Happy Hour by Michele Scott Read Free Book Online

unreasonable. The home came with that old California
architecture—arches and sconces and all that chic stuff, plus a wine cellar. In
Napa, even tract homes have wine cellars. They do if they cost a bundle, anyway.
    Jamie went into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. She ran
her fingers through her blonde pixie haircut, giving it a little mussed-up
look, then opened the drawer full of makeup and rifled through for the red
lipstick that Nate liked on her. After that she lined her hazel eyes with black
liner—voila, the vamp.
    Walking back into the kitchen, she looked at the clock again. She called
the restaurant and placed an order for shrimp scampi and chicken parmigiana.
She started the pot for Maddie’s mac ‘n’ cheese and then went to the wine
cellar, pulled the Vueve , and set it on ice.
    The water stopped running upstairs. Maddie was splashing around and
singing a made-up song about Lola the birdie. Jamie smiled, shaking her head
and went around her family room lighting candles—all perfectly placed and in
various sconces and candlesticks. She would have never picked any of this stuff
out on her own. Decorating was not her forte, but she sure loved looking at it.
    When Jamie heard the garage door go up and the engine of Nate’s Range
Rover pulling in, she sighed. Her husband. Her soul mate. Her best friend in
the world. She couldn’t help smiling thinking of the night to come.
    She picked up the wine glasses and tried to strike her most seductive
pose, which probably looked more like she’d already had a few drinks rather
than the sex kitten persona she was going for.
    The back door closed and the tapping of Nate’s hard-soled shoes echoed
off the tile floor. Then they stopped. He must have been putting his briefcase
down. A few seconds later he rounded the corner and she smiled widely, holding
out a glass for him. “Hey, hot stuff.”
    He didn’t say anything. His normally clear blue eyes were red and his
dark hair was disheveled, as though he’d been running a hand through it. He did
that when he was upset.
    “You okay? Looks like you’ve had quite a day. Lose a big case?”
    He shook his head. “No, babe. I didn’t lose a case.” He took the wine
from her and sucked it down like water.
    Her stomach sank. “You’re scaring me. What is it? You didn’t lose your
job, did you?” She laughed nervously.
    He shook his head again and looked at her as if he was about to cry. Nate
didn’t say anything. He just looked at her.
    “Honey? What? What is it? Talk to me. Please.”
    Tears now slid down his face. “I didn’t want to do this. I swore I’d be
strong and wasn’t going to lose it and frighten you, but, Goddammit.
Goddammit!”
    Impatience that now turned to fear gnawed at Jamie’s gut. “Nate, what the
hell is going on?”
    He took her hand. “Where’s Maddie?”
    “In the bath. What is going on?”
    “I saw Robert Kurtz today.”
    “Yeah, so?” Her stomach sank. “You have lunch with him sometimes, right?”
Jamie asked, knowing that Nate was referring to an old college buddy of his.
“You see him sometimes. What? Why is that a big deal?”
    “No, Jamie. I saw him. I saw him as a patient. I didn’t go back to
Dr. Riggs. He’s retired now.”
    She closed her eyes and tried wrapping her mind around what Nate was
telling her, but it didn’t make sense. No. It couldn’t. Robert was an
oncologist.
    “Why? Why did you see him as a patient? What are you saying?” She tried
hard to keep the panic from her voice. Jamie choked back the suffocation
grasping her around the throat, making it difficult to breathe. She knew exactly what he was trying to tell her, but not until he said the words would she
believe him and even then… she shook her head. “No. No, no, no. No.”
    “It’s not good. It’s back, J.”
    “No. I… I…what? It’s not back! You beat it. We beat it. We beat it. The doctors told us. They said that the chances were good that it was gone.
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