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“Do what you have to do,” Oliver told him, his tone cold and full of suspicion that echoed in Sabrina’s thoughts.
The idea that he was hiding something came back with a vengeance, and she had to remind herself that she was just being paranoid. Conner was no more hiding anything from her than his brothers. He just wanted time alone to figure something out, that much was clear. She just wanted to know what it was, and she had to trust that he would clue her in when he was ready. She needed to respect his privacy until then.
Once Conner left, Sabrina looked to William and Oliver for direction. It was the first time she’d been in any of their personal space, and she wasn’t quite sure what to do with herself. It was a given that she should just treat Will’s apartment as her home away from home, but it also felt presumptuous, so she erred on the side of caution, looking to them for a signal on what to do next.
“Well, looks like it’s just us tonight. What do you want to do?”
William’s words could easily be taken in a sexual way, but that was just Sabrina’s default thought process lately. They’d turned her into a wanton woman, ready, willing, and able to leap into their bed at a moment’s notice. However, William’s expression didn’t give any indication that’s what he meant. If anything, he seemed subdued, looking for real suggestions.
“We could watch a movie,” she suggested, clasping her hands in front of her in an obvious display of discomfort. She wasn’t sure of herself or anything in that moment.
“That could be good. Let’s see what’s on VOD.”
As someone who didn’t spend much time in front of the television, Sabrina had no idea what he was talking about. Fifteen minutes later, settled onto the couch between Ollie and Will with a bucket of freshly popped popcorn in her lap for them to share, the mystery was solved.
Selecting a video to rent “on demand” was easy and fun, especially since Sabrina hadn’t seen most of the options available.
William selected an action flick starring a handful of 80s action heroes, some with familiar faces, and as Sabrina munched on popcorn, she couldn’t help thinking that if Shawna were here now, she’d be beside herself with glee.
They were halfway into the film when her phone started buzzing in her pocket. Sabrina’s first inclination was to ignore it. She didn’t want anything interrupting her time with the guys, but the more persistent it became, the more she worried that it was something important.
Her thoughts went to her father, and she dug her phone out, pressing a button on the side to light up the screen. As she’d feared, it was her dad calling, and instant worry flared bright in her chest, her mind going wild with possibilities.
“Sorry,” she said as she handed off the half-empty bucket and stood. “I need to take this.”
Taking the call out onto the balcony, Sabrina slid the door shut behind her. She wasn’t sure what her father would have to say, but whatever it was, good or bad, she needed a moment alone to absorb it. Something inside her told her this call was going to change things.
“Sabrina, this is Dad.”
Her father’s voice was brisk, all business, just like she remembered it when she worked beside him all those years, but despite the business tone of it, she found herself getting choked up. It’d been forever since she’d last talked to him, or at least, that’s how it felt.
“Hey, Daddy, it’s good to hear your voice. How is everything going in paradise?”
That uneasy feeling inside her gut refused to go away, and she waited with bated breath for him to reveal the nature of his call. Was her mother okay? Was he okay?
“I wouldn’t know. We’re driving into the city as we speak.”
“What?” That had been most unexpected. Her father was supposed to be taking it easy, getting back on his feet. For him to be back in town, there had to be something big going on.
“I received some disturbing news last night,” he informed her, and Sabrina’s stomach began to roll.
The only conclusion she could come up with tied directly back to their last conversation, and her head turned ever so slightly, not enough to see over her shoulder and into the apartment where Will and Ollie waited for her to return, but that’s where her thoughts had gone.
This had everything to do with Conner’s odd behavior earlier; she just knew it.
“Listen, it’s late. I just wanted to give you the heads-up that I’ll be stopping by the office tomorrow. Get some sleep. I’ll talk to you in the morning.”
She didn’t even get to say goodbye. The phone went silent, and she knew he’d hung up. It was so unlike him, the whole conversation, if it could even be called that, and that feeling in her stomach grew.
What was the possibility that he’d found evidence that the Hargreaves were playing them all for fools?
Shaking her head, she stowed her phone away. Sabrina refused to go there. Not again. Thinking that way, being on the defensive with people she’d vowed to place her trust with was nothing more than self-sabotage. Why was she even allowing herself to go down that road?
Her father was a bit of a control freak. She knew that. If he was back in town for business, it was probably because he’d heard something through the grapevine about one of their business dealings and couldn’t resist the allure to get back in there and get his hands dirty.
She’d just have to remind him of his doctor’s orders and send him packing again. He already knew that she had everything handled and he could trust her, but sometimes he needed a reminder. She’d give him that and then some.
Still, she couldn’t deny that he was back, even if it was for reasons she didn’t yet understand. She missed her father. It would be good seeing him again, however brief the reunion would have to be. Maybe they’d enjoy a nice lunch, the three of them, and then she and her mother would team up and make sure her father got back on track and back to his extended vacation.
