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Rachel nodded. “I do.”
“—I’m going to ask you some questions I should already know the answer to.”
Rachel slipped the mug out of Elisa’s fingers and tucked the blanket around her. “Shoot.”
Getting all this attention was a nice change. Being a momshe fell into the role of caregiver and usually didn’t regret it . . . except for that time a year ago when Harris and Nathan had the stomach flu at the same time and she seriously considered hiding in a hotel.
Okay, here came the awkward question. “Your last name.”
Rachel froze. “You don’t know it? You’re kidding.”
Elisa searched through every memory since they’d met and couldn’t think of a single time anyone had said it. “I have no clue.”
“Josh is such an idiot.” Rachel looked like she was on the verge of laughing. “Dunne.”
Yeah, that was new. Elisa never heard that before. Not Dickson. No sign of Jane. Okay, then. “Do you have a work phone? I feel like we should have emergency contact numbers for each other.”
Rachel waved off the suggestion. “Just use my cell. The human resources company I work for has office space but it’s communal. I go in for meetings and some other things. Otherwise, I work from home or at the office of the business where I’m giving a workshop.”
“What a fascinating job.” Still no talk about the motel. Still vague on work.
Rachel made a face. “Is it?”
“Do you own a house or a condo or...” Elisa had to admit that wasn’t her best work, but she was sick. She had limits.
“I rent a condo, but I’ve had issues thanks to a neighbor’s plumbing causing a leak in my place so I’m in a crappy motel for now. It’s temporary but her insurance is paying.”
Oh . . .That sounded plausible and Rachel delivered the words with ease. No signs of lying.
Elisa knew people who had to move out due to flooding. One family they knew had a fire. None registered under a fake name... unless the woman at the motel had made it all up. She wouldn’t be the first person to tell a tale to make a quick hundred bucks.
Elisa’s emotions bounced back and forth. One second up, next down. So much tension and not knowing. She was back to feeling lost again. She thought she’d found enough, nothing specific, but enough questions to put Rachel in the enemy camp. Now she didn’t know. She could just care about Josh and be stuck in the middle.
Not sure what to do or say, Elisa went with babble. “I work with numbers all day.” And right that second she missed the certainty of playing with numbers and the simple consistency of checking and rechecking. The audits were her favorite. She’d sit for hours, matching up documents and seeing how a business ran.
“Josh told me you love your job... or did.” Rachel shifted on the ottoman, crossing one leg over the other and looking as comfortable as someone sitting on an ottoman could look. “Sorry.”
The desperate need to be okay clawed at Elisa. “You don’t need to tiptoe around me. The shooting was months ago.”
But, if she were being truthful, she really hoped they were done with this topic. Saying she was fine was one thing.Beingfine was another, and she wasn’t there yet.
Rachel snorted. “I carry grudges and wear the scars ofthings that happened years ago, so no. I don’t believe in a time limit on these things. You get to struggle with what happened for as long as you need to. No judgment here.”
Permission.Deep down Elisa knew she didn’t need to ask for room to grieve, but having someone tell her to just let her emotions be what they were felt freeing. “I thought I was getting better. For a few months I felt more grounded and sure, and then Abby didn’t come back and days turned to weeks, and everything fell apart again.”
Rachel nodded. “You miss her.”
“We met in book club and shared a lot of the same interests, like movies and going to museums. We spent a lot of time together, especially on the weekends.” Abby would come to the hospital and they’d go out for lunch during the week. They did family things together on the weekends. “She was really close to Nathan. She never balked at the idea of taking him to do some crafty thing, like painting pottery or drawing pictures. She really wanted to have kids.”
“That’s not my thing at all, but Nathan is pretty cool.”
Thinking about him always made Elisa smile. “Except when he doesn’t get his way.”
“But about Abby. You don’t deserve that kind of uncertainty.” Rachel reached out and rested a hand on the part of Elisa’s arm that peeked out from under the blanket. “I’m sorry. I really am.”
“I want to know she’s safe.” Elisa broke off before going any further. “Is it weird when I say stuff like that? It clearly upsets Josh.”
“I’m not all that worried about how upset men get aboutspecific topics.” She eyed Elisa. “You should try not caring either.”
