An hour later the phone rang again and when she saw it was Rafe, just like last time, her heart went tumbling over itself, eager to answer and hear his voice again. Thank God for her sensible brain to rein in that giddy heart and sit on it till it calmed its crazy self down. No, she would not be speaking to Rafe Kent that Sunday or her name wasn’t Anya Petersen.
But by Monday morning that campaign was a lost cause. She was dying to see Rafe again. Eager as a beaver she headed out to work early, hoping he’d be early too so they would get a chance to talk. Now that she’d slept on it she realized that he’d probably just been surprised. Maybe he wasn’t angry at all. If he’d been peeved he definitely would not have been calling her all Sunday afternoon.
But when she got to the school Rafe was nowhere to be seen. Disappointed, she dragged herself off to her class. She could only take consolation in the fact that she would see him in the staff room after classes ended that day.
As soon as the final bell rang that afternoon Anya packed up her materials and hurried off to the staff room, happy that she would finally lay eyes on the man who had made her heart so light it made her feel like she was floating like a feather. This was the kind of thing she used to read in romance novels and each time she’d rolled her eyes in disbelief but now it was happening to her. These magical feelings were actually real. If it hadn’t happened to her she never would have believed it.
Anya plopped her supplies on top of her desk and sat down to wait for Rafe to show up. And she waited. And she waited. Where the heck was he?
The other teachers tried to engage her in chit-chat but she was so distracted they finally gave up. It was only when she saw Claire walk in that she felt a surge of relief. Immediately, she walked over to the woman’s desk and greeted her with a smile. “Hi, Claire. Is everything okay with your assistant? I haven’t seen him all day. Rumor has it that you have him locked away in the junior kindergarten closet.” She was trying to make a joke but it didn’t come out quite like one. She sounded too perturbed for it to be a joke.
“Didn’t he tell you?” Claire asked, regarding her with curiosity. “He called me yesterday to say he had to head back to the United States. He left yesterday evening.” She frowned. “I thought for sure he would have called you.”
The shock was like a swift sting to her heart. “No, he didn’t,” she said, her voice choked up. “He…” and then she stopped. Yes, he did. He’d called her four times yesterday and she hadn’t picked up, not even once. She’d been so bent on punishing him.
And then the more important part of what Claire said sank in. “He’s gone back to the United States? But why?”
Claire’s brows knitted in a frown. “It’s his father,” she said. “He suddenly fell ill. Rafe had to rush back home to be with him.” She shook her head. “He sounded really worried. I hope everything will be all right.”
“I hope so, too,” Anya murmured, feeling sick to her stomach. What had she done? Rafe had been trying to reach her to tell her about his father and she totally ignored him. Now he was gone back to the States thinking she was callous and unfeeling, ignoring him at a time when he needed a friend. She felt so low, she didn’t know what to do with herself.
She had to find him. “Did he leave a number where we could reach him while he’s away?”
“No, dear, he didn’t give me one,” Claire said. “Mrs. Coleman would probably have all his personal information on file but you know that’s confidential. She would never divulge any of that information to either one of us.”
Slowly, Anya nodded. “I know. I just wish he’d told you…” her voice trailed off as she realized there was something she could do. Rafe was a businessman and he’d spoken as if his company was fairly large. He was bound to show up if she entered his name in the Google search engine.
Tonight when she got home she would do just that. She would not stop until she found Rafe again.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Thank God.
As soon as Rafe stepped outside the door of the hospital room, leaving his mother and brothers with his father, he walked over to an empty seat in the waiting room and slumped into it.
It had been a false alarm. Now he could breathe a sigh of relief. He’d seen his dad and he was going to be all right.
Reaching his hand up he raked his fingers through his hair, remembering the shock of hearing that his father had been rushed to the emergency room with a heart attack. That Sunday had been the worst day of his life. It started out terribly wrong as he pondered the way he’d handled the situation with Anya and then, just when he’d decided to call her and straighten things out, he’d gotten that call, the one that made his stomach plummet.
Immediately he’d arranged a flight out of Germany and then he’d called Anya to tell her he had to go. At least he’d tried, two times from the apartment, once on the way to the airport and even from the plane. But every time, no answer. It was as if, for her, he’d ceased to exist.
But he would give it another try. Now that his father was out of the woods he could think again and the first person he thought of was Anya.
He dialed the number to her cell phone and this time, although it was almost ten o’clock at night in Bremen, she picked up on the second ring. He didn’t even get a chance to greet her.
“Rafe, are you all right?” she asked, her voice concerned and breathless. “Claire told me what happened. How is your father?” The questions tumbled out in a rush and Rafe could tell she was distraught.
“He’s fine,” he said, quickly reassuring her. “It was a false alarm. Everybody thought it was a heart attack but when they rushed him to the ER the doctors found it was acid reflux. He’s resting now. He’ll be okay.”
“Mein Gott,” she whispered, “I was so scared for you. And I wanted to call you. I found a US phone number but I only got your office. They weren’t…too friendly.”
Rafe sighed. Best to come clean. “I’m sorry, Anya. They’re a bit defensive. You wouldn’t be the first woman to call the office asking for me.”
“And I can guess why.” Now her voice took on a slightly harder edge. “At what point in our relationship were you going to tell me you’re a billionaire? I had to go on Google to find that out?”
Rafe grimaced. He hoped Anya wouldn’t make a big deal out of this. “That’s not important,” he said, his voice firm. “Do you know what’s important? The fact that you’re a stubborn little…” he paused. He’d almost called her a little cuss again but he knew that would only distract her. “You’re a stubborn little girl I owed a spanking from way back and now I owe you another one for not answering your damn phone. Do you know how many messages I left you?”