Page 60 of Until Now

I sip my coffee, “Came back a few days early.”

“When did you get home? Alex said Nick showed up in Boston last night.”

“He left a few days before I did.”

“Are you going with him? Oh my gosh, can I come?”

“Um, no.”

“No, I can’t come?”

“No, I won’t be going to Boston.”

Her excitement fades. “Wait, did something happen? Something definitely happened. What happened?”

“Here, this is for you.” Ignoring her questions, I pull an envelope from my back pocket. “Thanks for taking care of things while I was gone.”

“What is this?”

“Just a little something to say thank you.”

“Nina, no. I can’t take this. I was just doing my job.”

“Please, I appreciate it.” I push it into her hands. “Now, I already started arranging a few meetings for the end of this week. Kathleen seems pleased with how you’ve handled things, so I’m going to let you keep leading that one. Can you finish scheduling the rest? I need to make a few phone calls.”

I smile trying to put on my best face, but she doesn’t believe me. She knows better. I return to my office before she can ask anymore questions. As soon as the door closes, the smile falls. This is going to be a lot harder than I thought. Trying to act like nothing is wrong, like I don’t have this constant ache in my chest. Only one way to ignore it — work. Work is the only way I can keep my mind from wandering.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

“Hey Nina, thisis Alex, Nick’s brother. We talked in Haven. Um, I hope this isn’t too weird. He doesn’t know I’m calling. Can you call me?” I listen to the voicemail again. It has been two days since Alex left the message. I’ve considered ignoring it all together, but I’m worried something might be wrong. What if something happened to Nick? Surely, Alex would call Michaela, right? Just before I call him back, my phone rings. I wonder if his ears were burning. “Hey, Alex.”

He stumbles around on the other end. A chair scrapes across the floor. Jumbled footsteps. A hushed apology.

“Damn, dude, calm down.” Butterflies fill my stomach at the sound of Nick’s voice. I haven’t heard his voice in over a month. I’ve missed it more than I care to admit.

“I just need to take this phone call, I’ll be in my room,” Alex says, obviously trying to get away from his brother.

“I didn’t come here to work while you sit on the phone. Who is it? The girl from the bar?” A scuffle on the other end. “Look, it’s cute you want to talk to my brother, but we have things to do. He can call you back tonight when we’re done.”

I hold my breath.

“Dude, I think she hung up.”

“Or, she doesn’t want to talk to you,” Alex mumbles.

“Just hurry up so we can— Wait, this says…Nina.” Oh my gosh, Alex is such an idiot. Why would he put my name in there? Everyone knows you’re supposed to put a fake name. “Alex, what in the hell are you doing?”

“Give me the phone.”

“How did you get her number? What did you—”

“Nick.” It stills him.

Nick sighs, “I’m sorry, I’ll take care of it.”

“Nick, dategli il telefono.”

“English, please.” There’s a smile in his voice.

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