Page 66 of Falling Again
CHAPTER 19
“Ihave an update onthe library’s fundraiser,” Ginny said, her fingers swiping up and down her tablet. “Turns out they need to postpone the celebration for another month due to staff shortages, but that shouldn’t be a problem.” Ginny stopped talking long enough to glance up at Natalie, who pouted and picked at the eraser on her pencil. “Nat, did you hear me?”
Even though she hadn’t heard a word, Natalie dropped her pencil and nodded. “Yep. That sounds good. It doesn’t make sense to wait on their fundraiser if the staff are ready.”
Ginny put her tablet down and tugged at the sleeves of her cardigan. “That’s the opposite of everything I said. What’s going on with you?” She studied her friend for a moment, waiting for an explanation. Natalie knew she deserved one.
Since returning to Buckeye Falls a few days ago, Natalie didn’t know what was going on with her. Certain things were different. For starters, they were focusing on home life when they were home. It’d only been a couple days, but Anthony was home in time for dinner every night. They’d even had sex twice, which was a huge increase over the zero times pre-vacation.
But Natalie still felt that something was off, like when you wear a dress that’s a size too small. She felt pinched and tugged in the wrong direction. Anthony dodged questions about what he was working on with Max. It was so different from before. He used to come home and tell her everything about his meetings. Now she wondered if asking him not to bring work home equaled Natalie being in the dark about the happenings in town.
Leaning over her desk, Ginny snapped her fingers in Natalie’s face. “Seriously! Earth to Nat.”
Now Natalie shook herself back to the moment. “Oh gosh. I’m sorry, Ginny. What were we talking about? That new website proposal for the school district?”
Ginny schooled her features, but Natalie could tell she was concerned. “No. I was talking about the library fundraiser. We settled the school district’s website proposal yesterday. Remember? Evan came in to sign the contract.”
Slumping back in her seat, Natalie covered her face with her hands. “I’m sorry,” she said through her fingers. “I don’t know what’s gotten into me.” Well, that was a lie, but Natalie wasn’t sure she wanted to talk about it.
“Is something wrong with the kids?” Ginny asked, all attempts at work forgotten.
“What? No. They’re fine. They had a wonderful time with Alice. She really stepped up while we were gone.”
Ginny tilted her head and addressed the elephant in the room. “So it must be Anthony.” It was a statement, not a question.
Natalie collected her things and stood from her chair. Even now she had to be careful walking in her heels; her ankle wasn’t quite back to normal. “I should go get those specs to Evan for the website. I know he’ll want to start right away.”
“We’re not done with this conversation!” Ginny shouted at a retreating Natalie.
“Uh huh,” Natalie said over her shoulder. As soon as she was back in her office she closed the door and put her head on her desk. The cold oak surface helped center her, and Natalie finally started breathing again.
This wasn’t her, not one bit. Natalie was fierce; she didn’t step down when things got rough. She was so proud of their communication at the lake house, but now things felt like they did before. Granted, they were having more sex, but sex wasn’t everything. Tapping her fingers on her desktop, she itched to call Anthony and get to the bottom of his secretive behavior. They said they would talk, so dammit, they needed to talk.
Picking up her cell, she dialed Anthony’s number, but it went straight to voicemail. She pulled up their shared calendar on her phone and saw he had a lunch meeting with Max at the diner. The town council meeting had been last night, so she wasn’t sure why they needed to meet again. A quick check of the time told Natalie she had ten minutes to get to the diner before their lunch was over. Grabbing her purse and checking her reflection, she did her best to slink out of the office without alerting Ginny.
“Are you sneaking out for lunch?” Ginny asked, her hip leaning against the doorway to her office.
Natalie yelped and dropped her car keys, which skittered across the floor. “You scared me,” Natalie scolded.
Ginny snorted. “Not as much as you’re scaring me. What is going on? You’re acting like the world’s worst cat burglar.”
Natalie snatched up her keys and smoothed down the front of her dress. “I’m just hungry. I thought I’d swing by the diner.”
Ginny’s eyes perked up at the mention of the diner and she turned to go back into her office. “I’ll join you. Maybe over a plate of poutine you’ll spill the beans about why you’re acting weird.”
Before she could stop herself, Natalie shouted, “No!”
Ginny froze, her eyebrows reaching her hairline. “Okay? You’re officially scaring me. What is going on?”
Natalie sighed but backed out the door. “I’m going to check in with Anthony over his lunch break. No biggie.”No biggie?Natalie never talked like that, and her odd behavior only made Ginny more suspicious.
“I’ll still join you. I can show Evan the specs while I’m there.”
“I’ll bring them.” Remembering she saved the plans to her laptop, Natalie hoisted her bag in triumph. “I have it all right here. I’ll see you.” Natalie didn’t wait for a response before sprinting out the exit and to her car. Her ankle twinged with every step, but she was a woman on a mission.
