A Silken Thread - Brenda Jackson [94]
Why hadn’t she called him?
His mind was conjuring up many reasons and none of them were any good right now. Had Mrs. Sanders convinced her not to marry him after all? He shook his head, refusing to believe Erica would let her mother manipulate her to that point. But he couldn’t underestimate Karen Sanders. He had agreed to give Erica time to deal with her mother, but she had agreed to keep in touch. So why hadn’t she?
Hell, he’d gotten used to hearing her voice every night and the sex talks they would share. He’d even gotten used to them using a webcam in ways few people probably thought about. He couldn’t help but smile at the memories that began floating around in his mind.
Damn, he missed her.
He was about to take another swig of beer when his phone rang.
“Hello.”
“Brian!”
“Erica! Why haven’t you called, baby?” he asked, so glad to hear her voice.
“I’ve tried. Every day,” Erica said. “For some reason my calls won’t go through and you have an international block on your phone. I’m using someone else’s phone now.”
He frowned. “I don’t have an international block on my phone. Why would I when I knew you would be calling?”
“I wondered the same thing. You might want to check with your phone company tomorrow.”
“I will. When will you be in port?”
“Tomorrow. We dock in Alexandria in the morning and we’ll be there for two days.”
“Buy another cell phone while you’re there. There has to be something wrong with yours. God, I miss you baby.”
“I miss you, too.”
“How’s your mother?”
“Fine. She hasn’t said anything about anyone and in a way that’s a good thing. Hopefully she’s been thinking.”
“We can only hope good thoughts.”
“Lay off my mom, Brian. She’s going through a rough time right now. The next thing you know, you’ll be blaming her for us not being able to reach each other.”
He chuckled. “That hadn’t crossed my mind.”
She grinned. “Yeah, right. Look, I have to go. Like I said, I’m using someone else’s phone but I’ll buy a spare in Alexandria and call you tomorrow.”
“Okay, and I love you.”
“I love you, too. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
“I’m looking forward to it, baby.”
When the call ended Brian felt a deep ache in his heart. He wouldn’t be satisfied until Erica was finally his wife.
Karen clicked on her phone. “You have some news for me, Jaye?”
“Yes, I do,” Jaye said. “Some good and some bad.”
Karen sat on the side of the bed. “Tell me the bad first. I left Erica out on deck and she might come in any second. She can’t figure out why she can’t make outside calls from the ship.”
“It wasn’t easy working that out by putting those blocks in place. I had inside help at the phone company,” he said.
“Whatever works. Now, tell me the bad news.”
“Griffin Hayes is involved with someone.”
Karen made a sound of disgust. “How serious is it?”
“I’m not sure. It seems they’re keeping the affair hush-hush for now, but he goes out of his way to spend a lot of time with her, every chance he gets, and if I were to guess, I’d think things were pretty serious.”
Karen stood and began pacing the room. This wasn’t good. In order for her plan to work both Erica and Griffin couldn’t be involved with others. “Do whatever you need to do to break them up.”
“That’s not going to be easy. He seems taken with her. Besides, it might raise suspicions if we messed up both Erica’s and Griffin’s relationships. It would need to look coincidental and not planned.”
Karen tapped her sandaled foot on the floor, annoyed. “Who is she?”
“A hometown girl who happens to be Erica’s close friend. April North.”
Karen nearly