Read Online Professor and the Nanny (Silhouette Romance) by Phyllis Halldorson - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Phyllis Halldorson
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the room to get it out of her purse, then talked to the caller, even if it was just a wrong number, which she was sure it was, she’d be hours getting to sleep.
Maybe she’d just let it ring. Why not? There was no law saying you had to answer your telephone.
It rang again, and again, and again, each time escalating her curiosity and her guilt. Finally she could stand it no longer and got out of bed, only to have the ringing stop while she was searching for her purse.
“Damn!” she muttered as she finally spied it on the floor beside her reclining chair. Now she’d probably spend the rest of the night wondering who it was and what they’d wanted.
She took the cell phone out of her purse and carried it back to bed with her. She would put it on the nightstand so she wouldn’t have to get up again if whoever it had been called back.
She’d just climbed into bed when the thing went off in her hand, startling her so that she almost threw it. Quickly she punched it on and spoke petulantly into it. “Look, whoever you are, I’m trying to sleep. Can’t this wait till morning?”
“I’m sorry,” said a voice that she recognized instantly as Ethan’s, “but I need to know if you’ve seen or heard from Nate?”
“Ethan! What’s the matter?” Her heart was racing. “I thought you were a wrong number. What’s happened to Nate?”
“I can’t find him,” Ethan explained, and she could hear the fear in his voice. “I was hoping maybe he’d contacted you. Have you seen or heard from him in the last hour?”
How had Ethan’s dad gotten away from him? Especially at this time of night. “No. Why would I? Isn’t he home with you?”
“I’m not at home. I’m calling from my car phone at the corner of…” He hesitated, apparently checking the street signs under the light, then gave her the names.
What he was saying didn’t make sense. Why was he in that area of town at this time of night? “What are you doing on the campus?”
“I had to come back for another meeting tonight…” he began, and filled her in on all the events that had transpired since he’d been notified of the emergency meeting.
“But why didn’t you tell me you had to go out again?” she asked impatiently. “I would have stayed with Nate and Danny.”
“I know you would have, honey, but I didn’t want to inconvenience you—”
“I don’t ever want to hear those words from you again,” she scolded, “and I’ll have more to say on the subject later, but first we have to find Nate. I’ll take my car and scour my neighborhood. I’m familiar with it. You continue to search the campus, and we’ll keep in touch with our cell phones.”
Brittany broke the connection and, pulling on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, rushed outside to her car. She wasn’t too concerned yet about Nate’s physical condition. She’d seen to it that he had his medication, meals and snacks on time all day, and he carried his candy on him everywhere he went, so what really bothered her was the possibility that if he was disoriented and wandering around in the dark alone he might step out in the road and get hit by a car, or be mugged.
She drove slowly and turned her lights on bright as she steered the auto down the middle of the empty street. Every few yards she stopped and called his name out the open window, then waited before starting up again.
It seemed unlikely to her that he’d get this far away from the building where Ethan said the meeting had been held. He’d have to walk almost halfway across the dimly lit campus and then find his way through the thick stand of moss-covered trees that surrounded it. If he managed to do that he’d be even more lost than before because the houses on this side of the university where she lived all looked pretty much alike, big, two story, with numerous steps leading to the front door.
She’d been driving up one street and down another for about ten minutes with no luck when she thought she saw
Maybe she’d just let it ring. Why not? There was no law saying you had to answer your telephone.
It rang again, and again, and again, each time escalating her curiosity and her guilt. Finally she could stand it no longer and got out of bed, only to have the ringing stop while she was searching for her purse.
“Damn!” she muttered as she finally spied it on the floor beside her reclining chair. Now she’d probably spend the rest of the night wondering who it was and what they’d wanted.
She took the cell phone out of her purse and carried it back to bed with her. She would put it on the nightstand so she wouldn’t have to get up again if whoever it had been called back.
She’d just climbed into bed when the thing went off in her hand, startling her so that she almost threw it. Quickly she punched it on and spoke petulantly into it. “Look, whoever you are, I’m trying to sleep. Can’t this wait till morning?”
“I’m sorry,” said a voice that she recognized instantly as Ethan’s, “but I need to know if you’ve seen or heard from Nate?”
“Ethan! What’s the matter?” Her heart was racing. “I thought you were a wrong number. What’s happened to Nate?”
“I can’t find him,” Ethan explained, and she could hear the fear in his voice. “I was hoping maybe he’d contacted you. Have you seen or heard from him in the last hour?”
How had Ethan’s dad gotten away from him? Especially at this time of night. “No. Why would I? Isn’t he home with you?”
“I’m not at home. I’m calling from my car phone at the corner of…” He hesitated, apparently checking the street signs under the light, then gave her the names.
What he was saying didn’t make sense. Why was he in that area of town at this time of night? “What are you doing on the campus?”
“I had to come back for another meeting tonight…” he began, and filled her in on all the events that had transpired since he’d been notified of the emergency meeting.
“But why didn’t you tell me you had to go out again?” she asked impatiently. “I would have stayed with Nate and Danny.”
“I know you would have, honey, but I didn’t want to inconvenience you—”
“I don’t ever want to hear those words from you again,” she scolded, “and I’ll have more to say on the subject later, but first we have to find Nate. I’ll take my car and scour my neighborhood. I’m familiar with it. You continue to search the campus, and we’ll keep in touch with our cell phones.”
Brittany broke the connection and, pulling on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, rushed outside to her car. She wasn’t too concerned yet about Nate’s physical condition. She’d seen to it that he had his medication, meals and snacks on time all day, and he carried his candy on him everywhere he went, so what really bothered her was the possibility that if he was disoriented and wandering around in the dark alone he might step out in the road and get hit by a car, or be mugged.
She drove slowly and turned her lights on bright as she steered the auto down the middle of the empty street. Every few yards she stopped and called his name out the open window, then waited before starting up again.
It seemed unlikely to her that he’d get this far away from the building where Ethan said the meeting had been held. He’d have to walk almost halfway across the dimly lit campus and then find his way through the thick stand of moss-covered trees that surrounded it. If he managed to do that he’d be even more lost than before because the houses on this side of the university where she lived all looked pretty much alike, big, two story, with numerous steps leading to the front door.
She’d been driving up one street and down another for about ten minutes with no luck when she thought she saw
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