Chapter 4Ruth snatched up the handset, nearly dropping it as she brought it to her ear. “Hello?”
“Is this Ruth?” The stranger’s voice was no longer a recording or a thought, but real, and talking directly to her.
Ruth’s skin tingled as though every nerve ending in her body had become suddenly and acutely aware. “Yes, this is she.”
“This is Sam. I must have been walking into the office just as you were leaving your message.”
“Oh, hello,” she said, feigning surprise. “How nice to hear back from you. Burning the midnight oil, are we?”
“Let’s just say it’s the typical Saturday-night madness for the self-employed.”
“I can relate.” Ruth’s throat was rapidly drying up. “What do you do?”
“I’m a retailer of premier wines,” Samuel replied. “I have a shop in the West End, off Oxford on Bond. D
