She glared at me; those green eyes were taking no prisoners. I was in trouble. Serious trouble. “No, you won’t. I’ll contact the agency and have them pay me back. They sent me a moron, so they can pay for it.”
I had to sign a consent form when I started working for them that any damage that occurred was my responsibility. I just never imagined I would break a five-thousand-dollar mirror. “They won’t cover it. They’ll make me do it. It’s my responsibility. All I have is—”
“Not even half. I heard you the first time. Go whine to someone else. I want my money, so figure it out, or I’ll call the police and let them deal with your thieving ass.”
The police. Oh, God, I was going to go to jail over this. “I didn’t steal it. It broke,” I started to explain.
“Shut up! Get out of my house. There is no proof that it was broken. It’s not here. I want my five thousand for it, or you can tell the cops you didn’t steal it. Now, get out of my house.”
I didn’t say anything else. She looked ready to explode if I spoke to her again. This was not what I had imagined. Not at all. I thought she’d be mad, but I thought she’d at least let me pay her back.
I hurried to the door and got my backpack before running to the main road. Off her property. I had a lesson tonight with Dr. Munroe, but I couldn’t go. I needed to go home and figure out what to do. I called the professor and told him I wasn’t feeling well, then walked home slowly.
Mase
When ten thirty rolled around and I still hadn’t gotten a call from Reese, I called her instead. Something was wrong. She’d have called me by now if everything was fine. The phone rang until it went to voice mail. I hung up and tried again. The same thing.
I tried to tell myself not to panic, and I dialed Jimmy’s number.
He answered on the third ring. “Hel—”
“Have you seen Reese?” I asked, not letting him finish his greeting.
“Yeah, she was walking home later than usual, and I gave her a ride back. She said she had a headache and was going to get a shower and go to bed.”
A headache was normal. I didn’t need to panic, but dammit, I wanted to know she was OK. Not hearing her voice didn’t sit well with me. “Go check on her. She’s not answering her phone, and I need to know she’s OK. She could be sick.”
Jimmy sighed. “I am assuming this command also means you will be staying on the phone with me while I do your bidding.”
I didn’t even care that he was being a smart-ass. I just wanted to know that Reese was OK. “Yeah, that’s what it means.”
“Fine. But if she’s sleeping, this is going to wake her up.”
I’d thought about that, but I couldn’t not know. I kept imagining her sick in the bathroom, too weak to call someone, or passed out on the floor. My fears were getting more exaggerated by the second.
“You sure are protective over her. You’d think the two of you were in a serious relationship,” he said in an amused tone.
“We are in a serious, very exclusive relationship. Did she not tell you that?”
Jimmy cleared his throat. “She wasn’t sure what you were in. But she did tell me she couldn’t double-date with me because she didn’t think you’d like that.”
Damn right I wouldn’t like it. What did Reese think all that was this weekend? I came to town just to stop her from dating someone else. I made my interest very clear, over and over. “She thought right,” was my only response. This wasn’t a conversation I needed to have with Jimmy.
“I guess if you’re not getting any on the side, then—”
“Jimmy, are you trying to find out if I’m fucking other women while I’m in Texas? Because if that is what this is and you’re trying to protect Reese, then understand something: I don’t want anyone but Reese. Ever. So stop trying to rile me up, and go check on my woman. Now.”
Jimmy chuckled. “Well, all right, then. I can do that.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn’t thinking of dating other people. Jimmy just wanted to see if I was. I’d be pissed at him if it wasn’t for the fact that he cared about her. He was just trying to watch out for her. I liked that.
I waited while Jimmy walked over to Reese’s apartment and knocked on the door. “Reese, honey. If you’re awake, could you open up? I got an angry cowboy on my phone interrupting my soaps.”
I waited while I listened to Jimmy knock again.
“I hear the latch,” Jimmy said, and the panic slowly started to ebb.
“Hey,” her soft voice said from inside her apartment.
“You wanna talk to him?” Jimmy asked.
I heard the muffled sound of them whispering with a hand over the receiver. I hated it. Something was wrong. I was going to have to leave shit here again and go back to Rosemary Beach.
“Hey, sorry. I was asleep. It was a long day.” Reese’s voice came over the phone, thick with sleep. She wasn’t lying. She’d been in bed. She was OK.
“Do you feel sick? Have Jimmy check your temperature,” I said, feeling anxious that something was off.