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“Can we circle back to this Crazy Cat Lady Club?” Jax asked as she unloaded clean wine glasses from a crate. “Do you, like, help people figure out how to take care of cats?”
“That’s actually why I started it,” Tess replied.
“I gotta tell my roommate about it,” Jax declared. “Haley needs to join your club. Like, immediately. Can you backdate her membership?”
Tess laughed and tossed back her waves of loose auburn hair. “Give me your number and I’ll text you the deets on our next meeting.”
“Yes! Thank you!” Jax practically sang. “She brought home this kitten last week out of nowhere. Typical Haley, and it’s been like this tiny, furry tornado of destruction. I’ve been tempted to chuck it out the window. Cats always land on their feet, right?”
“You’re lucky Everly didn’t hear you say that,” Tess said. “But, yes, I’m sure we can help Haley.”
Though Sully could see bruised petals of exhaustion beneath Tess’s hazel eyes, he noted that his tenant seemed less haunted than when she’d driven her dented jeep into Yucca Hills. She almost looked content as she stood on tiptoes to plant her elbows on the bar.
Good for her. What a delightful contrast to his utter misery.
As if sensing his gaze, Tess turned to him. “What are you going to do about Alanna?”
“What is there to do?” If he could slump his shoulders even further in defeat, he would. “She’s going to L.A.” It was over.
“Maybe she just needs a reason to stay,” Tess said softly.
I tried,Sully thought. He’d created a magical date for her, and it hadn’t been enough.Hehadn’t been enough. He turned his head in his arms and stared at a yellowed photo on the wall behind the bar. In the picture, a beautiful woman in an old-fashioned dress stood proudly among a thriving vineyard. Behind her, Sully could see the frame of a half-constructed building in progress. The building looked suspiciously like The Rose and Thorn.
Theo reappeared from the back room, the drawer handle in one hand, a close-to-empty roll of duct tape in the other. He looked around.
“Where’s Haley?” He glanced at his watch. “It’s been 20 minutes.”
“I’ll go get her,” Jax volunteered quickly. The dark-haired server scanned the bar. “Everyone good on drinks?” When everyone answered in the affirmative—except for Sully, who couldn’t muster the energy for a head nod—she scurried out the back door.
“You gonna drink that?” Cam asked, eyeing Sully’s glass. “That the Syrah? Looks like the Syrah. I love the Syrah.”
Tess finished her wine and slid the empty glass across the bar. “Well, I’d better go.” She looked at Sully, her brown-green eyes filled with empathy. “If you need to talk, you have my—”
A hoarse scream cut off Tess’s words. Without thinking, Sully was standing upright and lurching toward the source of the wail. He felt others on his heels. The cry repeated, so jagged and laced with fear that it injected ice into his veins. Sully threw open a back door and blinked into the bright afternoon sunlight. As his straining eyes adjusted, he took in a horrifying scene.
Haley lay on the ground next to the back wall of the winery, her white-blonde hair spread around her head like a halo. Her eyes were closed, her face gray. Jax knelt on the ground next to her, eyes wide as she shoved Haley’s shoulder.
“WAKE UP!” Jax hollered. “Haley, OH MY GOD, WAKE UP!”
Janet the basset hound joined Jax’s screams with a long, soulful howl. Digging in his pocket, Sully yanked his cell phone free. With shaking hands, he dialed 911. As his phone rang, a slight figure pushed through the crowd. In a moment, Tess knelt over Haley, her face set.
“911, what is the nature of your emergency?” a female voice asked over the line.
“Uh, there’s a young girl here,” Sully stuttered. “I mean, young woman. I don’t know how old she is. She’s unconscious. I don’t think she’s breathing.” God, why couldn’t he think?
“Haley,” Tess said loudly. “Can you hear me?” She closed her hand into a fist and began to run her knuckles over Haley’s sternum between her breasts.
Tears streamed down Jax’s eyes. “Is she dead?” she whimpered.
“What is your location?” the woman asked over the phone.
“The, uh, the winery. Uh, Rose and Thorn,” Sully stammered.
“Do you know the address, Sir?”
A hand plucked the phone from Sully’s grasp. It was Theo. He looked at Hue. “My bag is upstairs in the apartment. Hall closet, second shelf.” Hue nodded and disappeared back into the winery with Janet slowly loping at his heels. Theo focused on the phone, calmly reciting the winery’s address as he approached the unconscious girl.
“I’m volunteer search and rescue,” he told Tess. “I have medical training.”
