Now I paused, too. "I wanted to talk."
"Oh, really?" she said, sounding half asleep. "Then maybe you should've called sooner."
I was sitting in a rental car outside a strip mall, where I'd just purchased a basic burner phone. "I would've," I said, "but my phone's missing."
"So?"
"So I had to get a new one."
"Gee, it must be nice," she said.
I didn't get it. "Nice how?"
"I’m just saying, it must be nice to buy a brand-new phone without even thinking."
It hadn't been nice. It had been a pain in the ass.I wasn't an entourage type of guy, so I'd hit the store on my own. I didn't mind the effort, but when it came to the attention, I wasn't in the mood.
I glanced toward the cell phone store and frowned. At least a dozen people were standing at the front window, staring out at my car. The car was a basic rental, just like I'd asked for. But the gawkers weren't staring at the vehicle. They were staring atme, just like they'd done inside.
So much for keeping a low profile.
I fired up the engine and backed out of the spot.
As far as the new phone, it was a temporary thing. I still figured the old one – the one with all of my contacts – would show up eventually.
To Arden, I joked, "Hey, if you want it, it's yours."
She sighed. "What?"
"My new phone." As I spoke, I pulled into traffic and turned toward the hotel. "If you want it, you can have it."
"Forget it. I don't want your hand-me-downs."
Shit.
Sleepy or not, she sounded ticked.But it wasn't about the phone.I knew that.
I'd left this morning with no advance warning and no kiss goodbye.AndI'd been out of touch all day.
Here in California, it was just past nine o'clock at night, which meant that it was after midnight in Michigan.
I asked, "Did I wake you?"
Sounding sleepier than ever, she said, "Would you care if you did?"
What the hell?
"Yeah, I'd care."And I would.I almost hadn't called for that reason. But I'd wanted to clear things up between us, and I'd been dying to hear her voice.
On the phone, she replied, "Well, if you cared so much, maybe you would've called sooner."
"Except I didn't have a phone.Oryour number."
With a sleepy scoff, she said, "Right."
Okay, I felt bad for messing up, but something wasn't right. I asked, "Is there a problem?"
"Well, IguessI'm just wondering which story you're going with. Did you not have your phone? Or did you not have my number?"
