and it had been freezing cold. Perhaps he caught something while canvassing for beta testers and clients for our applications.
I stared at my sleeping computer monitor. I was so distracted I hadn’t even touched my computer in over ten minutes.
Mark passed by my office door.
“Mark?” I called after him as I got to my feet with my hands planted on my desk.
He doubled back and caught himself on my doorframe. He raised his eyebrows expectantly. “Yes?”
“Have you talked to Ethan this morning?”
“No, why?”
I pursed my lips. “Because he’s not here and it’s the last week before our gala event. It’s an all hands on deck situation and he hasn’t even bothered to call me and let me know where he’s at.”
Mark shrugged. “Whatever it is, I’m sure he has good reason not to be here. Otherwise, he’d never miss work.”
That’s exactly what I’m worried about.
Mark was of no help to me so I made my way across the office toward Jon’s office. I found him on the phone with his back turned so he could look down at the city streets below. I knocked softly on the doorframe to his office and entered when he motioned for me to do so without turning around.
I took a seat on one of the leather sofas and waited until he ended the call.
When he turned to face me, he smiled. “Ahh, Kathryn. How are things going with the Perfect Pairings account?”
“Good.” I wasn’t there to talk business. “Have you heard from Ethan?”
Jon cocked his head.
I didn’t want him getting the wrong idea. “This is the final week before the gala event this weekend and he and I still have a lot to do. I just wanted to make sure he was still going to hold up his end of the deal.”
Jon chuckled. “Yes, of course. He won’t be coming in today but I expect him to return to the office tomorrow.”
Was he really going to make me ask the damn question?
Jon stared at me and I stared back.
Finally, I sighed. “Is he okay?”
Jon’s eyes narrowed and I saw amusement flickering in his gaze. “Are you worried about him, Kathryn?”
“He’s not one to miss work.”
“You’re right,” Jon agreed. “His nephew was born early Sunday morning. He was just shy of a month early, so Ethan asked if he could take a couple of days off to help his brother and sister-in-law prepare to bring the baby home. He had plenty of banked days to cash in, as I’m sure you do as well.”
The baby had been born? A smile tugged at my lips as I thought about Casey and how delighted she must be that her baby was here.
“The baby is healthy?” I asked.
Jon nodded. “Quite. He goes home tomorrow morning as far as I know.”
“And the mother?”
Jon stroked his chin. “Why the questions?”
I shrugged.
“She’s just fine,” Jon said. “Ethan said she and the baby are doing well. It’s his brother who seems frazzled. When a baby comes along a month early?” He chuckled. “Well, let’s just say that’s enough to get any man hot under the collar.”
Ethan must have been overjoyed that the new member of the family had arrived. He’d been so looking forward to meeting this little boy, and now they got to spend Christmas together. I smiled as I thought about Ethan, Dana, and Naomi rushing back out to malls and stores to start Christmas shopping for the surprised little one.
I got to my feet. “Thank you for letting me know. I just wanted to make sure he was okay.”
“You can handle the rest of the gala planning, can’t you?”
“Of course.”
“Forgive Ethan when he comes back to work. He didn’t intentionally abandon you. But some things are more important than work.”
I took my leave of Jon’s office to dive back into work and was struck by the fact that I didn’t feel like gloating. Normally, this would have been my shining moment at work. I’d see Ethan’s choice to take time off as a weakness, and I’d relish the victory and take it as a chance to polish off the rest of my work to prove to Jon how worthy I was of making partner and to stick it to Ethan when he returned to the office.
But I didn’t feel that way at all. I didn’t feel like a winner. More than anything, I wished Ethan was there to help me put all the finishing touches on our project together.
I closed my office door behind me to keep out any