Lecie rested her head against the back of the couch and closed her eyes. The room began to spin. Bad idea. Opening her eyes, she lifted her head. “God, what a depressing night!”
She could hear Deidra fiddling around at the bar behind her. Ice clicking against glasses, then liquid pouring. Good, that’s exactly what she needed. Another drink. Lecie fully intended to drown her sorrows.
“Well,” Deidra said. “I hope you’ll move on since Nick is practically a married man now.” She moved around the couch and stood over Lecie, offering her one of the two glasses she carried. “Here. Drink this.”
After Lecie took one of the glasses, Deidra sat down beside her. Lecie sniffed the drink. Damn. Water. She leaned toward the coffee table.
Before Lecie could set the glass on the table, Deidra stopped her. “You need to drink the water.”
Lecie cut what she hoped was a biting glare, then took a sip.
“Do you want to go home?” Deidra asked.
“God, no.” Lecie practically cringed. “I’m not ready to go home. I’m having too much fun.”
“Fun, huh?”
Lecie could feel Deidra’s eyes boring into her. She just didn’t get it. Worshiping Nick Matthews from afar was much more fun than being under Papa’s controlling thumb, any day.
Her phone jingled a playful tune inside her purse. She fished it out and looked at the display.
Papa. Again.
She laid the phone on the couch, display up.
“Still ignoring your father?” Deidra asked.
Lecie shrugged. “He only wants me to come home so he can run my life again.” She sighed heavily. “I’m not ready to go home. I need more time…here in California where I can be free to discover who I am.” Her voice trailed off as she added, “Or who I can be…”
“If you keep ignoring him,” Deidra said in that all-knowing tone she was so famous for. “Pretty soon one, or both, your brothers will show up at the door.”
With only the table lamp on the desk casting a soft light over Nick’s office, he paced the length of the open space with one hand on his hip and his cell in the other. The call at the other end rang out through his speakers, and rang and rang and rang. Eventually, it went to voice mail, just like it had the other umpteen times he’d called.
Nick wasn’t in the habit of calling Ginny incessantly like this, but considering how she’d been acting lately, he just wanted to know that she’d made it home safely.
At the sound of the tone to leave a message he disconnected the call. He’d already left her a message—more than once.
Various scenarios, none of them good, bounced through his head. Ginny on the side of the road with a flat tire. A breakdown. An accident. Nick shook the images out of his head. If any of those things had happened, she would’ve called by now—if she could.
Nick hit the speed dial again. The door opened and Dean came in. Nick’s call to Ginny went straight to voice mail. He disconnected the call and looked at Dean. “She’s not answering her phone.”
“You’re paranoid.” Dean rolled his eyes. He stepped back and closed the door.
“Maybe.” Nick shrugged. “But there’s gotta be a reason why she’s not answering her phone.”
“I’m sure there is.” Dean chuckled. “She doesn’t want to talk to you.”
“She wouldn’t blow me off.” Nick shook his head. “Something’s wrong.”
“She’s a girl. It’s the night before her wedding. She’s doing that ritual thing they do, casting some sort or spell or something.” Dean’s laughter reached out and wrapped its mocking arm around Nick, making him feel a little bit ridiculous. “Lighten up, man.”
Nick threw his hands up. “Fine.” He leaned against the desk and crossed his arms at his chest. Dean wasn’t going to let up, but Nick had news for him, neither was he. No way could he go to sleep tonight without knowing if Ginny was home, safe and sound.
Nick’s phone jingled. He glanced at the display. A text from Ginny. Nick tapped the screen. Home safely. Going to sleep now. See you tomorrow. Don’t be late!
He lifted his gaze to Dean’s somber stare. “It was Ginny. She’s home.” He felt a little stupid, but wanted very much to drive by the house just to make sure everything was okay.
After a second or two, Dean started shaking his head. “Uh uh.” He pointed at Nick. “I know that look. As soon as I leave, you’ll be right behind me.”
Nick groaned and huffed. “I just don’t understand why I had to move out of the house this week. Ginny and I have been living together for over two years.”
“I told you…” Dean laughed. “It’s that ritual, spell-casting thing that girls do right before they get married.” His eyes widened as he shrugged and shuffled backward, toward the door. “Just deal with it. Tomorrow you’ll be back in like Flynn.”
“I don’t know.” Pressing his lips together, Nick looked away, down to the floor.
“Dude, she is absolutely gonna kill you if you go over there tonight.” Dean’s face flared with augmented agitation. “I’ve got to save you from yourself. We’ll drop by your motel room and grab your tux.”
“For what?”
“You’re coming with me to my house tonight. So I can make sure you don’t do something stupid.”
Holding a tray with a pitcher of orange juice, two glasses, a plate of donuts and two saucers, Lecie passed through the double doors leading out to the terrace. Orange juice sloshed in the pitcher, and each step she took was more cautious than the last.
Carefully, she set the tray on the glass table and gave herself an imaginary pat on the back for not spilling it, before claiming a seat on the middle of the couch.
Carrying trays decked with drinks and other liquids was not as easy as it looked. Lecie had a newfound respect for those who did it for a living.
The morning sun cast its golden hue across the clear, blue sky. Lecie stretched past the tray, reaching for her sunglasses on the far side of the table. Securing them in the crook of her finger, she dragged them toward her. Shielding her eyes behind the shades, she relaxed enough to enjoy the cool morning breeze blowing in from the ocean, bringing with it the scent of the honeysuckle lining the edge of the property.
Lecie poured herself some orange juice and sat back, sipping it as she took in the view. “Gosh,” she said out loud, even though she was the only one there. Deidra, as far as she knew, was still sleeping, but Lecie had brought a glass out for her just in case she happened to wake uncharacteristically early today. Lecie gazed out at the ocean beyond the far side of her property. Calm and still, it melded together with the early morning blue sky. “What a beautiful day.” Too bad it was overshadowed by Nick’s wedding.