Tobin walked up to town hall with a smile, a flutter of excitement in her belly as she entered the building. She clutched the bouquet of flowers tightly in her hand, eager to get to Christen's office. Her smile faded slightly upon approaching Christen's secretary's desk, however, as Anne's usual happy grin was replaced with one that looked suspiciously regretful.
"I'm going to assume those aren't for me, sheriff?" Anne asked teasingly.
"Uh, no. Sorry."
"I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you then. The Mayor isn't in today."
"She isn't?" Tobin asked, frowning. Christen hadn't told her she had the day off.
"No. She called in sick today."
Tobin's eyebrows skyrocketed, causing Anne to laugh.
"I know. I was surprised too. She never calls in. I'm sure she meant to tell you. She probably just hasn't had the chance."
"Yeah, maybe. Thanks for letting me know, Anne. I'll see if I can reach her at home."
Tobin turned around, immediately reaching for her cellphone and dialling Christen's number. There was no way that she didn't have time to let her know. It was almost noon, plenty of time to tell Tobin she wasn't feeling well. Tobin's stomach vibrated with worry, biting her lip as the phone rang.
Tobin cursed when she was sent to voicemail, leaving a brief message requesting Christen contact her as soon as she could. She then hopped into her cruiser, placing the flowers on the front seat before speeding over to the mansion. Why wasn't Christen at work today? Was she having a particularly bad bout of morning sickness this morning? Why hadn't Christen let her know when she had texted this morning?
Tobin had had to pull a double today, so she hadn't been by this morning to make breakfast. But she had texted her to check in, and Christen had said that everything was fine with her. Everything seemed normal, and Tobin had no suspicions that anything was off. Had something happened between their earlier texts and when Christen normally left for work? Why then hadn't Christen let her know?
Pulling into the driveway, Tobin shook herself from her thoughts. Christen's car was still here, which meant she'd never left the house. Tobin would find out in just a moment why Christen hadn't gone to work and then she'd question her as to why she hadn't let her know that she had stayed home from work. Not that Tobin was trying to keep tabs on the mayor. But Christen never called in sick and so there was obviously a good reason. And if there was, Tobin wanted to know what it was.
Tobin grabbed the flowers before exiting the vehicle and jogging up the steps to the front door. She let herself in, carefully toeing off her shoes as she made her way into the eerily silent house. Henry would be at school at this time of day, but Tobin couldn't hear any noise at all.
"Christen?"
Tobin put the flowers down on the floor, reaching for her weapon as her stomach began to roll with dread. She quickly scanned the hallway, the kitchen, dining room, her belly filling with fear with each additional empty room. It was only when she practically ran into living room that she breathed a sigh of relief, spotting Christen curled up on the couch fast asleep. Tobin holstered her weapon, her heart throbbing in her chest as she took a few calming breaths. Her eyes stayed glued to the slumbering woman as she walked over to her, reaching up for the knitted blanket on the back of the couch and gently placing it over Christen's sleeping form. She placed a gentle kiss on her forehead before getting up and making her way back to front entrance where she had dropped the bouquet of flowers. She picked them up, heading over to the kitchen and taking a look around.
The kitchen was messy (a disaster by Christen's standards), so Tobin put away her weapon, put the flowers in a vase, rolled up her sleeves, and began to clean. She picked up the dishes from the counter and placed them in the dishwasher, carefully though, so as not to make any noise, before taking the dishcloth from the sink and wiping down the counters. She then put away the boxes of crackers and the bread that had been left out, and started on the various items lying about on the counter (pens, keys, an iPad, some napkins…). Once the kitchen was clean, Tobin made her way upstairs, picking up the clothes that were on Henry's floor and adding them to Christen's hamper. She hauled the basket to the laundry room, starting up a load and closing the door so that the sound wouldn't carry.
