Page 53 of The Duke Who Saved Christmas
“Oh, man, I missed the lights?”
I snorted. “Whose fault is that, Zara? You were supposed to be here. I’m not even going to respond to the fact you’re more worried about missing the lights than your wife being so exhausted she’s passing out on the sofa.”
“Don’t start with me.” My sister huffed. “She never falls asleep on the sofa. Is she that busy?”
“Between Christmas and Hazel’s wedding, what do you think?”
“She’s been busier.”
I shook my head. “Do you want me to give her a message in the morning?”
“I want to speak to my wife.”
“I’m not going to wake her up.”
“What if it’s important?”
“Are you injured? Dying? In hospital? Trapped in a basement with a crazed serial killer demanding ransom money? If you are, I’m not paying it, by the way.”
The line crackled with her huff. “Can you just get her?”
“No, I’m not waking her up,” I snapped. “She’s exhausted. You’d know that if you cared to come home.”
“How can you say that?”
“I’m not talking to you anymore,” I said firmly. “I’m putting Beth’s phone on silent, so you won’t disturb her. She needs to sleep, and that’s the end of it.”
“Tom, wait!”
The urgency in her tone was the only reason I didn’t hang up.
“What?” I asked after a moment.
“Is she… okay?” Zara questioned softly. “She’s been distant on the phone, and you’re there, and I just…”
I closed my eyes. “Come home, Zara.”
“I have to finish this—”
“Come. Home.”
There was a thick silence that hung in the air between us, and as much as I wanted to tell her the truth about why Beth was so tired and struggling so much, I simply couldn’t.
It wasn’t my news to share.
A shuddery breath made the line sound like it was going to break at any moment, and I realised my sister was crying.
I closed my eyes. “Zara.”
“Tom, she—we…” She paused. “Danny,” she settled on after a second. “Again. We’ve tried again.”
I didn’t say anything.
What could I say? That I knew? More than she did?
“Is… Is Beth…” She trailed off.
I knew exactly what she was asking me.
