Page 15 of Miracles and Marriage
At least she believed so.
“Oh, no, what if he did say something?” she exclaimed, horrified and thrilled by the idea.
She started to call her sister, but decided against it. Getting into her car just before dark to head to the beach was her way ofcoping. She reached the cottage long after nightfall. The sound of the waves soothed her as she turned into the driveway and stopped by the dark house.
If nothing else, the rest of the night would be spent putting Cal out of her mind and trying to figure out a way to find the perfect father for her baby.
Monday morning Zoe arrived at work confident she could handle anything Cal threw her way. She turned on her computer. Ginny came to the doorway.
“Zoe, something’s wrong with Cal,” she said, looking half frightened.
“What do you mean?” She couldn’t imagine anything going wrong for the man.
“I took him the printout he’d requested at the end of work on Friday. Instead of telling me he expected it days ago, he didn’t open the door to his office but told me to go away. He’s never told me to go away.”
“Where’s Emily?” Zoe asked of Cal’s secretary.
“She wasn’t at her desk.”
Zoe rose. She’d never heard of such a thing.
“Give me the printout, I’ll see he gets it,” she said.
In only seconds she was outside Cal’s office. Sure enough Emily was not at her desk. What was going on?
She knocked. “Cal, I have the Sanderson’s printout.”
“Go away,” he replied.
She blinked. Opening the door, she stuck her head in, peering around to see him standing by the window, one arm raised and leaning against the casing.
He heard her and turned, glaring at her.
“I don’t want to be disturbed.”
Instead Zoe stepped inside and closed the door. She crossed to the desk and laid the printout on the messy surface.
“There’s definitely something wrong. What is it?”
He frowned at her for a long moment, then the look turned to one of pain. Zoe’s eyes widened slightly. She’d never seen Cal like this.
“My uncle died unexpectedly this morning. I just learned of it.”
He turned and faced out the window. “We spoke on the phone just a few days ago. Nothing was wrong. At least nothing he told me. The man was only fifty-nine. Too young to die.”
Chapter Three
“I’m so sorry,” she said, not knowing what to do. The words sounded so inadequate. She was stunned. She never expected anything to throw Jedidiah Callahan a curve. “You two were close?”
“He raised me.”
“Oh.”
The image of her father rose. She’d be devastated if anything happened to him. Instinctively she went to Cal and leaned against his arm. She couldn’t put hers around him; they weren’t that close. But she could stand beside him and let him know she was there.
They stood in silence for a long moment, then he sighed.
“I have to go make burial arrangements and see to things. It was just the two of us.”
