But I still scroll and search a little more, just to be certain. Then I run back inside and find Vanessa pacing in the kitchen.
“Any luck?” Van asks, and I show her my phone. “I know exactly where that is. The guys are on their way back. Zayne’s going to come with me to go after her.”
“Really? After everything she shared, do you think that’s a good idea? Maybe you and I should go.”
“I’m too upset to drive and I think you are too. Plus…Roxie and Zayne are close. Closer than you think. He actually went to her place when she and Theo were splitting up and he’s the one that physically removed Theo from the apartment. It was scary as hell, but now he’s a little protective of her. He was fairly adamant that he was going with me.”
“Oh. Um…okay.”
“Look, I get that things got very intense out there with Loren. I’m not defending her, but maybe without me and Zayne and Roxie here, the two of you can talk?”
“Pfft. That means I’ll have to talk to her and Mike. You know she’s not going to talk to me alone after all that.”
“Damn. I really screwed this trip up, didn’t I?” It wasn’t a question.
“I think we’re all in one form of crisis or another,” I explain. “The fact that it was a funeral that got us all together probably didn’t help.” I shrug. “I get that you all hang out all the time, but…”
“Not really.”
“What?”
“We don’t hang out as much as we used to. At first, Roxie pulled back after she got married, and then again when she and Theo split up. Then Zayne and I hooked up and…”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Hooked up. That’s not like…do you see that phrase as a bad thing?”
She frowns. “No…why?”
“I said it yesterday and Ash got a little pissy about it. I just threw that phrase out there because it just seemed to fit.”
“I mean…I guess it doesn’t exactly sound great and maybe paints a picture of something a little…um…seedy? But when two people just get together and you’re not sure where it’s going, I don’t see anything wrong with it.”
“Thanks. I guess I just needed to hear that from another woman.”
We stand there in relative silence for several long moments before Vanessa speaks. “So, um…earlier, when I said the part about how I shouldn’t plan a vacation around you when there was a huge chance of you not even showing?”
“Don’t,” I quickly interrupt. “It’s okay. I get it. I haven’t been reliable, and I didn’t really think of how it affected all of you, and I’m sorry for that.”
She grabs me in a fierce hug. “And I’m sorry too. I don’t think I ever realized how much you were hurting, and I hate that. I hate that I wasn’t paying attention.” Pulling back, I can see the tears in her eyes. “How dare I pass any kind of judgment on you when I was so damn clueless.”
“We’re good, Van. I swear. Even though I hate how this day unfolded, I think some of those things needed to be said.”
After letting out a shaky breath, she nods. “I just hope that we can move past this. Like…I want to catch up to Roxie and bring her back so we can all hug it out.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to say she’s not going to catch her if Zayne doesn’t get here soon, but as if I conjured him up myself, there he is, walking through the door. Mike and Ash are right behind him, each of them looking fiercely concerned.
“What the hell happened here?” Mike demands.
“I got this,” I assure Vanessa. “You two go! And call me as soon as you know anything!”
“Will do!”
As soon as the door shuts, I give the abbreviated version of what went down this afternoon—careful not to put all the blame on Loren.
“Damn,” Mike says, he sounds tired. Raking a hand through his hair as he glances around, before going and grabbing a drink. “Freaking crazy, right?”
