He kissed her. “I’m positive.”
Cindy hadn’t heardfrom Jace all day and had begun to seriously worry by late afternoon with no sign of him at home before he was due at work. She debated whether to text him and decided against it. Whatever was going on with him, if he wanted her to know, he’d tell her.
She hated this feeling of uncertainty that had crept in as the hours had passed without a word from him after the night they’d spent together. The feeling was all too familiar, but it was worse this time because she’d hoped for better from him.
She’d no sooner had that thought than she felt guilty for judging him before she knew what had happened. Whatever it was, it had something to do with his boys, and they needed to be his top priority.
As she sat on the sofa, she tried to focus on the journal she’d kept from the time she was a young child. For the first time in a while, she had something interesting to write about. Whatever it took to keep her from racing over to the Beachcomber to see if he’d shown up for work. And if he hadn’t?
This was exactly why she didn’t date much anymore. She hated wondering where he was, what he was thinking, if something was wrong, if he’d changed his mind about her after the night they spent together.
It was so exhausting.
The tug-of-war over whether she should go to the Beachcomber had her paralyzed with indecision, to the point that she couldn’t write a thing, which was rare for her. She texted her brother John. Are you going to the bar tonight?
He replied right away. I’m there now. You coming?
Can I ask you something without you making ANYTHING of it?
Um, sure…
Is Jace there?
He’s not. They said he called out sick.
What the hell was going on?
He’s not at home?John asked.
No, he said something came up hours ago, and I haven’t heard from him since.
And now you’re spinning, am I right?
A little. It’s weird for him to go off the grid for hours.
And you know him well enough to be able to say that’s weird?
I hate when you make too much sense. I’m going to stand down now, and I’ll see him when I see him.
Sorry to ask the obvious, but did you text him?
No…
Maybe you oughta?
I hate this.
I know. But he’s a good dude. Don’t automatically think the worst.
I’m preprogrammed to do that.
I know, but maybe don’t this time.
What about you? Is Niall there tonight?
Yeah, he’s playing.
Any progress?