Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 142976 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 477(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142976 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 477(@300wpm)
The today had been underlined three times.
As if it would be that easy to get a same day appointment from a busy OBGYN. Fern rolled her eyes at his unrealistic expectations and slid onto one of the high barstools.
It was just before nine and even though she doubted she’d get an appointment today, she still decided to do a bit of research into the doctors on the list. A quick check on her phone confirmed that he’d recommended the five top-rated doctors in the area.
Naturally.
Which would only make getting an appointment with any of them even less likely.
She snorted softly and put her phone down on the countertop.
The apartment was eerily quiet, the silence broken only by the ominous ticking of the massive clock in the living room. She knew Cade wasn’t home. She’d been up for at least two hours and had remained in her room, fully dressed, hoping to hear him leave. About ten minutes ago, she’d heard the biometrics pad at the front door beep followed by the quiet snick of the door opening.
She wasn’t on the system yet, but yesterday—just before they’d left for Beth and Gideon’s—he’d handed her a keycard to bypass the biometrics system in case she needed to go anywhere without him. Upon presentation of said card, he’d given her a meaningful glower before warning in a dire tone: “It would, however, be best if you did not go wandering off on your own. Who knows what the fuck trouble you could get yourself into.”
As if she were a puppy who wasn’t quite trained enough to heel when recalled.
She shook her head and slid off the chair and looked around the living room. She hadn’t had much time to explore the place since arriving. She was pretty familiar with this part of the apartment and was curious about the other rooms.
Rooms she’d considered off-limits, because they were clearly Cade’s domain. His office, his bedroom, the other room with the always closed door.
Maybe it was snooping, but he had told her this was her home too, right? So just taking a quick peek surely wouldn’t do any harm. Especially since this was essentially a holiday home for him and wouldn’t contain too many personal effects.
The study was pretty spartan. A large desk, and ergonomic desk chair. His laptop was shut, the desktop monitor dark. There was nothing in here to reflect his tastes. It was a beige and white, basic, boring, perfectly serviceable space.
She didn’t bother to step into the room, just had a quick glance around before shutting the door firmly and heading to his bedroom.
It smelled like him. Fresh and spicy and appealing. It was neat as a pin. Bed made, not a single item of clothing lying about to indicate that this was a lived-in space. A bit more color in here—brown and white with pops of blue. In another room the king-sized bed would dominate the space, but it was massive and airy in here and any other bed would’ve been too small and out of place in here.
She liked this room, with its huge picture windows that showcased the magnificent views. And wondered if Cade appreciated the stunning beauty of this panoramic view as much as she did.
She retreated back into the hallway. Neither room had given her much insight into her husband’s personality. And as she tentatively approached the closed door at the far end of the hallway, she felt like a bride in Bluebird’s castle. While he hadn’t explicitly told her that it was off-limits, it still felt like she was about to do something taboo.
She half expected it to be locked, but it swung open smoothly and she blinked in confusion at the sight of the empty craft table with a tall stool that had been placed next to the window. There was also a neatly organized craft storage cabinet running all along the left wall of the room.
She wandered over to the table, trying to get some understanding of what it was he likely worked on it here. There was a round magnifying lamp on one side of the table, along with a plethora of mysterious tools, in pristine condition, all precisely laid out on a felt cloth. Even though he didn’t appear to be currently working on a project—probably because he hadn’t expected to be in Cape Town for very long—Fern found it telling that whatever his hobby was, he enjoyed it so much he’d gone to the trouble to set up a hobby room in an apartment he rarely frequented. Which meant, he likely had a similar room set up in some of his other properties as well.
Her curiosity was well and truly fired now and, keeping her hands folded behind her back to prevent herself from touching, she peered into the assorted transparent plastic containers, which were displayed on the open shelving in the storage cabinet. Little gears and tiny screws and… well those looked like watch hands.