Page 167 of No Headlines Please

Delaney

When I finished telling my story, nobody said a word. Everyone was staring – well, everyone but Maddox, who'd already heard all of this back in Chicago.

Now, the only sound in the room was the crackling of the fireplace while the others processed what I'd just told them.

The six of us were gathered in Tessa's cozy living room. Tessa and Ryder were snuggled up on one sofa while Maisie and Griff were cuddled on the loveseat opposite them. As for me and Maddox, we weren't snuggling or cuddling.

And why?

Because we'd ended up in the matching armchairs facing the fire.

I was pretty sure this was no accident. Maisie and Griff had sat down first. A split second later, Tessa had rushed for the sofa so quickly, even Ryder had seemed taken aback.

Then again, the seating arrangement wasn't exactly the biggest issue in the room.

Barely an hour had passed since we'd arrived on Tessa's doorstep. I hadn't even unpacked – or figured out where I'd be sleeping. The suitcases were still sitting in the nearby foyer, exactly where we'd left them. But that was nobody's fault but my own.

Tessa had offered to get us settled right away. But first, I'd wanted to explain why I'd gone missing – preferably before anyone else apologized for something that wasn't their fault.

But now, I wondered if I'd said too much.

Finally, it was Tessa who broke the silence. "So that's why you stayed away? Why didn't you say something?"

"Yeah," Maisie chimed in. "We could've helped."

Obviously, they still weren't getting it. "Or, you would've ended up in trouble, too."

Tessa said, "But you didn't say what kind of trouble."

Hadn't she been listening? "Yes, I did."

"Sure. The thing with the lawyer. But you seriously don't know which case the guy meant?"

Before I could reply, Maisie asked, "And if you needed to hide out, why didn't you do it here on the island? I had plenty of room."

I sighed. "Already told you. The guy warned me not to. Explicitly. I can still remember his exact words."

Griff asked, "Which were…?"

I looked at all of them in turn. "He said – and I quote – 'If you're thinking of running to your friends on the island, forget it.'"

Maddox spoke up. "Wait, that's not what you told me in Chicago."

I turned to look at him. "Sure I did."

He shook his head. "No, you didn't. In my office, you said, 'Mackinac Island' by name."

"But that's the same thing." I glanced at the others. "What other island could he mean?" I looked back to Maddox. "Maisie is literally my only friend who lives on an island. He had to mean her."

"Right," Maddox said. "Her."

I had no idea what he was getting at. "Sorry, what?"

"Friend. As in singular."

"So?" In search of clues, I looked to Maisie. We'd already talked about her dad, and I'd apologized all over again for not being there. But somehow, it still didn't feel like enough.

With a smile, Maisie looked to Maddox and said, "I think you make a good point."