Chapter 39
He stayed up later than his usual bedtime watching day-old episodes of late-night American talk shows, then he phoned Nicole on Skype. He wanted to see her face and for her to see his. He figured he’d try to catch her around her lunchtime.
He was happy she didn’t duck the call. He’d been the last one to reach out, but weeks had passed, and she hadn’t replied. He didn’t want to lead off by scolding her about moving into his place in Rustic Canyon.
He was on his phone, lying propped up on his pillows in bed. It should be noon there, but from her woozy expression, it appeared she hadn’t yet gotten up. Her face looked not only sleepy but careworn. “Hey, kid.” (He’d never addressed her that way.) “I guess the world has gone crazy. They won’t even let me leave now. Or if they did,
