it, he tells me he wouldn’t have swapped this trip for the world. And I know that he means it.

I only hope that he won’t regret putting this ring on my finger.

We go directly to Harry’s place, a sleek, one bedroom apartment in a building on East 54thStreet. It’s decorated in neutral colors with bold patterned rugs on the wooden floors, abstract paintings on the walls, and ivory cabinets in the open-plankitchen. It’s bright and spacious. And it tells me nothing about Harry Weiss.

We both shower and Harry orders takeout noodles which we eat sitting on chrome stools at the breakfast bar. Neither of us has said the words out loud, but staying here together is going to be a whole different ball game to staying in Eileen’s B&B.

This whole new persona seems to have dropped onto Harry’s shoulders, one that I didn’t even see when he was in the hospital, a sharp-pronged reminder that we know so little about each other.

While Harry gets dressed in the bedroom, I call home. I can’t put off speaking to my mom forever.

“Hello?” The greeting is more like a growl than a welcome.

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