Poppy’s cheeks flame red. “Let me finish recording my first book first before you go signing me up.”
“Stop,” I chide. “You’re going to be great. Not only do you have the talent, but you’re one of the most determined people I know.”
That just makes the red covering her cheeks creep down her neck. She ducks her head, popping a bite of sushi into her mouth with her chopsticks.
“What else are you going to do while you’re here? Besides inevitably relocating to a hotel and the event?” I ask, excited to get to know Mia better.
She swirls the wine in her glass, watching it for a minute before responding. “I’m going to take a little road trip to Estes Park after the event wraps up. After this last book release, I’m feeling a little burned out. Maybe that fresh mountain air will give me that energy I need before I hole myself back up in my writing cave.” She smiles like it’s a light hearted joke, but it’s not the full smile she had just a minute ago.
“You deserve a break. Stay a little longer and explore Colorado for a few weeks before you head back to North Carolina,” Poppy suggests.
Mia shakes her head. “I can’t. I have an obscene amount of meetings and a deadline with my publisher for the first draft of the next book.”
“If you change your mind, I can help you plan out the road trip. Dean has a cabin near Snowmass that he doesn’t use during the season. I’m sure you could disappear there for a while. Maybe a change of scenery would help,” I offer softly, not wanting to overstep.
“It could be worse. I love what I do and it’s not like I have writer’s block or anything. Lately, I just feel like I am stuck on a hamster wheel.”
“Think about it Mia. I’m sure Dean wouldn’t mind.” She pats Mia on the arm. “Oh, look Hen’s on deck,” Poppy says, pulling our attention back to the game.
The girls lounge on the couch with me for the rest of the game, sporadically picking at the sushi. If it were up to them, they’d have rolled out sleeping bags right there on the living room floor. When I catch Mia nodding off during post-game interviews, I shoo them out. They did enough already. I was an irrational mess, and they saved me from a lonely night at the airport by showing up when they did.
Still, their company was only enough to take the edge off temporarily. Later that night, I toss and turn, the same way I have for the last few nights. I feel more out of place in my own bed than I ever have. At one in the morning, I finally give in and wearily grab my keys and my suitcase, shuffling out the door into the darkness.
Chapter 43
Confessions
Present
A distant dinging fractures the hazy images of Jarrett alone on the beach that night. When I roll towards the sound, I’m met with scratchy hotel sheets drenched in sweat. Slapping my hand down on the nightstand, I find my phone and struggle to silence the offensive noise. It takes several tries blinking to clear the grit from my vision before the time comes into focus—two-fifteen in the morning.
The glowing screen shows a notification for my security system. Suddenly, much more alert, I push up from the mattress and rest against the cool headboard. I tap the small square, opening the app.
The recording shows the door to the apartment pushing open. Her head’s down, but I know without seeing her face that it’s Delilah. My pulse races at the sight of her. She’s there in my space where she belongs, and I don’t even care why. For the first time since I left, some of the tightness in my chest loosens because she wouldn’t be there if she still didn’t want me.
She glances up at the camera, her shoulder slumped as she gives it a little wave before kicking her shoes off and stepping into the apartment beyond the reach of my camera.She’s back.I want this all over. To find answers for my family and get back to my girl to start the rest of our lives together without this looming over us.
The nightmares are to be expected, with emotions running high. Rich turned all the evidence over to the police in Miami late yesterday. That should feel like a step in the right direction. Instead, I feel off-kilter. I’ve trusted him with this for the last three years, and now it’s out of his hands.
This feels like our last chance to find out what really happened. I told Hen I’d walk away no matter what the outcome, but I’d be stupid to pretend that it won’t be the hardest thing I’ve ever done if this all goes wrong.
When my eyes drift closed again, my phone is clutched in my hand. And this time, there are no dreams of my brother’s broken body alone in the dark, wet sand.
The next morning I’m up at an ungodly hour. The storms stopped sometime overnight and I’m eager to free myself from the four walls of the hotel room. Pulling my hat down low on my head, I walk towards the greenway that runs along the Mississippi river. The pavement is still covered with puddles, but I’d walk through ankle deep water just to get out at this point.
When I get to the river, it feels like I can take a deep breath for the first time since I got here, and it has everything to do with the woman waiting for me back in Colorado. She was still there this morning. I know because the first thing I did when I woke up this morning was check the security cameras to see if she had left or stayed overnight.
I can’t help but feel like she’s there because she needs me the same way I need her. I walk for longer than I intended and by the time I turn around; I realize that it’s been over an hour since I left the hotel. The clear skies and sunrise over the river has the path full of others with the same ideas as me. Nearly all of them are beaming and animated now that the storm clouds have moved out.
I’m almost back at the hotel when I stop at a coffee shop. It’s going to be a long day. Rich and I are meeting so he can explain what to expect next, now that the police are taking over the case. But first I need to head to the gym for another mind-numbingly light workout.
I can’t wait to be released to more intense workouts. Without Delilah or a physical outlet, I feel like I’m crawling out of my skin more often than not.
The thirty minutes on a stationary bike did nothing to ease my tightly coiled muscles. As the day wears on I can feel my agitation down to my bones. Rich called me this morning, letting me know that something urgent came up and that he needed to push our meeting back to this evening. Despite his reassurance that it was a good thing, it only makes me more restless.
My phone vibrates with a message from Hendrix. He’s been relentlessly checking in on me to make sure I am not going off the deep end.
Hendrix:
