Not Planning on You (Danvers #2)(60)

Limp with relief, Suzy sagged against the counter surprised that she’d just pleasured herself in the kitchen. Have I lost my mind? What was it that Nick had called it, barbequing alone? I think that was more like a four alarm fire. Good grief what if he or Beth had walked in? I’d never live it down. Of course imagining Gray walking in was enough to set her body humming again. She hurriedly grabbed another pair of panties from the bedroom and discarded the now damp ones. Another look at her watch showed it was almost eight. Where was Gray?

~~~

Suzy had roamed every inch of the house for hours it seemed. It was now after ten and Gray had never shown up. She’d called him and left several messages wanting to make sure he was ok. She’d even resorted to checking the internet to make sure there were no accidents reported locally. As midnight approached she had to look at an option that she’d tried to avoid. Maybe this was his way of telling her that it was over. One of the fastest ways to get rid of a woman that you no longer wanted was to stand her up on her birthday.

It was obvious that he was spending time with Reva and she was pregnant with his child. He was clearly torn between what he felt was his duty and Suzy. Maybe duty had finally won out. She couldn’t believe that Gray would just not show up though. You knew it was a mistake to show him how much you loved him. You gave him your heart and what if he doesn’t want it either? How many more times are you going to let someone crush you before you learn?

~~~

Suzy must have dozed off at some point. She had no idea how long she’d been sitting in the chair in the living room when the light being turned on woke her. She blinked like an owl, trying to adjust to the sudden brightness of the room. She was able to focus just as Nick walked by her towards the back of the house.

Almost as if he knew someone was watching him, Nick suddenly stopped and looked around. When he saw her sitting in the chair, he had almost a comical look of disbelief on his face. My God, did she actually look that bad?

Turning, he smiled and walked back to where she was sitting. As he drew closer, the smile slipped uncertainly from his lips to be replaced by a look of confusion and concern. “Suzy, what’re you doing sitting out here by yourself?” Then looking around he asked, “Where’s my brother?”

Bitter laughter spewed forth from her lips as she answered, “I don’t know Nick; your guess is as good as mine at this point.”

Nick crouched down on his knees, squatting in front of her. “Did you two have a fight or something? I can’t believe he’d just bail on you like that.”

“No….He’d have to show up for us to fight. I haven’t seen your brother tonight. I guess he had a change of plans. Nice of him to call, right?”

Alarm crossed Nick’s face as the impact of her words sank in. “Suzy, that’s not like Gray. Have you tried to call him?”

“Of course I have, Nick,” Suzy snapped.

Suzy couldn’t miss the hurt expression that crossed his face at her nasty tone. She took a deep breath trying to remember that although they were brothers, Nick had never been anything but good to her. “Nick, I’m sorry. I did try to call him several times, and he didn’t answer my calls or call me back. I also checked the traffic reports and there wasn’t any accidents reported.” Running a hand along the back of her neck trying to relieve the tension there, she asked, “What time is it?”

“It’s just after one. I’m supposed to fly out in the morning and needed to pick up some papers that I left here. I thought I could be in and out without bothering you guys. Suzy let me make some calls. This just isn’t Gray. Something must have happened.”

Fatigue was bearing down on her fast. She wanted nothing more than to slip under the covers and bury herself in the bed until she stopped hurting again. She gave Nick the best smile that she could manage and let him help her up from the chair. Her muscles were stiff from hours of sitting. He held onto her arm as she made her way to the bedroom and softly closed the door. She was safe in here. She didn’t have to look into Nick’s sympathy filled eyes. Or were they filled with pity instead? She didn’t even bother to undress; she simply pulled the covers back and curled up in a ball in the bed. Sweet oblivion reached out to claim her as she drifted of to sleep with a heart so heavy it was almost hard to breathe.

~~~

Nick paced the length of the living room as he reached his brother’s voice mail yet again. What in the hell was going on? There was no way Gray would abandon Suzy on her birthday without a damn good reason or at least he better hope he had one. He’d gotten pretty attached to her since he’d moved in to help out. He’d never let anyone hurt her and that included his brother. Just as Suzy had said, Gray wasn’t answering his phone nor returning his messages or texts.

With a sigh of resignation, Nick knew it was time to bring out the big guns. He was going to be forced to call his parents and see if they knew what was going on. It was either that or take off to Charleston himself. Too bad he hadn’t saved Reva’s number all those times she’d called him looking for his brother. Surely he wasn’t with her, though. Just the thought of it made him sick.

Nick walked outside onto the balcony to make the call to his parents. He didn’t want Suzy to overhear the call in case something had happened. He was grateful to hear his dad’s voice on the other end of the line. As he explained the situation, he could hear the concern in his father’s voice as he fired off a series of questions. Nick answered everything he could, which wasn’t much. His father promised to do some checking and call him back.