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Vandy: 1 hour late.
Vandy: 3 hours late, don’t freak out.
She’d sent the last text message hours ago when they’d met the freight train delay. The trains didn’t have Wi-Fi, so she was using whatever intermittent network her phone connected her to at random.
Definitely a reason for traveling at night. A seven-hour day trip would have been near intolerable otherwise.
As they pulled in, she saw a crowd of people standing underneath the overhang, waiting for them to arrive. It took her a few seconds to understand what they were doing. Those people were waiting to board the train because the Amtrak station was closed. The sign clearly said it was open midnight to 7:30, which would have made sense if her train had actually arrived close to on time.
Still, it was early enough that the late August temperature hadn’t reached depressingly hot yet. She shoved her blanket in her bag and scanned the crowd for Royce. A quick check of her phone revealed he hadn’t responded to her text message she’d sent before she had dozed off after the freight train debacle.
Instead of trying to text him again, she decided to call. If he were smart post-shift, he’d be eating breakfast or getting coffee nearby.
The phone rang and went directly to voicemail.
“It’s Vandy. I’m here at the train station.” She checked the clock. “It’s 9:10, and sorry the train was this late. I’ll text you.”
Forty minutes, five texts, and three phone calls later, she still hadn’t heard from Royce.
This wasn’t like him. They’d pretty much sent an email every other day since she’d left in July. Texts were even more common, especially if he was on a slow shift. Her phone was full of pictures of him and his best friend Casey Jensen. In addition to their ongoing (and quite favorable from her perspective) obsession with working out shirtless, Casey seemed to be helping Royce study for his lieutenant’s exam.
Vandy tended to send photos of herself at work or going for her nighttime swim at the company pool. She avoided sending anything too risqué, lest she mistakenly give Raj another eyeful again, despite her careful relabeling.
Maybe there was a miscommunication. She rechecked his emails and texts.
Nope, he and Casey had traded shifts to work last night and made arrangements for Royce’s replacement to come early.
If his phone had broken or something he would still have come here.
More likely, he’d been at a scene and hadn’t been able to leave. They’d be doing shift change about now at Firehouse 19, and he’d mentioned the other shifts tended to come late. With his desire to advance ranks, Royce wouldn’t make a big deal about needing to leave to see his new girlfriend.
It left her with the problem of waiting there. This wasn’t the nicest part of town. She couldn’t exactly call her parents and say ‘oh, by the way, I’m making a secret visit to my new boyfriend whom you haven’t met yet. Want to come pick me up?’ Vandy might have let them believe she didn’t get more than a few days off between the end of her internship and start of her school year.
Anna would have aided and abetted her except she’d taken advantage of this week to go on vacation to Hawaii.
In a pinch, Raj would probably help her until she figured out what was going on with Royce.
Ideally, he would get a text wherever he was in MetroGen. Or not because her mom and dad had complained more than once there were entire sections of MetroGen that were essentially cell phone dead zones.
Vandy: Raj, best brother ever. My train was super late, and my boyfriend is having trouble picking me up. Can I Uber to your apartment? Unless you want me to hang out here?
She clicked a picture of the deserted train station.
Raj actually sent her a text a few seconds later.
Raj: Sorry the dirty lovefest missed its connection. You can absolutely stay at my apartment. I won’t be there because I’m on call tonight. Hopefully, there won’t be another crazy big fire.
A weight settled in the middle of Vandy’s chest. There was another explanation for why Royce was late.
Vandy: Really? Big fire?
Raj: Crazy huge. High-rise apartment fire. Tons of smoke inhalation patients. I’m on pulm, so our service is very busy. I can give you the code to get in to my apartment building so you can crash there.
Vandy’s numb fingers typed out her response.
Vandy: Thanks. I’ll keep you updated.
She didn’t even open Raj’s answering text as her mind cycled through every terrible possibility of bad stuff which could have happened to Royce. He was dead? He was maimed?
