Chapter 58
Every time my phone rings, I practically jump out of my skin.
I am in my kitchen, about to start cooking dinner, when I hear my phone buzzing. I didn’t used to be like that, but every time my phone rings these days, I get a chill down my spine.
And it’s entirely because of Naomi.
At first, she was following me. I wanted to believe that I was imagining her car tailgating me as I drove to the supermarket after my shift at the coffee shop.
Even when she confronted me in the middle of the supermarket, I tried to be nice.
It’s clear that Naomi and I will never be friends, but I hoped we could at least be cordial.
And then I started getting the phone calls.
The first one came not long after I met Teddy.
It was midnight, and I was drifting off in bed when my phone started ringing.
I didn’t think much of it when I saw the blocked number on the screen.
I was worried it could be some sort of emergency, so I picked up.
And then I heard a harsh female voice at the other end of the line:
“I’m going to kill you, Veronica.”
I stared at the phone, my heart pounding. “Who…who is this?” I stammered.
There was a long silence, and then that same husky voice: “End it with Jeremy, or I’ll kill you.”
Then they hung up.
I was suddenly wide-awake. There was no way to figure out who made the call, because it was a blocked number, but it didn’t matter. There was only one person who would make a call like that.
It had to be Naomi.
The calls have since become a regular occurrence.
Most of the time, I don’t answer them. But when I do, she always has a few choice words for me.
She doesn’t always tell me she’s going to kill me.
Sometimes she just says she’s going to cut my throat, although I suppose the end result will be the same.
So now, every time my phone rings, I feel a jolt of terror. For a while, I got into a habit of turning my phone off entirely, especially at night. But after Jeremy had trouble reaching me a few times, I felt like I had to leave it on.
I pause in the middle of the kitchen, wondering if I should let the call go to voicemail. She never leaves messages, because then I could play them for Jeremy. I should probably try to figure out a way to record the phone call, but I’m not tech savvy enough for that.
I creep over to my phone, my heart speeding up with each step. I really, really don’t feel like having my life threatened right now. Then I see Jeremy’s name on the phone, and my pulse returns to normal.
“Hi,” I say. “What’s up?”
“Ronnie,” he says. “I need a favor. I’m stuck at work, and I told Rosita I would be home by now. She can’t stay any later. Is there any way you could go over to my house and keep an eye on Teddy until I get home? I promise, I’ll be back in about two hours.”
“Of course.” I’ve grown to really adore Teddy, even though I’ve accepted that he’s not my biological son. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
“Thank you so much. You’re the best, Ronnie. He’s already eaten dinner, so just stay with him until I get back. Maybe read him a bedtime story.”
I get right into my car and drive over to Jeremy’s house, where Teddy seems thrilled to see me. He actually throws his arms around me when I arrive. “Can I show you my new rocks?” he asks me.
“Sure!” I say, mustering up all the enthusiasm I possibly can for rocks.
He leads me to his room by the hand. His own hand feels so small and soft in mine. He’s almost six—exactly the age Dominic would be.
No, the same age that Dominic is. My son is still alive.
I just may never see him again.
When we get to Teddy’s room, he dumps out a bunch of rocks that have apparently been in his backpack. No wonder that bag is so heavy. “This is shale,” he says with authority as he holds up something that looks like just a basic rock. “And this one is feldspar, I think.”
“How do you know?”
“I looked it up in my rock book,” he says, like it should be obvious.
He loves rocks. Jeremy uses the bigger ones he finds as paperweights in every room.
He seemed to love that elephant I gave him, but I haven’t seen it lately.
I guess it’s too much to wish for that a child of almost six would be that attached to a stuffed animal, but I at least hope he didn’t lose it. That would break my heart.
“These are really nice rocks, Teddy.”
“Yeah, they’re really cool!”
As he grins up at me, my heart drops into my stomach. In that moment, he looks so much like Clay, it’s almost creepy. He looks more like a straight-up clone of Clay than he does a mix of his and my DNA. And he looks far, far more like Clay than he does like Jeremy.
But it doesn’t make sense. Jeremy had to have been telling the truth about that DNA test. After all, there is no way he would have married Naomi without that confirmation. It’s not possible for Jeremy to be his biological father and for Clay to be his biological father.
And yet…
“Teddy,” I say, “I thought of a fun game we could play.”
“Yeah?” His eyes light up, because he is always excited for any new game. Jeremy wasn’t lying when he said the kid has endless energy. “What game?”
“Well, I bought this kit. And if you swab your mouth with it, then it can predict what you ate for breakfast.”
Teddy’s eyes widen. “Really?”
“Uh-huh. Let me go get it.”
I still have the DNA test kit at the very bottom of my purse.
I stuck it in there the first time I went to the park to get a look at Teddy, and I never took it out, even after I decided he couldn’t possibly be mine.
On some level, I must’ve known this day was coming.
If I don’t take this test, the question will haunt me forever.
Plus, results are promised in less than two weeks of mailing it out.
I run back to get my purse, which I left in the living room.
The DNA kit is all the way at the bottom, and I take a second to read the instructions in the box.
I have to pull out the little paper envelope in which I am supposed to put the cheek swab.
I bring both of those upstairs, where Teddy is still in the bedroom with all his rocks.
“Got it!” I announce.
Teddy opens his mouth wide, showing off the gap in his front teeth. “Ahhh…”
I swab the inside of his cheek. When I pull out the swab, I hold it up to let it dry the way the instructions suggested. Then I carefully place it inside the small envelope.
“So,” Teddy prompts me. “What did I have for breakfast?”
“Um…Cheerios?”
“I did!” he exclaims in astonishment. “Wow, that’s so cool. You should do it on Daddy when he comes home.”
“Actually,” I say, “I might want to surprise him with it some other time. Like…on his birthday! So please don’t tell him about this test, okay, Teddy? Can you keep a secret?”
“I’m really good at keeping secrets,” he says solemnly. “I even have a secret code with Mommy and Daddy.”
What’s that all about? “Oh, interesting.”
I tuck the sample away safely in the pocket of my jeans. First thing tomorrow morning, I’m going to mail it out. I realize it’s very unlikely that Teddy is my son, but I won’t be able to rest until I know for sure.