Chapter Four
Hazel's POV
I pulled my hand free and put the sweater in the suitcase.
“When you flew to Palermo, even one question over the phone was too much for you. Now I have to explain myself for packing a few clothes?”
Julian took his hand off the lid.
“I didn’t think it through. From now on, I’ll let you know before I leave Philly.”
He pulled up a chair and sat down, as if he was actually going to discuss something with me for once.
“Besides the meeting at the docks tomorrow morning, I have to stop by the college. Things between Callie and her roommates have gotten bad enough that the dean’s involved. Her father can’t leave prison, and her mother’s out of state. I told her I’d go with her.”
“Go ahead. Stick to your plans.”
“I’m saying you should move your surgery to the day after tomorrow. I can be with you all day.”
He’d already worked out whether he was going to the docks or the college first. The only thing still open to rescheduling was my knee surgery.
“Josie gets here tonight. She’ll take me there and bring me home.”
“Can she get you the best surgeon in the state? Hazel, if you want a private room, I can have one cleared for you tonight.”
Before I could tell him a standard room would be fine, his phone rang.
“Julian, I just got to the bus stop at the corner.” Callie kept her voice low. “A man’s been following me the whole way. I just moved over by the bus stop sign, and he came over too.”
“Go into the convenience store next door. Stand in front of the register.”
He was already on his feet and heading out. At the top of the stairs, he motioned for the two men by the door to follow.
“Julian, one more thing.”
He didn’t look back. “She’s out there alone. Whatever you’re upset about, it can wait until I get her back.”
I listened to the three of them go downstairs.
All I’d wanted to say was, don’t call the clinic on my behalf.
Early the next morning, Josie came with me to the clinic. The receptionist checked the schedule twice, then asked if I’d gotten the date wrong.
The family doctor came out holding the same appointment slip I’d watched him fill out the day before. The original time had been crossed out.
“Julian called me last night. Come back at the same time tomorrow. He’ll be able to stay with you the whole time.”
“I came in and booked this myself yesterday. Why didn’t anyone ask me before changing it?”
The doctor smiled. “He said you two had had a little disagreement. Hazel, he even rearranged his schedule at the docks. Let him be here for you this once.”
My flight to Seattle was tomorrow. The day after that, I was due to start at the Locke Group.
He’d cleared an entire day for me. It happened to be the one day I couldn’t give him even half an hour.
I walked over to the window and called him. Callie answered.
“Could you let him sleep a little longer? He picked me up at the bus stop last night and brought me to the hotel. He stayed with me until almost dawn.”
Before I could explain why I was calling, she spoke again.
“Oh, your surgery’s today, right? I’ll wake him up. Please don’t be mad at him…”
I hung up.
Not long after, she posted a photo.
A little morning light filtered through the hotel curtains. Julian was asleep in the armchair beside the bed, his head tilted to one side, her light-colored scarf draped over him.
The caption read, “Someone stayed with me all night and finally fell asleep. Thank you, Julian.”
I blocked both their numbers and asked the receptionist to make copies of my medical records.
Josie sat in the hallway holding my coat while I arranged an appointment at a clinic in Seattle.
It was a minor procedure. I could have it done somewhere else.
The next day, I boarded my flight as scheduled.
All the way to the airport, I’d worried that someone would stop me at the gate. Only when the flight attendant closed the cabin door did I set down my bag and gently stroke my lower belly.
Just like that, we left Philadelphia. Julian didn’t even know there were two of us.
At eleven that morning, the family doctor called Julian.
“Is Hazel with you? Her appointment time has passed, and she hasn’t come in.”
Julian picked up his car keys. “She’s not there yet? She told me yesterday her friend would drive her.”
“She picked up a copy of her medical records before she left yesterday. I wanted to ask if she’d found another doctor. She’s eight weeks pregnant, after all. Whoever takes over her care needs to know about her knee.”
The keys slipped from Julian’s hand and landed back on the table.
“Eight weeks?” he asked quietly. “You’re saying I’m going to be a dad?”
The doctor was taken aback. “She hasn’t told you?”
Julian smiled. He picked up the keys again and forgot to put on his coat.
“She really managed to keep that to herself. No wonder she was so quick to take those papers back at the clinic. I’ll go home and get her. When I see her, I’ll have to ask how long she was planning to keep this from me.”
The doctor paused. “Mr. Vaughn, have you seen her today?”
Julian stopped with his hand on the doorknob. “Why?”
“I called the house. They said she left early this morning. Calls to her cell keep going to voicemail. Can you get ahold of her?”
