The thin, high-pitched voice snapped Kayla out of her warm cocoon. Mack’s arms released her, and she opened her eyes to see a generic white woman in her mid-forties staring at them. Her face was so full of plastic and her hair so fried with platinum dye; it took Kayla a moment to recognize her. The surgically enhanced look should have clued her in earlier.
“Alice Hardy. Hi. How are you?” Kayla said through clenched teeth.
Alice flipped the end of her high ponytail with manicured nails and smiled wide enough to show teeth so artificially white they would glow in the dark. “Oh, you know. I’m surviving.” Her face fell into an exaggerated pout. “But how are you? Last I heard…Well, Steven said he’d be surprised if the firm didn’t press charges. I guess they didn’t, though, huh?”
A knot of fiery shame settled into Kayla’s gut. Normal people would never say anything so cruel to a passing acquaintance but then venture capitalists and their pampered spouses weren’t normal people. Kayla had discovered that in the disastrous three years she worked in the field. The irony was, she’d loved the job and had really seen a future there for herself.
Mack’s fingers clenched around her waist, and Kayla shot a glance over her shoulder. From the look in Mack’s eyes, Kayla couldn’t tell if she wanted to wrap her into a hug or punch Alice right there on the track. The fire in that ball of shame burned a little dimmer in the face of so much love directed her way.
“They didn’t. It was nice seeing you, Alice. If you’ll excuse me.”
Kayla didn’t wait for a response. She marched away from her former coworker’s wife as quickly as her aching knee allowed. She grabbed Mack by the wrist as she went, dragging her along with almost as unsteady a gait.
“LaLa, are you—”
“Not yet,” Kayla said quietly.
Once they’d walked over to the grass on the edge of the track, Kayla’s knee was less stiff, and her cheeks weren’t burning so hot. Unfortunately, she couldn’t shake the sadness that had settled into her. She stopped walking, but she couldn’t bring herself to turn around and look at Mack. If she did, she’d see Alice over her shoulder, and she couldn’t face that right now.
When she stopped, Mack’s footsteps behind her stopped, too. She didn’t ask if Kayla was okay. She knew she wasn’t. She just stood there with her, the warmth and solidity of her body close enough to remind Kayla that she wasn’t alone in the world. The silence eventually worked its magic.
Kayla stared at the diluted royal blue of the sky. She said, “It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it Mack?”
“Yeah, it is.”
“Clear and bright without being too hot, and a few unthreatening puffy clouds breaking up the sun. Ten years ago, I would’ve said it was a perfect day to play soccer. Five years ago, I would have said it was a perfect day to have a corner office with a wall of windows in a skyscraper downtown. Two years ago, I’d have said it was the perfect day for hiking with the woman I love.”
She finally turned to look at Mack. Kayla held her gaze for a full minute before Mack looked away, a dusting of pink on her cheeks.
“I need her back. Please. I know I’m asking too much, but you’re my best friend, and I don’t have anyone else to turn to.”
Mack ran her hands through her hair again and stared at the sky. Kayla knew she’d made the only pitch she could—the truth—and all she could do was wait. She could practically see the wheels turning in Mack’s mind. Her best friend was a cerebral person. She lived on logic, where Kayla lived on emotion. She needed order where Kayla thrived in chaos. But in the end, Kayla knew in her bones there was no one who had ever lived that would do more for Kayla when she really needed them.
“Dammit.” Kayla’s grin hurt her cheeks, but she was never one to celebrate before the ball was in the back of the net. Mack let out a breath and said, “Okay. I’ll do it.”
Kayla whooped and threw herself at Mack, who stumbled back at the impact. “Thank you. Thank God for you, Mack.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Mack said with a laugh. “I’m only doing this so I can be on the scene and keep you from doing something really stupid.”
“You always do.”
Mack grabbed her water bottle from the row on the bench nestled beside the track and took a massive gulp. Once she swallowed, she pointed the bottle at Kayla in an almostaccusatory way. “But look, we need to talk about timing. Things are wild at work right now, so I may not be able to take a whole week.”
Kayla grabbed her own towel and water bottle, her heart as light as air. “Don’t worry about that. I already talked to your secretary and got your vacation time approved.”
“You did what?” Mack shouted.
Behind her, the teenage boy who’d fallen over the hurdle jumped and squirted purple Gatorade directly into his eye.
Chapter Four
Kayla slept through mostof the flight, but turbulence hit once they started their descent. Not exactly her favorite way to wake up, especially from a dream that prominently featured Skye and the incredible stamina her life as an adrenaline junkie and extreme athlete facilitated.
“I really hope those noises you were making were snoring and not something else,” Mack said, her voice a rough grumble.
Kayla dug her knuckles into her eyes and rubbed hard. “I hope so, too. What did it sound like?”
Mack snapped her laptop closed and tried to fish her backpack out from underneath the seat in front of her. The lack of leg room and her tall frame made the process difficult, and she ended up having to smoosh her cheek against the chair in front of her. “You don’t want to know.”
