Who's Your Boss? (Original Version) Revised version available in eBook/paperback

Chapter 28

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(Reed)

The sound of rain beating against the windowpane filled the silence. Winnie and I were laying on the bed. She was curled up against my side sound asleep. I envied the ease in which she was able to sleep. Try as I might I couldn't rest. My mind was tormenting me with thoughts of Mark and my mother.

Swallowing past the lump that refused to leave my throat, I eased away from Winnie a little and gazed down at her face. A rush of emotion flowed through me. It was an emotion that I could only describe as love. I knew now that I loved her. Death had a way of bringing to light feelings that were hidden.

I lowered my head and placed a kiss on her slightly parted lips. She murmured something I couldn't make out and rolled onto her side, burying her face against my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around her and closed my eyes.

The phone rang at that moment. Biting back a curse, I reluctantly let go of Winnie, and grabbed the cordless phone from the nightstand. I pressed the talk button as I got out of bed. "Hello," I muttered, moving toward the door.

"Hey, man," Carter said. "Glad I found you. I called your office and your cell phone and got no answer. I was starting to think I was going to have to send out a search party."

"Sorry for making you worry." I left the bedroom, closing the door behind me. "I took the day off and my cell phone is on the charger."

"I'm not catching you at a bad time, am I?" he asked. "I can call back later."

"You don't have to do that," I told him. "I can talk to you now. Is there a reason you called?"

"I have some time in between clients so I thought I would call and see how you're doing," Carter answered. "So how are you doing?"

"I've had better days." I headed across the hall to my office, where I sat down on the couch in the corner. "My father called me last night to tell me that Mark was dead." Quickly, I told him how Mark died.

"I'm sorry, Reed," he said softly.

"There's more," I mumbled. "It was too much for my mother to handle. She tried to kill herself. Thankfully, she didn't succeed. The doctor had her admitted to a psychiatric hospital."

"I - I don't know what to say." Carter paused for a moment. "Is there anything I can do? Do you need anything? I can fly down and-"

"No." I rubbed my aching eyes. "You stay there. Faith needs you more. Winnie is staying with me."

"Good." I heard him clear his throat. "I'm glad you're not alone."

"How's everybody doing?" I inquired, needing desperately to hear some good news. It seemed all I had been getting lately was bad.

"They're fine," Carter assured me. "Although Jack would say he wasn't. I grounded him for a week."

"What did he do?" I asked.

"He tried to forge my signature on his report card. He got a 'D' in science and didn't want me to know about it. His teacher knows what my signature looks like and knew it wasn't mine so she called me. I confronted him about it and he confessed what he'd done."

"Sounds like something I would've done at that age," I said.

"Me, too. Anyway, no video games and no TV for a week," Carter said. "He's been giving me the silent treatment, which is fine. It's much quieter around the house."

"Is the baby giving Faith any trouble?" I queried.

"Nothing but," he replied. "Last night I had to rush her to the emergency room. She thought she was going into labor. Turns out it was just Braxton Hicks, false labor. The doctor said it happens and not to worry. It scared the hell out of me. She's not due for another three weeks."

"I can all ready tell the baby is going to be a trouble maker." I leaned my head back against the cushion and stared up at the ceiling. "Just like her father used to be."

"It would be my luck to end up with a child that takes after me and not Faith," Carter commented. "My dad would get a kick out of that. Listen, man, I have to go. If you need to talk, about anything, call me. I don't care if it's the middle of the night. I'm here for you."

"Thanks, man," I muttered, touched by his words. "Give the family my love."

"I will," he promised. "Tell Winifred I said hello. I'll talk to you later."

We said goodbye and I ended the call.

"Who called?" Winnie asked.

"Carter." Without taking my eyes off the ceiling, I gave the cushion beside me a pat. A few seconds later, she sat down and I slipped my arm around her. "Did I wake you up?"

"No," she murmured. "The phone did. Is everything all right with Carter and Faith?"

"Of course." I filled her in on the conversation Carter and I just had.

"It must have been scary for Faith," she said. "I'm relieved it was only false labor and not the real thing. After the baby's born lets fly out there and stay for a week."

"You got a deal." I turned my head and looked at her. Faint circles marred the skin under her eyes. With a delicate touch, I reached out and ran my finger over the skin. "I'm sorry."

"What for?" Winnie whispered.

"You're losing sleep because of me and-"

"It's not your fault." She took my hand and placed a kiss on my palm. "Don't concern yourself with me, love. You just worry about your health and let me worry about mine."

"Easier said than done." I gathered her close and pressed my forehead to hers. My heart beginning to race, I took a deep breath and uttered quietly, "Your health concerns me, sweetheart because I - I love you. I love you, Winnie. I know it now. I think maybe I've always had feelings for you."

"Oh, Reed." She kissed me on the mouth. "I love you, too."

"You do?" I breathed, my heart skipping a beat at her admission.

"Yes." Winnie squeezed me tightly. "Last night when you told me about Mark it hit me how much you mean to me. All I could think of was getting home to you. I needed to hold you close and hear your heart beating. I needed to see with my own eyes that you were okay." She cleared her throat. "Death has a way of putting things into perspective. It has a way of bringing to light feelings that are buried deep." She gazed up into my eyes. You are everything to me, Reed."

I cupped the nape of her neck with my hand and brushed my lips along her jawline to her ear. Nuzzling her ear softly, I whispered to her, "And you are everything to me."