Page 77 of The I Do Over

“Oh, um…” Then Daisy gasped as it hit her. “Oh, Knox! I’m sorry! I…I wasn’t thinking. I’m sure it was just food poisoning. My bad. I never should have said anything.”

His phone rang and he’d never been so thankful for an interruption in his life. The name of Maddie’s clinic came up and he looked up at his friends with wide eyes. “That’s Maddie,” he said, his voice oddly shaking. “What am I supposed to do? What should I say?”

“How about hello?” Xander said, rolling his eyes. “Answer the damn phone, Knox!”

“But what if…”

“Answer it!” they all yelled in unison.

Nodding, he reached for the phone and swiped the screen. “Hello?”

“Yes, um…G’day. Is this Knox Channing?”

The accent was Australian, so…not Maddie but her assistant. What the hell was her name again?

Clearing his throat, he said, “Yes, this is Knox. How can I help you?”

God, I sound so freaking formal…

“This is Babette and I’m Maddie’s assistant,” she said. “I was wondering if you’ve heard from her?”

That was…not what he was expecting.

“No. No, I haven’t. Is there a problem? Is Maddie okay?”

“As far as I know, she’s fine, but we can’t seem to reach her. She went out of town for a few days and her mum’s nurse called looking for her and, well…she can’t reach her either.”

“What?!”he demanded, jumping to his feet. “How long has she been gone? Where was she going?” Knox looked around frantically, unsure of what to do first.

“I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have called. I just thought that perhaps the two of you had gotten back together and that’s why she wasn’t answering her phone. That maybe the two of you were…you know…um…”

“Well, we’re not,” he snapped. “Do you have the number where she’s staying? The name of the hotel or…”

“It’s an Airbnb, so…no phone. I emailed the owner, but I haven’t heard back yet and…”

His head was spinning. “Okay, can you please give me the address? How far away is it?”

Babette gave him an address near High Bridge Trail State Park. Knox quickly pulled up the map program on his laptop and saw it was two and a half hours away. His heart was hammering hard in his chest. What if Maddie really was sick? What if it wasn’t food poisoning and now she was at some rental in the middle of nowhere with no one to help her? What if there was no cell service and that’s why no one could get to her?

But first things first…

“Do you know if her mother is okay? Is there a reason her nurse was calling? Is there some kind of emergency?”

“I don’t believe it was anything urgent, but she was alarmed that Maddie hadn’t returned her calls.”

“Okay, okay…” he murmured to assure himself. One crisis at a time. “I’ll try to call her too and you can, as well, but I’m on my way up there.”

“Knox, I’m sure once I hear back from the owner…”

“What if he doesn’t get back to you? What if he doesn’t live nearby and can’t get in touch with her either?” Moving around the office, he grabbed his keys and his sunglasses and then started to panic. “As soon as I find my phone, I’m out of here. I’ll keep you posted.”

“Knox, you…”

“I promise to call when I find her. Don’t worry! I’m on this!” Then he hung up and looked around as he fought to stop himself from totally freaking out. “Where the hell is my phone?” he yelled.

Six hands immediately pointed at him.

Right.

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