I let it be. Leaving the phone where it was, I headed back to the kitchen, only to turn back midway when the phone started ringing again.
“Yes?”
“Jack?”
“Yes. Who is this?”
“Jack, it’s me, Rose. I…I’m calling you from…a…someone else’s phone.”
Not knowing what was going on, I tensed when I heard how her voice trembled.
“I was just wondering if—Jack, are you there?”
When she started talking to someone else, I lost my patience.
“Rose, tell me what’s going on. Where are you?”
“Oh, you’re there. Okay. Right. I…I just took a little tumble, and—”
“Are you all right?”
“Yes. Yes, I’m fine. Well, I wasn’t, but I’m now…Henry?” I heard her address someone else. “Your name is Henry, right? Yes, I—” She let out a long breath. “Henry was out running, and he saw me trip and fall. He was kind enough to help me. My phone flew out of my hand and took a tumble of its own so it’s not working at the moment. I was wondering if you could come and help me to work. Henry offered to wait with me until then. I’d go on my own, but I think—”
Somewhere in the middle of her ramblings, I had already opened the door and was standing in front of the elevators.
“Where are you? Tell me your exact location.”
When she couldn’t even tell me where she was, she asked Henry and related his exact words to me. I hung up on her. Then I put the damn phone back to my ear as if she could still hear me and I could apologize after realizing I’d been rude.
Out on the street, I considered grabbing a cab, but from what they were telling me, they weren’t anywhere near the road. Before I could waste more time thinking of the best way to get there, I found myself running across the street, ignoring the blaring car horns as I avoided getting hit by oncoming traffic. I entered the park somewhere around 79th and ran as fast as I could in a suit. If Henry had described the place correctly, she was somewhere in between the Ramble and the Boathouse.
I slowed down to a brisk walk when there was almost fifty feet separating us and watched as Rose lifted her head and looked straight at me. She gingerly got to her feet with the help of the man standing next to her. My eyes ran over her, but I couldn’t see any visible injuries. My heart was pounding from the run, or maybe it was just worry, or what the hell maybe it was just seeing her, but thankfully my brain was still working enough to remember that we were supposed to be husband and wife and we could and should act like a couple around other people.
“Rose.”
I went straight for her and before I could try to think of what I could do or what would be appropriate, I found myself rocking back a step when her body hit mine. She was fine, and she was already in my arms. A little out of breath, I didn’t hesitate to wrap my arms around her, squeezing gently since I wasn’t sure where her injuries were. I closed my eyes for a second and let out a long breath. She was fine.
“What happened?” I asked, addressing the guy next to her, but Rose answered before he could speak, thinking I was talking to her.
“I probably shouldn’t have called you. I was being stupid, I’m sorry,” she whispered to my shoulder and pulled back. My brows snapped together as I studied her face. If she didn’t think she should have called me, what was she doing jumping into my arms? Reluctantly, I let her go. Her gaze dropped to her hands, so I looked down as well to see her staring at her shattered phone screen. “It works enough that I could find you in my contacts, but it’s not calling. I’m not sure what’s wrong.”
“It’s broken to pieces, that’s what’s wrong.”
“Henry thought I should call someone to pick me up.”
I finally turned to Henry. He was maybe forty or forty-five with white streaks in his hair, wearing black sweatpants and a black zip-up sweatshirt. I extended my hand. “Thank you for helping my wife. Is there anything we can do for you?”
We shook hands as he gave Rose a once-over. “It’s nothing. I’m just glad I was there to help.” He glanced at his watch. “I need to go, but she took a bad fall so you might want