Not my car, of course. A lease that Dash gifted me last Christmas because he was tired of looking at my “clunker,” a perfectly respectable ten-year-old Honda Civic. So, no transport.
“Anything else I need to know?”
“Something came for you from the bank, maybe a credit card.”
“My ATM card! Do you have it?”
He smiled. “In the back office. I talked to the mail carrier before she delivered to the mailbox. Just in case there was anything for you.”
What a life saver.
“Mr. Carter did ask that I call him if you show up. I don’t have to.”
I kissed him on the cheek. “I don’t want you getting into trouble, Victor. Tell him I came by and looked miserable. Would it be okay if I took your number so I can call you about picking up this stuff?”
He smiled, relieved I was being so easygoing about it all. “Of course.”
Aiming for discretion in the coffee shop, I pulled my Motors cap down because this was Rebels country and even the baristas knew who I was. When the sales associate asked for my name, I said “Shelby.”
She barely looked at me, but she did give my hat significant side-eye.
I took a seat in the back with my eye on the door. Three minutes later, Adeline arrived and beelined right for me. I let her take me in her arms, just like I’d done with her brother several times over the last week. I also thanked my stars that I’d grabbed a change of clothes from one of the boxes. Wearing Adeline’s or Aurora’s duds would not have been a clever move.
“Are you okay?” Adeline asked. “I’ve been so worried about you!”
“I’m fine. Trying to stay under the radar.”
She nodded. “But you’re good?”
“I am. I mean, there’s a lot that’s not great, but I feel okay.”
She held me back. “You look better. Less drawn.”
Praise cheese and Hatch-made orgasms. “I’ve finally allowed myself to eat a full meal.”
“Well, hello, stranger.” Rosie had snuck up on us and was standing behind Adeline with a cheeky grin.
Adeline nudged her. “She’s going incognito.”
“In a Motors cap around here? Could work, I suppose.”
Adeline rolled her eyes. “I’ll get the coffees in. Summer, you’re good?”
“I am.”
As she walked away, Rosie and I sat. She took both my hands and squeezed. “You look good. Ten days on the lam has put some color back in your cheeks.”
Plenty of reasons for that, but I wouldn’t be going into details.
It shouldn’t have been a big deal. I had been lying—mostly by omission—for years. But this was different. This involved people we knew—Dash, Hatch, the Kershaws.
It might seem strange to have asked Rosie and Adeline to be my bridesmaids when I didn’t know them all that well. Since I started dating Dash, he had isolated me so that I didn’t have many deep friendships. Coupled with my reluctance to share about my past, this resulted in surface acquaintances that I wasn’t sure I could trust. I had followed these girls’ world travel adventures online, madly jealous of their free-spiritedness and tight friendship. To have Rosie and Adeline in my corner now was amazing.
“Where were you?” Rosie demanded. “Okay, hold on until Addy comes back and you don’t have to repeat yourself.”
We chatted a little about Rosie’s job in a tattoo parlor and about some of the hot guys who were regulars. Her ink was amazing, and she wore it with such confidence. I’d always admired her punk aesthetic and bad girl vibe. All I had was my tiny butterfly tattoo. Some rebellion.
Adeline returned with coffees and a selection of pastries “for the table.”
