Waking up the next morning and seeing her hair splayed across the pillow settles something deep inside my chest. Granted, my morning wood is on display, but she’s still sound asleep, so I’m good for the time being. True to my word, we did makeout, sometimes hot and heavy, during the movie she chose, but I didn’t take it any further wanting to respect her boundaries. There’ll be time enough for that while Mack’s out of town.
I carefully slide out from underneath her and she curls into my pillow, a small huff of air passing her lips. Grabbing clean clothes, I head into my ensuite to take a shower and get ready for the day. Even though several of the brothers are going with Mack, Rio sent me a text last night letting me know that we’d be meeting with Doc and Nerd this morning after breakfast while the women go shopping.
But after all of that happens? I’ll have Shelly to myself until the middle of the week, at least. We might have to work, but we’ll still be together, and since I enjoy spending time with her, it won’t be much of a hardship.
By the time I’m done, she’s awake and after giving me a shy smile, she heads into the bathroom to get cleaned up and ready for the day. I dig through my T-shirts and find one that’ll work, then hear a knock on my door. Opening it, I see Livy standing there, a shirt in her hands. “I thought this might fit Shelly,” she says, thrusting it at me. “That way, we can leave right after we eat.”
Chuckling, I take it from her, say, “Thanks,” then close the door just as the bathroom door opens. “Livy brought you a shirt to wear so you wouldn’t have to change y’all’s plans.”
“She’s a saint,” Shelly murmurs, taking it from me and turning around to go back into the bathroom. After she swaps shirts, she comes back out and asks, “Can you grab my phone?”
“Already got it, sweetheart. Let’s go eat so you can go do girly things,” I tease.
“Okay, Abyss, what was it you wanted to discuss?” Rio asks.
The four of us are in his office since it’s not an official church meeting, which is fine with me. “So, one of Shelly’s clients didn’t show up like I told you, and now, one of her friends has filed a missing person report. Gina, the woman who filed it, says this is not typical behavior for her friend.”
“Who’s her friend that’s missing?” Doc asks.
“A woman by the name of Gretchen Billings,” I reply. When Doc’s face pales, I get an ugly feeling in my gut. “Doc? What’s going on?”
Doc shakes his head and says, “Gretchen’s one of the clinic’s employees. She’s a recovery coach for the substance abuse side, and she’s been MIA for over two weeks now. She wasn’t scheduled for any vacation and in fact, the last time anyone saw her was the night before she was going to get her sobriety tattoo. Nobody’s seen her since, and now, you’re telling me that she never showed for her appointment. Something must’ve happened to her.”
“Is she one of the people on the list you were getting for us?” Rio asks.
“No, but now she is,” Doc states, the look in his eyes hardening. “The people on the list are those who haven’t come in for their monthly appointments.”
“They could’ve relapsed,” Nerd offers.
“If they were in their first month or so, I’d tend to agree, but each of them has over nine months of sobriety under their belt. They’re all working their program, taking the medication we prescribed, and have begun weaning off of it,” Doc replies.
“Then we need to look into it,” Rio decrees.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE
Shelly
“I always forgethow addictive this place is,” I say as the three of us huddle around a display of skincare. “I like this line a lot, it’s all natural and there are none of the chemicals we shouldn’t use on our skin.”
“If my skin will look as good as yours, I’m sold,” Livy teases, reaching out and grabbing the starter kit which has cleanser, toner, and moisturizer.
“Don’t forget the free gift,” Issy says, grabbing the travel bag and tossing it into Livy’s basket.
“Those are the best parts of shopping here,” I confess. “I love getting the themed eyeshadow palettes, even though I tend to stick to using the same colors. Still, if I ever dress up for Halloween, I have options.”
“What do you use for shampoo and conditioner?” Livy questions as we each add a few more odds and ends to our baskets.
“With the humidity in Texas, I use a lot of different products to keep from looking like an alpaca,” I admit, which has all three of us giggling. “But outside of my hair trying to expand to ten times its normal size, it’s normal, so I use one from Pureology that seems to work well. I also like L’ange products, especially the one to combat frizziness.”
“Lead the way, I love it when Rafe’s head explodes while he looks at all the bottles in the shower,” Issy teases.
“I usually buy shampoo and conditioner based on how it smells,” Livy confesses. “But my hair tends to be dry from the roots down, so maybe I should get something that adds moisture or something.”
“We have our mission, ladies!” I exclaim. As we walk through the store, laughing and carrying on, I see other women staring at us. Something like that would’ve bothered me in the past, but now, I honestly don’t care what those who don’t even know me think. Before we reach the area where the hair care products are displayed in neat rows on the shelving, I stop in my tracks. “I’ve been waiting for them to get this!” I say, practically jumping up and down. At their raised brows, I add, “Each row of teeth separates as you pull the brush through your hair. It's meant to be used in the shower for those with curly hair. Every time I’ve tried to order it online, they’ve been sold out.” I show them what I mean about the teeth separating and see their eyes widen in understanding. After tossing one in my basket, which is getting alarmingly full, I start moving once again until I see some silk bonnets and grab one of those as well.
“Why did you get that?” Livy asks as we finally reach the shampoo and conditioner aisles.
