Leave a Trace: Book Two

Chapter Twenty Two: Spokane

Chapter Twenty Two: Spokane

Alexander

I'm sitting at a table in a very crowded restaurant.

Rosie looks ill and I'm worried about her. Her skin is pale and she looks queasy. She's sweating even though it's February. I gently reach out and place a tender kiss against her cheek.

"You're sweating." I murmur. I reach out and remove her coat. She looks like she might throw up.

"I'm going to go to the restroom." She says softly. She stands up and crosses the restaurant.

She's so beautiful. I hope she's okay.

"I think she should go to the doctor." Mom says to me. "Alexander, she looks like she might have the stomach flu. She should go see a doctor."

"I know Mom." I reach for my phone and grab Rosie's on accident. The screen lights up and I glance down at it for a second, but the second is just long enough for me to see a message from some guy names Reagan.

Reagan: two questions. One, are you going to tell your husband about us? And two, are you going to tell him about the baby(ies)

I study the message for a second longer and then set her phone down.

It's not my business. I trust her with my life, because she is my life. She wouldn't do anything to hurt me. She wouldn't cheat on me.

But what baby? What is he talking about?

Since we got married our communication level has increased considerably.

"I'm going to go check on her." I say. I grab my phone and walk towards the bathroom, stopping outside. I lean against the wall and wait.

Ten minutes pass. Fifteen.

Right before the twenty minute mark, the door opens and my wife comes out. She still doesn't look well but she looks a bit better. Did she throw up?

Did she throw up because she's pregnant?

"Do you have a mint?" She asks when she sees me. She already knows that I do, so I reach into my pocket and drop it in her hand. She puts it in her mouth and watches me.

I might as well cut right to the chase. "I need to have a word with you." I say calmly.

"Okay..." she trails off.

"I wasn't trying to snoop, Rosie, but your phone lit up and I saw the messages." I hand her phone to her and watch as she reads them over. Her eyes widen slightly and she doesn't look up from the screen. I can see her hand tighten around her phone. "I'm not assuming anything." I say when she finally looks at me. "And I was not going through your phone. I trust you with my life. It lit up and I saw the message. I've never heard of a Reagan before."

She looks over her shoulder at our family watching us curiously. I can see her moving the mint around in her mouth. "Do you want to have this conversation now, or when we go back to the hotel?"

I hesitate. "On a scale of one to ten, ten being extremely serious, how serious is this?"

She watches me for a moment. "Three hundred." She says finally. "And no, I'm not cheating on you."

"I didn't think you were." I say. "We can wait until we're alone. Let's go back to the table. Our drinks are here and you look like you need some water."