Читать книгу Eleven Hours - Paullina Simons - Страница 10

Didi wasn’t in the restaurant.

Rich thought there was nothing more pathetic than a man waiting for his late wife. Embarrassed, he straightened his tie and smiled politely at the hostess.

Finally he called the office for his messages and listened to one from Didi at 12.30 PM, asking him if he could meet her a little earlier. There was something in her voice that he didn’t like and didn’t understand. There was an edge to it, and the pitch was higher than normal.

It was also an unusual call. Rich and Didi had been together for ten years. In that decade, Rich Wood had never known Didi to call from the mall and ask to meet him early.

Late, yes.

Honey, I’ll be a few minutes late.

Honey, I’m stuck in line.

Honey, there is just one more stop I have to make.

Yes, yes, yes.

But honey, can you meet me early?

If she was at the Laredo Grill, then he could tease her about it.

But she wasn’t there.

Rich knew there were many diversions between the mall and the restaurant. She could have stopped at the bookstore or the music store. Or the Container Store.

He waited awhile longer before calling his office again. There was nothing new from her after 12.30 PM. If she had stopped off somewhere, she would have called. Didi usually was considerate about being habitually late.

At one-thirty, he glanced at his watch as a little worm of worry ate away at the empty stomach where hunger had been.

Thirty minutes was too long to be stuck in any line.

He dialed the number to her cellular phone. It rang the requisite seven times before an annoying male voice answered and told Rich that the cellular customer he had called was unavailable.

Rich wondered if Didi was getting back at him for the fight they’d had yesterday, to prove to him that all it would take was for her to be a little late and he would be concerned. Maybe this is payback time, Rich thought irritably, looking at his watch every thirty seconds or so.

Rich felt his throat constrict. It wasn’t fair of her to be so late. She was exceedingly pregnant. Didi must know that Rich would immediately think she had gone into labor. Or had an accident.

He called his answering service for the third time and listened to her twelve-thirty message. ‘It’s just me,’ Didi said. ‘Calling from the mall, hoping I could meet you a little earlier.’ Pause. ‘It’s okay. I’ll see you at one, I guess. Bye.’

He listened to it again, trying to read into the pause.

What was that in her voice?