Page 24 of Already At Risk
“He bought her ahouse,” Ellie repeated.
“I guess they’re outgrowing his penthouse,” I said with a laugh, even though I understood why Noah wanted to have a yard, more space for his daughter and dog to play.
“If the penthouse is up for grabs, you should take it.”
“Pretty sure he’s keeping the penthouse, too—oh, shit.” My phone buzzed in my hand as I walked into the hospital, and I glanced down to see Cameron’s name on the screen. I frowned. “My lawyer is calling me, El. I gotta go. We can figure something out for June. I promise. Talk soon?”
“Yeah,” she said, sounding slightly subdued. “Talk soon, Nat.”
I switched over to Cameron’s call and breathlessly answered, “Hey.”
“Hi, Dr. London.” God, I wish his voice didn’t soundquiteso good when it said my name. Even if it was overly formal, like he was trying to prove a point.
“Natalie,” I corrected.
“Natalie,” he said, and I immediately regretted what I’d done. Because now he sounded even better. “I’m sorry for bothering you, but there’s a mistake on the paperwork you signed yesterday.”
“A mistake?”
That was absolutely not what I needed to hear right now when I was minutes from starting a shift.
“You, uh, signed the wrong name,” Cameron answered. “I apologize that I didn’t catch it before you left.”
I stopped in my tracks in the lobby of the hospital. “I signed thewrongname.”
“Yeah.” Cameron sounded sympathetic but also uncomfortable. “You signed as Natalie Abrams.”
“Fuck, I’m sorry.” I shook my head, irritated with myself. Clearly, my head was elsewhere after our conversation yesterday, the one that had taken a turn into territory we really shouldn’t explore.
“It’s okay,” Cameron reassured me.
It seemed like he was always reassuring me, and I both hated that and appreciated it all at once. I wished I didn’tneedthereassurance.
“Muscle memory,” he added lightly. “It happens.”
“Yeah,” I said, but I was still annoyed. I didn’t want any part of my body to remember any part of my marriage, preferably.
“But listen, I’m going to need to grab another signature from you so I can file our counter-petition,” he said, moving the conversation along like usual. “Any chance you could swing by today?”
I put a hand to my forehead, rubbing it in anticipation of a headache. “Cameron, I’m so sorry, but I just got to work.”
“Maybe I could come down there?” he offered.
But I shook my head. “I have rounds, and then I’m scheduled for a surgery. I really have to go, actually. I can maybe meet you when I’m done, but it will be late. And tomorrow—fuck. I’m chaperoning a field trip to the zoo at Chloe’s school.”
“Just call me when you’re off work. We’ll figure it out.” Cameron’s voice could not have been calmer; I had no idea how he did it. “It’ll be fine, Natalie. Don’t worry about it.”
I was worried about it.
I knew we were getting down to the wire with our time limit to be able to file that counter-petition, and I didn’t wantanythingto go wrong when it came to this case.
When I was silent, Cameron added, “I promise everything will be okay, Natalie. Call me later, no matter the time. Okay?”
“Okay,” I whispered because it was all I could really do, and then I hung up and switched my brain over.
Rounds, first. I could do this.
It was eleven o’clock when I got off work. I stared at my phone in the parking lot, knowing that Cameron had told me to call but wondering if that was a good idea. He probably hadn’t realized when I said it would be late what exactly that meant. I knew lawyers worked a lot and had extensive hours themselves, but not usually this late. Right?
