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“Uh, Laney?” Madison says. “Is that blood dripping down your back?”
“It is,” Kit says. “And that saves me from being the one who brings it up. You need that looked at.”
I start to protest.
“I also don’t think Madison should be out here,” Kit says. “Not Laney or Madison.”
“Why not me?” Madison asks.
“He’s right,” Garrett cuts in. “You need to go inside, kiddo. Sadie would never hurt you in her right mind, but we can’t take a chance she’ll mistake you for your, uh, aunt.” He jabs his index finger at Kit. “You come with me.”
“I was going to check Laney’s shoulder. Then I can—”
“Jayla will do it. Or the kid can do it, if Jayla wants to come with us. But if Sadie’s hurt and she’s not coming back willingly, I’m going to need help.”
Jayla takes my arm. “I’ll look after Laney. Mads will help. You guys hunt for Sadie. You have one hour. Then we need a check-in.”
TWENTY-ONE
The injury to my shoulder really is as simple as a bad sliver. After they check it, Madison insists I have a hot bath, in case the cold rain… I don’t know, triggered my hypothermia? Whatever her reasoning, I don’t argue. I need to clean the wound, and I need to rest the leg I injured earlier, and I need to warm up. Afterward, Madison bandages my shoulder while Jayla takes a hot shower.
“What happened with you and Sadie?” Madison says as we throw our wet clothing in the dryer.
I shrug. “She’s not thinking straight, and she grabbed me and then pushed me into a tree.”
And accused me of breaking a promise. A pact. Not just that, but when she said it, her voice… it wasn’t her voice.
Madison is watching me expectantly, and I realize she must have said something else.
I shake off my thoughts. “Sorry. I’m a little out of it myself.”
“I said I didn’t mean what happened just now. What happened to you guys as friends? I always figured it was just the normal thing, where you outgrow a friendship, like me and Catelyn. But with the way everyone’s been acting, I started to figure there was more to it, and there seems to be something with her and Kit.” She makes a face.“Or there was? In the past? That would explain the…” She searches for a word. “The tension. Awkward, right, if she had a thing with Kit and then you guys got married. But then Jayla’s thinking Sadie might have blown up your boats and now she attacked you, and people don’t do that over a guy.”
Oh, they do, but I get what Madison is saying. She knows I wouldn’t “steal” Sadie’s boyfriend, and I wouldn’t be jealous of Kit’s past. If Sadie had been over the top with her own jealousy, I’d have steered clear and locked my doors.
“It’s—” I begin.
“Don’t you dare say ‘complicated.’”
I smile and lean against the washing machine. “Okay, I won’t. But what I would have meant by that is that it’s old history, and it’s not really my place to discuss it.”
Her cheeks pink. “Discuss it with me, you mean. Right. That makes sense.”
I hug her. “It’s grown-up drama that started as teen drama, and you know what that’s like. I can say two things. One, Sadie has issues with me, and they have nothing—” I stop and veer around that land mine. “They aren’t issues with you. If she did hurt you in her current state, it’d honestly be because she mistook you for me, which would take some seriously bad lighting.”
She rolls her eyes, and then says, “And the other thing?”
I meet her gaze. “Don’t hold it against her. Whatever she’s done, it’s between me and her. It’s past history that Sadie can’t quite let go of, but I wouldn’t want that to turn you against her. When we find her, forget all that and focus on her as a person in need of help.”
“Don’t judge. Except with that Garrett guy. I can totally judge him.”
When I hesitate, she frowns. “He’s an asshole, Laney. Please don’t tell me I need to give him the benefit of the doubt too, because that isnothappening.”
“There you two are,” Jayla says, walking in as she gently towelsoff her braids. “I thought you’d be in the office showing your aunt what we found.”
“Found?” I say. “In the office?”
“On your laptop.”
