Page 114 of Bluebird

I giggled. “Yeah.”

He groaned. “I took the afternoon off yesterday, I would’ve come to you.”

“I know, but I’ve had back to back meetings and barely had five minutes to myself.”

“You know what I can do with five minutes,” he stated, and I could tell he was grinning.

My whole body lit up at the thought. “I do recall. Thanks for the reminder.”

“Anytime, Blue,” he chortled. “Any place also.”

My laughter turned into a sigh. “I miss you, Luke.”

Dan’s voice filled the background and Luke’s response was muffled. I knew the call would have to end soon.

Luke must have sensed something was wrong, as his voice softened. “Is everything okay?”

“I've had a lot on my mind lately,” I admitted, with a shaky breath.

“About us?”

I swallowed my fear. “Look, I'm just going to say it.”

Luke remained silent.

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to have kids, Luke. With my operation, and all the scarring…I don’t know what the future holds and I have no idea how that will affect us.”

“Blue, I don’t…arhg, hang on.”

Dan’s muffled voice returned more urgent now, and Luke’s voice rumbled through the covered mouthpiece.

“Hey, Luke, I’m going to let you go. You’re obviously really busy, and I probably shouldn’t have blurted that out. Just think about what I said, okay? I'll understand if you don’t want to do this anymore. I’ll see you in a week.”

“Blue, don’t—”

I hung up the phone before he had a chance to respond. At least he had time to think about what he wanted before I returned.

* * *

Whilst preparing for my next meet and greet, I received a call from an unknown number. Wondering if Luke finally got a phone hooked up at home, I cautiously answered it—I had been avoiding his calls since our last conversation.

“Hello?”

“Natalie, hi! This is Claire Jones from Fairleigh Real Estate. I may have found a suitable property for you.”

“Oh, okay, great.” I was surprised she had found something so soon.

“It’s not listed just yet, because the owner just signed off on it. It’s a magnificent studio apartment, above an existing business in Main Street. The owner is leaving town and wants to sell both. The business is fully operational and has been leased for the next five years. It would certainly make a great investment. Plus, the apartment above is just beautiful.”

The only business I knew like that couldn’t possibly be for sale. “I’m sorry, which business are you talking about?” I asked curiously.

“Easton’s Tavern. It’s the local—”

“I know what it is,” I stated quickly, rudely cutting her off. I couldn’t breathe; panic was setting in.

“Oh, yes. Sorry, I keep forgetting you grew up here.”

My heart pounded in my chest. “You said the owner is leaving town?”