“Dad, it's me. Christine called and seemed upset. Can you please check on her for me? I'm stuck at work. Text me and let me know if she's okay, or if she needs me. Love you.”
She would give him an hour, and then she was heading over to the house. Something told her that her sister was desperate, and that something was the other woman's willingness to reach out to Jamie, which never happened.
Ever.
Chapter 13
“You okay, baby?” Alex reached over and touched Jamie's lower back as they walked to a table at the back of her favorite steak restaurant.
“Yeah, just a little worried about my sister. She sounded more depressed than usual today.” Jamie took the seat the host pulled out for her. Mark had left them at the front of the restaurant to run to the restroom. Jamie was almost grateful for the few minutes with Alex so she could talk to him about Christine.
“Do we need to go over there? Is it that serious?” He sat down and tugged his napkin onto his lap before reaching over and squeezing her hand softly. “We can have dinner with Mark any time.”
“I don't know.” She put her phone on the table beside her and let out a long sigh. “I don't want to overreact. That's what my mom and sister have been doing my whole life, and it never works out well for anyone involved. You can only cry wolf so many times before people stop believing. I just don’t want this to be the time the wolf actually shows up at the door.” She didn’t know how else to explain it.
Mark walked up and took the seat beside Jamie. “Did I miss something? You guys look upset.”
“No, Jamie's sister is just being dramatic as usual. She's just trying to figure out if it's more than just her normal cry for attention.” Alex picked up his menu, but didn't look at it. “Call her, baby. Then if we need to go, we can.”
“You're right. I'm not going to enjoy myself until I know she's okay.” Jamie pushed her chair back and picked up her phone. “I'll go make the call and be right back. Can you get me a tall glass of iced tea if the server comes, please?”
“Sure thing.” Alex glanced up and gave her a look that said he was worried about her.
She touched the side of his face and kissed him before walking off. The groan from Mark and funny comments that followed left her relaxing a little. Christine was a grown woman. A childish grown woman, but still... completely old enough to take care of herself.
Jamie pressed the button to call her sister, and walked out into the foyer of the busy restaurant. She pressed her fingers to her ear and listened as the call went to voice mail.
“Shit.” She turned and walked back out the front door, moving over to the side as a group of women walked in, dressed to impress. Some part of her wanted to lament over not looking more extravagant for Alex, but she forced it away. If he wanted a model in his life, he could have had one, but he obviously didn't. Alex Reid wasn't the type of man to settle.
She called her dad instead, grateful to hear his voice on the first ring.
“Hi, Pumpkin. What's going on?”
“Hi, Dad. I just wanted to check on Christine, and she's not answering her phone. Is she there with you? You never answered the text I sent you earlier. I'm worried about her.” Jamie glanced up and smiled at an older couple who walked toward the restaurant.
“She's fine, sweetheart. She's right here with me having a piece of pie. I made one from scratch. Everyone is impressed.” He chuckled, and the icy fear that had wrapped around Jamie's heart started to melt. “She was having a bad day, but I think she’s feeling better now.”
“Oh good.” She pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose. “I was just starting to imagine the worst.”
“Nope. We're all good. You could come have some pie with us if you're up for it.”
“Maybe another night. I'm at dinner with Mark and Alex, but I just couldn't shake the sound of Christine's voice from earlier today.” She glanced around and forced herself to relax. “Alright, I love you guys. I'll check in later this week.”
“Sounds good. Take care.”
She walked back in to the restaurant, realizing quickly that her response had little to do with the fact that her sister sounded depressed. Christine had every reason in the world to be depressed. If Jamie had been through half the shit with Alex that Christine had been through with Stephen, depression would only be the first of many emotions.
The issue was Jamie blowing her off. She'd called, crying out for attention, and even though Jamie wanted to offer her a shoulder to cry on, she just couldn't do it again. Not after being bitten so many times in the past by both her mother and her sister.
And if she had taken her life after my rejection...
Swallowing hard, she forced herself to stop thinking about it. Christine was good and everything was fine. Jamie sat back down at the table and slipped on a fake smile for the two main guys in her life.
“Everything’s fine. I was just overreacting. I get it, honest.” She pulled her napkin down in her lap.
“Has your sister always been dramatic?” Mark picked up a roll and took a bite before passing the basket toward her.
“Oh yeah. She and my mom, both. Everything was a big overblown ordeal, and still is. You should have been at the hospital when my dad had his heart attack. Don't get me wrong, that was a big deal, but they were acting like complete fools.” Jamie took a roll and worked on buttering it as her stomach growled.