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Shay stared blankly at her, and Hedra said, “Her dog Alfie keeps stealing my Crocs and pooping in them.”
Daisy, Ryan, and Shay all laughed, and Hedra grinned at them before drinking some beer. It’d been a long time since she’d gone out on a girls’ night. Hell, it’d been a long time since she’d had friends, and the warmth and happiness washing over her felt foreign.
Just make sure you don’t kill them like you did the last one.
The smile dropped from her face like a brick, and her stomach twisted. She hadn’t killed Dianne. She wasn’t the one drunk behind the wheel of the car that T-boned Dianne’s car in a snowy intersection.
No, but you were the one who couldn’t save her while she lay dying on the hospital bed.
The dinner she ate was now a hot stone in her stomach, and she could hardly swallow past the lump in her throat.
“Hedra?” Shay touched her arm, concern in her voice. “You okay, honey?”
Hedra forced herself to smile. “Just fine, thanks. So, do you ever think you’ll go back into acting?”
Shay studied her a few seconds longer, and Hedra could have kissed her with relief when she said, “God, no. I was a terrible actress.”
“You weren’t!” Ryan said.
As she and Shay began to argue goodnaturedly about Shay’s acting abilities, Hedra sat back in her chair and took another drink of beer. This was fine. She was fine. It didn’t matter what Mateo said or thought or told people in Rosehaven. She hadn’t killed her best friend.
* * *
Hedra crept down the hallway to her room. It was later than she meant to stay out, and the house was dark and quiet. She’d discovered Boone was a night owl like her, but he’d gone to bed earlier than normal.
She slipped inside her bedroom and used the bathroom she shared with Althea before checking on the tiger shifter. Althea was sleeping soundly, and Hedra stuck her tongue out at Alfie when the poodle growled softly at her from his spot on the bed beside Althea.
She returned to her room and changed into her cotton shirt and shorts pajama set before washing her face and brushing her teeth. She studied herself in the bathroom mirror. Tonight had been fun, and she’d been embarrassingly happy when Shay invited her for coffee on Thursday night. She liked Ryan and Daisy a lot, but she felt an almost instant connection with Shay.
She reminds you of Dianne.
Hedra swallowed hard and rinsed her toothbrush before putting it in the holder. Yeah, maybe a little. Not in looks, but definitely in personality.
Do you feel good about trying to replace Dianne?
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and concentrated on not spiraling. Her therapist had given her different tools to combat this very scenario, and she used all of them until her rapid heartbeat calmed and she no longer felt nauseous.
She opened her eyes. “Her death is not your fault,” she told her reflection. “You are not responsible for Mateo’s grief.”
She took a few more deep breaths before shutting off the bathroom light and heading toward her bed. She pulled back the covers and was about to climb in when she heard the scratching at her door. She cocked her head and studied the door, frowning when she heard the scratching again.
She crossed the room and opened the door, staring in surprise at the tiger standing in the hallway. “Boone? What’s wrong?”
The tiger purred before pushing past her. He sniffed her bed before dipping his head into the laundry hamper and sniffing.
“If you steal a pair of my underwear, I’m calling the labour board,” Hedra said.
The tiger chuffed loudly before returning to her. She grunted in surprise when he rubbed up against her, his big body knocking her into the door and closing it with a loud bang.
She winced and rubbed at her hipbone as the tiger rubbed against her again. “Hey, watch it, you big lug.”
She waited for Althea to call for her, but apparently, she’d slept through the door slamming shut. She tried to straighten, grunting again when Boone chuffed and burrowed his big head into her stomach.
“Oof,” she said. She scratched hesitantly around his ears, and the tiger purred happily.
Feeling disconcerted, Hedra stroked Boone’s head, delighted by how soft the fur was. “Okay, this has been fun, but it’s late, and I was just going to bed, so…”
Boone chuffed again and loped across the room to leap onto her bed. He stretched out on it, his tail flicking back and forth and his big body barely able to fit on the double bed.
