Swim Deep - Page 64

“Much. A good night’s sleep is just what I needed. I think I might have been coming down with something when we talked yesterday, but hopefully I’ve licked it. There was a little incident the day

before yesterday. Maybe it ran down my immune system.”

I hadn’t planned to tell him about getting stuck in the sauna until he returned. Maybe at that moment, it seemed safer to bring up the sauna than it did my inexplicable, irrational behavior diving with Valeria yesterday.

Or the box.

“Incident?” Evan asked, his tone going sharp.

“It was nothing. The door on the dry sauna got stuck. I was locked in the heat until Valeria saved me. Damn… I meant to call the manufacturer yesterday to tell them about the door expanding and contracting—”

“Anna, what the hell are you talking about?”

“The door on the dry sauna expanded from the heat and got stuck,” I repeated.

“With you in it?”

“Yeah.”

“That door shouldn’t get stuck. It never has before.”

“Well, it did,” I said with a little laugh. Given his apprehension, I felt a necessity to keep things light. “I’ll admit, I had the heat turned up as high as it could go. Anyway, the door contracted again eventually, and Valeria got me out. I think it dehydrated me, even though I drank an ocean of water afterward. My immune system must have taken a hit. But like I said, I feel much better today.”

It took me several seconds to realize he hadn’t replied.

“Evan?”

“Don’t go back into the sauna until I have someone out to check it,” he insisted tensely.

“I wasn’t planning on it, trust me. That was not a fun experience. So… you think you’ll be home in time for dinner tonight?”

“Yes. I think we need to talk about something,” he said.

I silently agreed, grimly thinking of that taboo box I’d set on his desk.

In the kitchen, I saw signs of Valeria—a full pot of coffee and diced vegetables on the cutting board, presumably for an omelet—but no Valeria herself.

When she didn’t return after I’d drunk half a cup of coffee, I began to look around a little. Some instinct pulled me to the front entryway. I opened one of the heavy wooden doors.

Sure enough, there was Valeria, standing on the front stone steps wearing a pair of running shorts, a tank top, and tennis shoes. She started at the sound of the door opening. She wasn’t alone.

“Hi, Wes,” I said, sounding as startled as Wes Ryder looked. He looked especially pale this morning, and a light sheen of sweat covered his handsome face. For a doctor, he doesn’t look like he’s in very good shape.

“Anna,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets and peering up at me like a guilty eight-year-old kid. His gaze stuck on my face, and I experienced that feeling of self-consciousness I often experienced in his presence. “Sorry to bother you this morning.”

“Is everything all right?” I asked.

“Yeah. I got a call from Noah’s nurse this morning. He’s back from the hospital today, so I came out to make sure he got settled all right.”

“He’s been at the hospital this whole time?” I asked, shocked. I’d assumed Madaster had returned at some point, not because I’d seen anything to prove it, one way or another. The only thing I was basing my suspicion on was that feeling of being watched I’d get sometimes at the overlook.

“No, not the entire time. Noah actually returned to Les Jumeaux the evening of the window incident,” Wes explained, grimacing slightly when he said window incident. “But he had chest pains a few days ago, and I recommended to Ima that she take him in to the emergency room. They ended up keeping him for a few nights for testing.”

“Is he better now?”

Wes frowned. “He had a very minor heart attack, but he’s recovered. He’s stabilized on some new meds. Noah is usually stronger than a bull, despite the spinal cord injury, but he’s been having a bit of a rough go lately.” His gaze ran over my face again. I couldn’t help but wonder if Madaster was worse off than Wes implied.

“Anyway, I came over to see Evan just now, but Valeria told me he was out of town,” Wes said. “And then, we got our own visitor.”

Tags: Beth Kery Romance
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