Sighing deeply, Penelope put the phone down. “I hope she’s good.”
“She’s not,” Finn answered for her. “But she’s all right. And we’re not the ones who can fix it.”
Penelope suddenly snatched up her phone again. “Shit!”
Finn looked over at her, surprised. “I don’t think I’ve heard you swear before.”
Ignoring that, she flashed her phone at him desperately.
“What am I supposed to see? Trying to drive here.”
“There are four emails from Felix. Shit. Shit. I totally forgot to check. What a crappy friend,” she berated herself as she hurried to open them.
“You were busy being an amazing girlfriend,” he reminded her.
The flush of memories kept her eyes on the phone instead of him. He didn’t need to see the effect they had on her, though she sensed he’d noticed.
“He says it was all a misunderstanding, that she overreacted and took off on him. That is NOT the way she explained it to me,” Penelope huffed.
“Does that surprise you?” Finn asked, his hands tensing on the wheel. “If she was upset, would you put it past her to alter the truth?”
“You mean lie?” Penelope corrected him.
“I don’t think that’s how she would see it,” he responded with a shrug.
She knew he was right.
“He says he’s been trying to get ahold of her for weeks. That he’s contacted as many of her friends as possible to try her as well.” Penelope thought about it. “That would explain why she never has her phone by her anymore. She might block him. But she’d hardly block everyone. Instead, she’s ignoring them.”
Finn nodded. “That’s possible. But would she really put herself through all of this if it was a fixable misunderstanding?”
They grimaced at each other, both acknowledging how stubborn she could be.
They continued in silence, Penelope frowning down at her phone as if it might hold the answers. Suddenly, the car swerved in a U-turn.
“Huh? Finn!”
“It’s all right.” His tone of voice didn’t exactly match his words. “Glengariff can wait. You’re not going to enjoy it until we get to the bottom of this.”
“What are we doing?” Her body sagged with relief even as she asked.
“We are at least stopping someplace nice for dinner,” he said firmly. “But we can head back after that.”
“Fair enough. And… thank you.” She hadn’t thought her feelings for him could intensify any more, but the glow inside her proved otherwise.
“I love her too,” he reminded her.
It wasn’t exactly late when they arrived back at the house. But true to her word, Bonnie was asleep on the couch in front of the TV. The smell hit before they even rounded the corner to find her there. The remains of three boxes of Chinese food, containers still open, a fork sticking out of one, sat on the table in front of her. Next to them was an empty wine bottle. And next to that was the wine glass, still half full of the red liquid.
It took everything in Penelope to control her urge to tidy them up and not put a blanket over Bonnie. But now that she had this opportunity, she wasn’t going to waste it. Bonnie wasn’t the only one who could be sneaky. Penelope motioned for Finn to stay quiet while pointing exaggeratedly at Bonnie’s phone. Apparently, when no one else was around, she pulled it out. Lifting her thumb, bobbing it up and down a few times, Penelope pointed back at it.
She could see the mirth in his eyes and frowned at him, shaking her head. If he woke Bonnie with his laughter, she was going to kill him. Sobering, he nodded, bravely stepping forward to do what she’d asked. Lifting the right hand of the now snoring Bonnie, he placed her thumb on the phone, leaving behind a greasy print.
Gesturing for him to hand it over, Penelope quickly got to work. It took mere seconds to find the evidence she was looking for. But there they were, text upon text from multiple friends, going all the way back to the day before they’d arrived in Ireland. Each contained a plea to talk to Felix, to let him explain, to give him a chance.
Carefully, Penelope returned the phone to the precise location she’d first seen it. Not that she thought Bonnie would notice. Still, better to be safe than sorry. As soon as she was a safe distance away, her pace increased, heading for the door, knowing Finn would follow her.
Still in detective mode, Finn slowly pulled the door closed behind him until it clicked quietly. “Now what?”
