Page 114 of Mistletoe and Malice
Upstairs in his bedroom, Colton plugged his cell phone charger into the wall. The device had run out of juice a couple of hours earlier, so he flipped through his mail, waiting for it tocharge enough to check texts and voicemail. When the phone lit up, he had no missed texts, but he did have three voicemails.
He punched in the number to retrieve the messages and hit Speaker. He deleted two hang-ups, and when he heard nothing but silence on the third, moved his thumb to delete it too.
“Um, hey, Colton.” His heart lurched, thumb jerking away from the delete button. “It’s Riley. I’m sorry for calling so late. It’s almost eleven, and I’ve called twice before but didn’t leave a message. But then, this isn’t something I wanted to leave on voicemail. Can you please call me? I don’t care how late it is. And don’t worry. I’m not going to propose to you.” Her chuckle sounded a bit forced. “Please, Colton? Please call me? Thanks.”
He stared at the phone, willing it to ring again, not at all sure he had the courage to make the call himself. He checked the time. Ten minutes till midnight. It really was too late to call anybody at this hour.
I don’t care how late it is.
His pulse raced as his thumb hovered over her number. Then with a shake of the head, he set the device down on the bedside table. In the master bathroom, he brushed his teeth and crawled into bed, realizing his almost slow-motion movements were his way of waiting to see if she’d call again. By the time he flipped off the bedside lamp, he’d accepted the fact she wasn’t going to.
He stared up at the dark ceiling. Maybe two more sleep tablets were in order.
Riley rolled over and checked the time on her phone. Twelve-twenty. Her heart fell. He wasn’t going to call. But then, how could she blame him? He’d only been trying to protect her, as he’d always done, and she’d returned it with cold sarcasm,allowing all the hurt she’d endured since he left dictate her words and actions.
The ringing of her cell phone shattered the stillness, and she snatched it up. “Colton?”
“Riley.” The familiar deep rumble of his voice brought tingles up the back of her neck. “I’m sorry it’s so late.”
“No. No, please.” She scrambled to sit up, only a twinge in her hip left from her procedure. “I’m glad you called.” Closing her eyes, she took a silent deep breath. “How are you?”
“Fine. I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“No. I’m … uh … still having a little difficulty in that area. My therapist prescribed me a sleeping pill, but I … I didn’t take it tonight.”
“Listen, I want to apologize for what happened earlier today.”
Her brow crinkled in question. “What do you have to apologize for? That’s actually why I was calling you. To apologize.”
“No, it was me. I was harsh, and I scared you. That’s not what I intended. I guess knowing the guy was standing at the gate less than two weeks ago unnerved me a little to see you there with no one around you.”
“It probably wasn’t the brightest move on my part. And I certainly don’t believe you need to apologize. I was rude to you. I try to never go to bed with unfinished business, and the way we left things today didn’t sit right with me. So, please accept my apology. I know you had my best interests in mind, as usual.”
“Let’s call it even and forget about it.”
“Sounds good.” The line sat silent between them for several seconds. “Well … I should let you go. So you can get some sleep.”
“No, it’s all right. I’m a little too wound up to sleep, anyway.”
“I know the feeling.”
“I’m glad you decided to see a therapist.”
She snuggled back down into the covers. “She’s helped me a lot. That was great advice, to talk to somebody. Somebody not involved with me or this mess. The day I got those awful flowers, Mom called her, and she came right over. I felt guilty since it was a weekend, but until she got here, I hadn’t realized how affected I’d been. I completely went to pieces once we were alone.”
“We hold back with our family and friends. We don’t want them to worry about us. I didn’t talk to Theresa or my parents about how I felt after I got shot. Kept telling them I was fine. But with my counselor, I unloaded. It made it easier to talk to the people close to me about it, but I think you have to get rid of all the garbage first.”
“It’s definitely helped me navigate all of this a little better.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“So, what’s got you wound up?”
“Pardon me?”
“You said you were too wound up to sleep.”
“Oh, right. The case, I guess. The fact we can’t locate this guy is driving me crazy. And going back through Shane’s case file makes me cross-eyed by about nine o’clock.”
