23

Half an hour later, Saffron left Vaughn and Kendall in the shared sitting room of the two-bedroom hotel suite Vaughn had paid for and retreated to one of the bedrooms. The place was too much money, but he’d insisted, and Saffron was glad to have the privacy to call Tyson.

He picked up on the first ring. “Hello?”

“Hi,” she said.

“Is Kendall okay?”

“Yeah, and I thought we’d be home by seven or eight, but she really wants to stay, and so does Vaughn.”

A hesitation before he asked, “Vaughn?”

“I told you about him. The guy who was fixing my car. He brought it to me.”

Silence on the other end of the phone. “The guy you used to date.”

“Yeah.”

“Do I have something to worry about here?” Direct, as was always his way.

“He’s just a friend. Look, you and I have a second chance. I want to make this work between us.” Why did she feel it was the teeniest bit of a lie? Maybe because if she didn’t tell him about Vaughn comforting her last night, it was a lie. Or about the attraction she and Vaughn still shared, an attraction she thought was normal since they’d been dating for three months. She’d tell Tyson later in person.

“Okay, then,” Tyson said. “I’m glad you have the company.” Another pause and then, “I miss you. I know that might seem crazy, but I don’t think I ever stopped missing you.”

“I know. I miss you too. I wish you could be here.” She did, even if he and Vaughn would both hate it.

“Let’s reschedule our plans for tomorrow. I’ll send someone to pick you up at three again. Will you be back by then?”

“Definitely, but I’ll drive. It makes me uncomfortable to put your friend out when I have my car back.” If Vaughn needed her car to go to Datatoon, she’d ask Kendall to use her car, because while Saffron wasn’t sure she’d be staying at Tyson’s, he’d invited her and it was a possibility. In fact, today she felt a lot less sure about taking him up on his offer to stay at his condo than she had yesterday. But was that only because Vaughn was here?

“Okay, have fun at the show. I’ll try not to think of you there with your ex.”

That made her smile. “I’ll text you how much I’m hating it if you want.” He’d taken news of Vaughn’s presence with remarkable aplomb, because if the situation were reversed and he was in Vegas seeing a show with Jana, she might not be so understanding.

He laughed. “Only if you mean it.” He paused and then added, “Saffron, I’m glad you came back.”

“So am I.”

I love you. But she hung up, leaving the words unspoken.

The popular shows were all sold out, so after walking around a few hours and having dinner at a buffet, they ended up at a concert for an unknown singer named Carly Blythe. Her energetic performance left Saffron breathless. The crowd agreed and cheered her back onstage for three encores with standing ovations before the night ended.

“Wow,” Kendall said, “that was amazing. Joel will be sorry he missed it.”

“Are you talking to him again?” Saffron asked.

“No, but I will.”

Saffron couldn’t respond because there was nothing she could say that her sister would want to hear.

“You hungry?” Vaughn asked, inserting himself between them.

Saffron and Kendall shook their heads, but Kendall added, “I still have my leftovers from lunch in case I need them.”

On the way to their Vegas hotel room, Saffron and Vaughn chatted about the concert, but Kendall had sunk into silence. She’s probably exhausted, Saffron thought. Saffron was tired too, and for the first time, she wished someone else were driving.

Once inside their suite, Saffron read a text from Tyson saying he missed her and asking if she would like to have dinner with his parents on Sunday.

A rush of trepidation squeezed her heart. He was close to his parents, and ordinarily that wouldn’t be a problem, but . . . but what? She loved him, and she’d been waiting eight and a half years to be with him. She’d have to suck it up and find a way to get over what had happened. Mrs. Dekker was the kind of woman who’d want friendship from her son’s wife.

Wife. Saffron sat on a chair in the little kitchenette. Everything seemed all wrong, but she couldn’t put her finger on why.

“You okay?”

She looked over to see Vaughn staring at her from the couch. “Yeah. I’m just . . . tired.”

He gave her a smile. “Get to bed, then. If you change your mind, I’ll be watching a little TV. I’d love company.”

“Another time,” she said, coming to her feet. But there wouldn’t be another time. This was it for them.

“Goodnight.”

She could feel him watching her walk to her bedroom, and it was all she could do not to turn back and curl up with him on the couch as she had so many times before. But she wasn’t in crisis mode anymore, and that wouldn’t be fair to him . . . or to Tyson.

As she closed the door to the room, Kendall looked up from one of the two single beds. “I know you hate him.”

“Who? Vaughn? Of course I don’t hate him.”

Kendall sat up and swung her legs down. “No, not Vaughn. Joel. I’ve seen how you look at him.”

“I’ve only met him once.” Well, twice, counting Monday night at Tyson’s place, but Kendall didn’t know about that. “How can I be looking at him in any specific way?”

“It doesn’t matter. You get that expression on your face every time I talk about him. Just like Mom.” Kendall’s voice wavered and her eyes filled with tears.

“I only know what you tell me about him.” Saffron dropped her purse on the other bed.

“He’s a good man! He loves me!”

Saffron’s patience snapped. “Then why did he leave a pregnant woman all alone with no money or car in Vegas? Why did I have to change my plans to pick up the pieces? Why is he off wasting the money he could be saving for a down payment on an apartment for his child? Why didn’t he order those so-called friends of his to stop smoking in the car?”

Kendall launched to her feet, hands clenched. “Excuse me for being such a burden. I was right—you hate him.”

Saffron decided she wasn’t doing her sister any favors by hiding the truth. “I’m concerned, is all. You said it yourself—Joel doesn’t seem to want this like you do. It’s the baby who’s the most important thing right now. You get that, but do you honestly think Joel does?”

“So you want me to drop him because he’s unprepared?” Kendall’s voice held a viciousness that reminded Saffron of their mother. “Is that what you did with Tyson? I don’t even know why he’s willing to take you back when you didn’t care enough about him the first time to trust what kind of man he’d become.”

Disbelief flooded Saffron. How could Kendall say such a thing to her? Couldn’t she guess that it would hurt like a knife twisting in a wound? “You know nothing about what happened between him and me. Nothing!”

“Well, if I don’t it’s because you haven’t told me.” Kendall stomped toward the door.

Saffron blinked at her. Hadn’t she told Kendall? Saffron and Halla had talked about it at length, but it was possible Kendall had missed those conversations.

“Anyway, you don’t need me as a sister, not with all the make-believe sisters you have. Our blood means nothing. First you abandon me to Mom for eight years, and now you won’t even tell me how you really feel about Vaughn. Anyone can see the chemistry jumping between you two. But it doesn’t matter. I don’t care. I don’t need you. Not to rescue me, or to make me leave Joel. Excuse me. I’m going to sleep on the couch!”

Kendall dragged the door open and went through it, slamming it behind her before Saffron could recover from her shock. Her first instinct was to open the door and shout, “Good riddance, you ungrateful brat!” But the part of her who’d had to learn to live with a group of runaway teenage girls warned her she’d regret it later. So she dropped to the bed, fully dressed, and pulled the pillow over her head. She needed to take off her bra, put on some of the aloe gel, and brush her teeth with the supplies the hotel had given them, but she could do that later. Too bad they hadn’t thought to bring pajamas.

Saffron heard laughter outside the door. Apparently, Kendall and Vaughn were hitting it off. She should be out there with them, but her pride wouldn’t let her try to make amends. Not yet. Besides, she needed to keep space between her and Vaughn. Especially after their closeness last night.

Kendall was wrong about the chemistry between her and Vaughn, of course. They were friends and that was all. In fact, none of what Kendall had said was true. Saffron had always known that Tyson would be a success. That he’d make his way in the world. She’d known it just as she knew Vaughn would make a great father.

More laughter in the next room. Maybe he’d make a good father to a baby that wasn’t even his. No, that wasn’t fair. Vaughn had done nothing but treat Kendall like a younger sister.

With a frustrated growl, Saffron grabbed her earbuds from her purse and headed into their private bathroom.

Vaughn heard the girls’ raised voices but couldn’t hide his surprise when Kendall barreled from their bedroom. She kept her flushed face averted, going to the small refrigerator to retrieve her food.

He gave her a little time and then said, “Hey, I could use the company watching a movie, if you’re not too tired. I mean, it’s not as if you and I have to drive back tomorrow since it’s Saffron’s car, right?”

Kendall’s laugh sounded a little forced. “Yeah. I’m not tired.” As if to contradict the statement, her mouth widened in a yawn. “Oops,” she said.

He gave a hearty laugh. “That’s okay. Why don’t you take my room? I’ll crash here on the couch.”

“That’s nice of you, but I’ll watch for a while.” She came over with her food carton and sat on the other end of the couch, pulling her legs up under her. “What?” she said when she saw his smile.

“You remind me of Saffron. She sits like that all the time.”

“You love my sister, don’t you?”

His jaw clenched and unclenched. What could he say to that? Whatever spat had separated the girls would be over tomorrow, and he had no doubt everything he said would be passed on to Saffron. No matter his feelings for her, he wasn’t exactly thrilled about being the topic of discussion unless it included how much Saffron cared about him too. Which he wasn’t exactly sure was true.

“You don’t have to say.” Kendall took a bite of taco. “I can see it.”

“How is she with the other guy?”

“Oh, you know about Tyson?”

He nodded. “In a way, I’m responsible for her being here.”

“Yeah?” Kendall chewed on the tines of her plastic fork. “How?”

“I broke up with her.”

“Oh, right. I did hear that. I guess in retrospect, it might have been a dumb thing to do.”

“Maybe. But she was stuck, and I’d rather see her happy and not with me than to see . . .” It sounded too corny even to his own ears.

“Her unhappy,” Kendall finished.

“Right. Something like that.”

She stared at him, and he was vaguely aware of the sounds coming from the television. “I think that’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.” She stabbed her fork into the taco and put the carton on the couch between them. “So what do you think of a man who would leave his pregnant girlfriend in Vegas without money or a car?”

Vaughn could sense how loaded the question was. If he told her he thought Joel was a creep who ought to be punched senseless, that might not go a long way to helping her make tough choices. “I’d think,” he said slowly, “that he’s blind to what he has and that if he isn’t careful, he might wake up one day and find he’s lost everything.”

It was the right answer. Kendall blinked back tears and came to her feet. “Thank you. And I think I will take you up on the offer of your bed. If you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.” He watched her put away the taco and disappear into his much smaller room.

The next second, she poked her head out, reminding him again of Saffron. “For what it’s worth,” she said. “I’m rooting for you. Tyson’s nice, and I know Saffron loves him, but I think the two of you are better.”

One of the sisters down, so he could be happy about that. But the most important woman wasn’t letting him in. He’d made progress today. Would it be enough? Saffron would have her date tomorrow, and soon he’d be returning to Phoenix. Vaughn had the feeling that all his time was running out.