he had been somewhat quiet over dinner, I thought I’d accomplished that goal.
While the wind carried the many sounds of the city into the room, his arm slipped across my shoulders, pulling me in even closer. “Did you see Emily today?”
“She was just getting home as I was packing up the last of my stuff. We got to hang for a few minutes.”
He kissed the top of my head. “Maybe we should have her over this weekend. I suppose it’s my turn to cook for her.”
“I’ll text her later. I know she would love that.”
He kept his lips on my hair, and I felt each inhale and exhale until the noises from an ambulance and fire truck caused him to pull away.
“I would kill for some Napa silence right now.”
Even though he chuckled, there was tension in his voice, and there had been since he’d returned from work. I hadn’t mentioned it. I knew what it was like to have a crap day, but I also wanted him to know he could vent to me if that was what he needed.
As he was working on his fourth beer, hopefully a little more relaxed, this seemed like the best time to bring it up.
I wiggled out of his grip and set my wine on the coffee table, freeing my hands to massage his neck. “Talk to me. Tell me about today.”
He was staring toward the balcony, his eyes blinking lazily as I got deeper into his muscles. “I lost a major client, someone I had done everything in my power to land and everything in my goddamn ability to save.” The movement in his cheeks told me he was grinding his teeth. “But it wasn’t enough. Fuck.” He shook his head. “It’s a huge blow to the company, to my portfolio.” He paused. “To my fucking ego.”
“What happened? What made him change his mind—” I started, my phone cutting me off as it rang from the kitchen. “One sec.” I rushed over, seeing Rebecca’s name and number fill the screen.
“Are you going to answer?”
There was impatience on his face when I glanced up.
“I don’t know.”
“Then, send the call to voice mail, so I don’t have to listen to that blaring ring.”
My ringtone was annoying, but I had a hard time ignoring Rebecca’s call. She was working tonight, and I knew she wouldn’t reach out unless she absolutely had to. That was the thought that was tugging on me.
Dammit.
I held the phone to my ear and said, “Hello?”
“You’re going to murder me.”
“Oh God. Why?”
“Because I’m about to get on my hands and knees and beg you to come in. You know I wouldn’t call unless it was a dire emergency, but tonight is one. Letitia tested positive for the flu, and we sent her home. Lindsay got into a car accident on the way here. And Shonda’s husband is out of town, and she has no one to watch her kids, so she called in. It’s just me and a nurse I borrowed from med surg, but she’s already put in thirteen hours today, and she’s about to fall on her face.”
I looked at Caleb while he sipped his beer and focused on the sights of Boston through the open glass. “Shit.” I dragged my hand through my hair, rubbing at my scalp.
“Trust me, I know. It killed me to even make this call, especially when you just finished a four-day stretch.”
Going back to the hospital for a fifth day in a row was the last thing I wanted. I hadn’t even recovered from the previous four shifts, and I still had more fun planned for tonight. I wanted to take the flowers up to the roof and sprinkle the petals into the Jacuzzi and eat the chocolate-covered strawberries I’d picked up for dessert.
But I couldn’t leave Rebecca like this. She needed help; she couldn’t carry the entire unit by herself.
“I’ll be there as fast as I can.”
“I love you, and I owe you big-time,” she said and hung up.
I watched the screen turn black before shoving my phone into my pocket. When I looked at Caleb, he was finishing his beer. He set it on the table and poured my wine into his mouth like it was a shot.
“You’re leaving?”
I walked back over to the couch and sat next to him. “I know the timing isn’t good, but I have to. Rebecca needs me.”
“I need you, Whitney.”
His words were like a knife to the back of my throat, a statement I’d