Emerald Fire (Christian Romance) (The Jewel Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

herself frown. “No. It’s not like her not to be in the center of the party planning. I can’t help but feel like something’s wrong.”
    “It’s possible she’s just having too much fun to come back to town.” Sarah answered drily.
    “I can’t even get Barry to return my calls,” Maxine said.
    “Well, the world must be coming to an end if Barry isn’t calling you back,” Sarah observed.
    Maxine frowned. “I beg your pardon?”
    “Nothing. Sorry. Did you read over the game instructions?”
    Maxine sighed. “I did. They’re easy and will be manageable with the size of crowd we have. Hopefully the wait staff will be available to help us.”
    “Since it’s Tony’s hotel and Tony’s wife’s baby shower, I’m sure the wait staff will be more than available,” Sarah offered with a wry smile. “We can’t spend a lot more time worrying about Jacqui.” Maxine could hear noise happening around Sarah. “I have to run, Maxi. See you whenever Melissa gets here to relieve me. Love you!”
    “Love you, too.” Maxine hit the button to disconnect the call and frowned. Trying to ignore the sense of foreboding, she removed her laptop from her bag and turned it on, determined to get some work done before she had to go supervise the placement of the centerpieces.
     

     
    BARRY didn’t recognize the incoming number on his mobile phone’s caller ID at 10:26 that morning. Since he was in the middle of a conference call with a client he ignored it and let it go to voice mail. Two minutes later at 10:28, he let the same number go to voice mail again.
    A little over one minute later his secretary, Elizabeth, burst into his office. The look on her face alone silently informed him that he needed to end his conference call immediately. So he did.
    As soon as his handset hit the receiver, he said, “My cell’s been ringing constantly …”
    Elizabeth interrupted, “Please pick up on line two, Barry.”
    Barry noted that she did not address him as “Mr. Anderson,” or “Sir.” He noted that she cut him off and heard the hint of anxiety in her voice as if it were a scream.
    “What is it?”
    Elizabeth shook her head. “It’s the hospital up by your ski resort in the Berkshires. They won’t tell me anything.”
    A cold, sinking feeling hit Barry in the pit of his stomach as he punched the blinking button and brought the phone to his ear. He heard his own voice, sounding numb and distant in his ears, saying, “This is Barry Anderson.”
    The cold, sinking feeling turned to a frozen ball of iron when he heard a distracted voice answer, “This is the Trauma Center. Can you hold please, Mr. Anderson?”
    “Yes, I can hold.” Barry didn’t even complete the sentence. He began listening to canned hold music before the first word completely left his lips.
    A few more heartbeats passed after which a new voice came on the line and asked, “Is this Jacqueline Anderson’s husband?”
    Barry paused before affirming, “Yes, this is Mr. Anderson.”
    The voice went into a kind of rehearsed speech mode. “Mr. Anderson, there’s been an accident. Your wife sustained very serious injuries and was rushed here less than an hour ago. We’ve been treating her to the extent that we can within the limits of the law.”
    Barry suddenly realized how serious this conversation was. Out of all the conversations of his life on earth, this one might end up ranking in the top two, second only to when he had asked Jesus Christ to become the Lord and Master of his life as a youth.
    The hospital representative continued to explain, “Your friend, Charles Mason, is here but can’t legally sign the consent forms.”
    Barry thought, Charles Mason? As in the married man I strongly suspect impregnated my wife, Charles Mason? That Charles Mason? Why exactly would THAT Charles Mason be at the trauma center in the Berkshires?
    Then an absolutely terrifying thought struck him and he blurted, “Is the baby okay?” He ignored the widening of