Page 133 of Keep My Heart
As I’m packing up everything I want in the apartment, which isn’t much, other than my clothes, I hear my phone ringing from the kitchen counter. I race over to grab it and see Matt’s number on the screen.
‘Hey, Matt.’
‘It’s me. Nick.’
My pulse races, hearing his voice. ‘Hey. I was going to call you but Matt said you were with your dad.’
‘Yeah, I just left his room.’
‘Nick, I’m so sorry.’
‘He’ll be okay, at least that’s what we’re hoping. He’s having surgery later this week.’
Nick sounds exhausted, more tired than I’ve ever heard him. He must’ve got to New York, found out about his dad, and had to fly back.
‘I’m sorry I didn’t return your calls. I didn’t know what happened until I talked to Matt.’
‘Why didn’t you answer your phone? I was worried. I thought something happened to you.’
‘I just um .?.?. I heard something, something I wasn’t sure was true, but given what happened before, with Chris, I thought it might be. But I might’ve overreacted.’
‘What did you hear?’
‘Do you know some woman named Iris?’
‘Yeah, she’s my client. She’s going through a divorce. She’s the reason I kept getting those calls from work last night. She’s old and lonely, so she makes up excuses to call me. I feel more like her therapist than her lawyer.’ He pauses. ‘How do you know Iris?’
‘It’s a long story,’ I say, sighing as I realize what Diane and Chris heard was not even close to what they assumed they heard.
‘Let me hear it. What’s the story?’
‘I’m too embarrassed to tell you.’
‘Lyndsay, it’s me. You don’t need to be embarrassed. I need to know what’s going on.’
I tell him what happened, first with Diane, then with Chris and the video, then the phone call I got from the fake Iris.
‘You really thought I’d cheat on you?’ Nick asks.
‘I didn’t at first, but then I got that phone call and thought it must be true. Nick, you have to understand that I was with someone I couldn’t trust for years, since high school. It’s going to take some time for me to learn to trust someone again. I didn’t think you would cheat on me, but there’s a part of me that wasn’t sure.’
‘I would never do that to you, Lyndsay. It’s just not who I am.’
‘Are you mad at me?’
‘No, but I wish you had talked to me instead of making assumptions that aren’t true.’
‘So what does this mean for us?’
‘Mom, just a minute. I’m on the phone.’
‘Do you need to go?’
‘Yeah, sorry. Can we talk tomorrow?’
‘Yeah. Actually, I’m going to—’
‘The doctor’s here to talk to us. I need to go. Bye.’
