“I don’t know, but he ran for some reason.” Mike took one look at the tears that were still running down her face, and reached out to pat her shoulder. “That reason may have nothing to do with you, Hannah. Before I came outside to get you, I called P.K. first. He said that Ross got a telephone call and said he had to leave work right away. It was right after their lunch break at twelve-thirty. Where were you then?”
“Michelle and I were at The Cookie Jar. We decided to mix up some cookie dough for tomorrow, to get a head start on things. If Ross had some kind of emergency, why didn’t he call me?”
“I don’t know, Hannah, but. P.K. said Ross told him that he might have to be gone for a while.”
“Did Ross tell P.K. why he had to leave?”
“Not really. He just said it was personal. P.K. thought that maybe you were sick or you got into an accident or something like that. He was relieved to find out that you were okay.”
Okay? Hannah’s mind shouted. My husband left me and I don’t know why. I’m not okay. Not at all!
There was a knock on the door and Hannah turned toward the sound. “You’re wrong, Mike! That must be Ross. He just left his things here and went out for a walk around the complex.” It was difficult, but she managed to get up on her feet. “I have to go let him in!”
“It’s not Ross.” Mike reached for her hand. “It’s probably Norman. I called him. I have to go down to the station, but Norman’s going to stay with you until Michelle gets home.”
Hannah felt numb as she walked toward the door with Mike to let Norman in. Her mind simply wouldn’t process the fact that her husband had left without a word, without a note, without any kind of explanation, less than two weeks after their wedding. She had only one ray of hope, one thing to hold onto so she wouldn’t slip into deep despair.
Ross had taken their condo key with him. And that meant he planned to come back to her.