“Better for her to kill you and hide the body.”
Sabrina nodded. “There is that.” She typed in her response.Dog park? Tomorrow morning at ten?She sent it, realizing too late that maybe Adley had a nine-to-five job now, but she didn’t worry for long because her response came right back.
OK.
“Yeah, she hates you,” Teagan said, her tone only partially teasing.
“Maybe,” Sabrina said with a sigh. “But also, maybe not. If she hated me, I think she’d have just ignored me.”
“You make a good point, despite the fact that a simpleOK, just letters and not the word, usually also stands forfuck you very much.” Teagan said. The doorbell rang and they jumped up and bolted toward the door, Sprinkles barking and jumping at Teagan’s leg. “Pizza’s here!” And their mutual excitement had Sabrina laughing.
“I’m gonna miss you, weirdo,” she said in the kitchen a few minutes later as they dished out their pizza and got more beer from the fridge. Teagan had a flight back home booked in the early morning. They’d taken two days to drive, met the movers and unloaded, and she felt guilty she’d kept Teagan from her wife and newborn for so long.
“Stop feeling guilty,” Teagan said as if reading her mind. They sucked tomato sauce off their thumb. “I came to help because I wantedto. Kyra is fine. My baby boy is fine. I’ll be home tomorrow.” They took a bite of pizza, chewed, and looked Sabrina in the eye. “I’m gonna miss you, too.” And the two of them stood there, gazes held, eyes welling up. Teagan was the first to break eye contact, clearing their throat and looking around the kitchen. “You sure you don’t want me to stay and help you unpack?”
Sabrina shook her head. “No. You’ve helped me more than I ever could have asked for. I hope you know how much I appreciate it.”
More nodding. More eyes filling with tears.
Finally, Sabrina laughed. “Look at us. A couple of blubbering babies.” Teagan laughed too for a moment, and then they put down their paper plates and fell into each other’s arms, hugging tight. Sprinkles barked and jumped at their legs, clearly wanting in on the hugging action.
“I’m worried about you,” Teagan said against Sabrina’s ear. “I don’t like worrying about you.”
“I know. I’m okay,” Sabrina whispered back. “I promise. I’d tell you if I wasn’t.”
Teagan pushed back and held Sabrina by the shoulders as they stared at her face. “You would? You swear it?”
“I swear it.” She narrowed her gaze and said firmly, “I’m okay.” She scooped up Sprinkles and cuddled him as she said, “I’m nervous, yeah, of course I am. I don’t know what will happen with Adley, true, and I’m nervous about that. But I feel okay. Whatever happens, I’ll be okay.”
Teagan studied her face, as if looking for a clue that she was lying. Apparently satisfied, they gave one nod, ruffled the wiry hair on Sprinkles’s head, and picked their pizza back up. “Okay. But if you need me, you call me. I can be back up here by plane in two hours.”
“I know.”
“Good. Now let’s go sit back down with our pizza and our beer because my feet are fucking killing me.”
Sabrina laughed and nodded. “Deal.” She set her dog down and grabbed her dinner. Following Teagan back to the couch and looking around her new place as she did, she felt…settled. It was the only way to describe the sudden feeling that came over her without warning. Settled. Like she was exactly where she was supposed to be.
She’d never felt that before. Ever.
Maybe it was a good sign? It sure felt like one.
Time will tell, she thought and flopped down next to her best friend in her new living room to enjoy a dinner of pizza and beer. Not a bad day. Not a bad day at all.
Chapter Twenty-one
What the hell was she doing?
Adley sat in her car, inhaled a big breath, let it out very slowly, and tried to center herself. She was beyond nervous. Like, way beyond. She was confused. She was angry. She was curious. Yeah, that last one was the main reason she was in the car at all and driving to the dog park to meet Sabrina.
God. Sabrina.
She hadn’t seen her in nearly a year. Nine months, to be exact. The time it took to grow a whole baby. She shook her head and made a left. She hadn’t told anybody about the meeting. She didn’t want to be talked out of it. She didn’t want to be talked into it. It had to be her own decision, with no influence from anybody else. God, Scottie was going to kill her when she found out.
What could Sabrina possibly want?
That was the question that had been on her mind since they’d texted yesterday. The question that had her stuck in her own head during her shift, had her dropping menus and bumping into chairs, had Cassandra shooting her glances of concern. The question that had kept her from getting any meaningful sleep at all.
And she was feeling that now. As if on cue, a yawn cranked her mouth open as she steered her car into the parking lot at the park, the dog park tucked in toward the back. She’d have to walk a bit. She turned off the ignition and noticed her hand shaking. Not a lot, just a slight tremor, and she made a fist, squeezed it shut, and willed the nerves to go away. Then she took a deep breath in the hopes of bolstering her confidence, and she pushed herself out of the car.
