Page 137 of No Headlines Please

"My fiancée," he repeated, looking a lot happier than I'd ever been after my engagement.

I stared. "You're marrying Delaney's sister?"

That made him pause. "Why'd you put it that way?"

"What way?"

"You should've said, 'You're marrying Tessa Sinclair.'"

Damn it. He was right. It was a rookie mistake. Some might blame the distraction with Sloane. But the truth was, Delaney Sinclair was still occupying far too much of my mind.

Still, I forced an easy shrug. "And that matters why?"

His eyes narrowed. "You met her, didn't you?"

I reached up to rub the back of my neck. "Who?"

"Her sister. And no, I don't mean Delaney's sister, who I'm gonna marry. I mean, Tessa's sister. And you never did tell me where she is." His tone grew sarcastic. "Thanks for that, by the way."

When I didn't reply, he added, "Tessa really does want to know."

That got my attention. "You mean, she doesn't already?" Delaney had left Chicago months ago. Surely, she would've surfaced by now.

But apparently not.

Ryder replied, "Hell no. You're the one with all the information."

He was wrong. I'd lost track of Delaney the moment she'd left town – not by chance, by design.

No stalking. No hounding. No watching from afar.

With Evan Carver out of the picture, I had no reasonable excuse.

Delaney was perfectly safe.

Or at least, she should be safe.

Still, concern prickled at my spine as I asked, "How can you not know? What, she hasn't talked to Tessa?"

Ryder's mouth tightened. "You mean the person you refuse to meet?"

"I'm not refusing."

"The hell you aren't," he said. "We've invited you a dozen times. You always bow out."

For the last few months, Ryder and Tessa had been splitting their time between Chicago and Mackinac Island. Ryder seemed happy, which should've made me happy.

And it did.

But the truth was, Tessa Sinclair wasn't on the list of people I wanted to meet. From everything Delaney had said, I wasn't sure I'd like her. Plus, the last thing I wanted was to dredge up more memories of Delaney.

And besides, Ryder was exaggerating. I'd declined five or six times at most. I told him, "Hey, it hasn't been a dozen."

"Fine." He leaned back on the sofa. "Half a dozen."

Shit. I didn't like being hassled, but the guy was right. He'd been a solid friend, and he was obviously head over heels. And here I was, being a dick by not doing the meet-and-greet to welcome Tessa into the fold.

But hey, the engagement was still new, so it wasn't like I'd refused to congratulate the guy. But then, I paused. Had I even said it?