“How is my favorite son-in-law doing?” she cajoled, a bright smile on her lips to match.
“Hi, Mom,” James greeted. “I’m happy to hear your voice.”
She noted that he skirted away from answering her original question.
“Are you all right?” she asked directly.
There was a pause before he responded. “I’m fine, Mom…I’m just tired. I’ve had a very busy couple of weeks, and I’m still busy,” he explained.
“Don’t work yourself to the bone, James. You have to save some of your energy for your wedding day and wedding night.”
James laughed at this. “I’ll try not to overexert myself,” he promised.
“Good,” Andrea grinned happily before sobering up. “I’m actually calling because I need to ask you something.”
“Sounds serious.” There was an edge to his tone, she noted.
“Yes. Rory. I think there is something wrong with her, but I don’t know what it is. I was hoping you might know.”
At the palpable silence, she pushed.
“James, is there something going on between you and Rory that you’re both not telling me?”
ChapterThirteen
Rory burrowed further under the thick comforter, protecting herself from the cold permeating the room and threatening to leave hair-raising goosebumps prickling her skin. She could tell that the thermostat needed adjustment but was too tired to go downstairs. Plus, the warmth from the comforter securely cushioning her made it less expedient to do so. All she wanted to do was enjoy the last hour or so of unbothered sleep before she had to face the new day. Her brows drew into a frown at the sudden vibration jerking the bed, making it difficult for her to slip deeper into a world of dreams. Trying to get away from the disturbance, she turned to lay on her side.
The annoying staccato humming was in her head, making her temple pulse like a beaten drum as her eyes rolled under tightly closed lids. She rolled onto her stomach slid out her hand across the bed, searching. A few seconds later, her fingers came in contact with the object of her discomfort, and she wrapped them around it. Without opening her eyes, she brought it to her ear.
“Hello?” she answered, her voice still groggy with sleep.
“Hi.”
“James?” Rory’s eyes blinked open.
“Yes, it’s me,” he confirmed with a light chuckle. “I saw your call…I’m sorry I missed it. I had a lot on my plate yesterday,” he explained. “I should have seen it and called back right away. I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s fine,” Rory assured him, drawing herself up until her back met the headboard. “I was calling because…I just wanted to hear your voice,” she spoke softly.
Rory cast her eyes downward to stare at the floral patterns of the comforter now lying across the lower half of her body as she waited for her fiancé to respond.
“I miss you.”
Rory drew in a deep breath at his confession as her heartbeat wildly against her chest. “I miss you too,” she answered, her free hand creeping up to rest against her heart.
James sighed. “I wish I could be there with you right now, but Gary doubled my workload. He says the more cases I work on and the more clients I have on retainer, the better my chances of making partner next year. But these cases…” He sighed again. “The case on Jared Finch is a real headache.”
“Wanna talk about it?” Rory asked.
“I can’t…”
“Oh, yeah…right…I forgot. So, I found a dress.”
“You did? That’s wow, that's great.”
“Yeah. Mom and I went dress shopping in Seattle. The moment I saw it, I knew it was the one.” A smile broke out on her face as she thought back to how right it felt the minute she saw her reflection in the mirror. She knew that dress was the one that she wanted to walk down the aisle in— to marry James.
“I can’t wait to see you in it.”
