I miss you already.
The ping from Josh’s text had her smiling at her phone for so long, she didn’t notice the light had turned green. The hearty honk of a horn and shouts of “Go, bitch!” spurred her to action, still grinning in spite of the angry invective.
She’d always hated the traffic in Northern Virginia. But today, all the pissed-off drivers in the world couldn’t get her down. Nothing could.
She and Josh had spent the entire night talking, kissing, and playing footsie like a couple of teenagers. She’d slipped out in the morning when Harrison had begun to cough and stir in his sleep, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that her all-over warm-and-fuzzy feeling had less to do with the coffee she’d grabbed to go in the hotel lobby, and more to do with the things she and Josh had decided.
They were going for a do-over, a chance for the two of them to see where things could go if they didn’t let fear of awkwardness come between them. Harrison already knew her, and he simply didn’t need to know the seriousness of their relationship unless—or until—it became something truly committed. They would give it a year of Rose visiting on the weekends or Josh bringing Harrison to stay with Victoria and Dave, so Josh could visit Rose. If they could stick together after a year of long-distance, then they would make plans to be closer. Josh had moved to Colorado with Kara so she could finish school, and had considered looking elsewhere for employment anyway. He didn’t love the hustle of the D.C. Metro area, but he’d said he would be willing to return if it meant being with Rose.
She stifled a giggle as she pulled into her neighborhood. She didn’t want to get too ahead of herself. Josh had assured her that he wouldn’t make promises he couldn’t keep. Not this time. Her distrusting heart kept breaking into palpitations, warning her that this could go wrong the way everything else had. Deep down, though, it felt right to trust him this time.
Trusting nobody had gotten exhausting.
Honestly, the only thing that would make this better would be if it wasn’t a workday. She would kill for a long nap after being awake all night, or even better, to go and spend the day with Josh and Harrison—who, according to Josh’s texts, had awakened feeling much better. Taking another personal day was so tempting, except if she called Victoria to say she wouldn’t be going in, her friend would worry. So, shower and a change of clothes it would be. She’d get to work late, but it was for the best. No way would she be fit for human interaction without another cup of coffee.
She pulled up in front of her townhouse and grabbed her purse and the cinnamon muffins she’d also purchased at the hotel café. They’d had half a case full of dairy-free baked goods at the hotel coffee shop, which Rose took as a further sign that everything was finally working out for her. The stars were aligning, the gods were smiling upon her, and all that good shit.
Someone tapped on her window.
“Ah!” Rose turned to find an exhausted version of herself staring back. Not a reflection. Her sister.
Her sister. Lily.
Coffee and muffins in hand, Rose scrambled out of the car. “Lily! What are you doing here?”
She considered going in for a hug, but the stuff in her hands made it difficult. And her sister, while smiling, appeared tense and skittish. Perhaps now was not the time for hugs.
Instead, she simply took in the sibling she hadn’t seen face-to-face in years. When they were younger, they’d practically looked like twins. In the time since, Lily had aged. Her hair had greyed and deep worry lines bracketed her eyes. Eyes that showed the sickly brown and yellow of faded bruising around the perimeter.
“I… Sorry.” Her sister hugged herself around the middle. “I didn’t know if it was all right for me to come here, but I sort of have a problem.”
“Well, whatever it is, I’m glad you’re here.” Rose really wished she could hug her sister. In spite of the things they’d said to each other in their last call. They’d been best friends once, and Rose missed Lily like crazy. “Here, come inside. Let me put my stuff down so we can talk. We can have some muffins.”
Lily hesitated, but then nodded. “Muffins sound great.”
“Listen,” Rose said as she ushered them into her small, sunny kitchen and took out some plates. “I don’t mean this as an insult, but you look awful. What’s going on?”
“I kind of haven’t slept in a couple of days.” As if to make her point, her sister dropped into a kitchen chair and rested her head on her hand. “I, uh…I left him. Ronnie. I left him.”
That brought Rose’s head around. “But I thought—”
“I know. All that stuff I said on the phone. I had to. I’d been working on a plan to leave but I needed him to think I was, you know…that I wouldn’t come to you for help. And I know I don’t deserve it after what he did to you back in college. I should have trusted you, and I should have taken your side. When you told me he’d tried to drug your drink and—” Lily wrung her hands with an almost violent force. “I couldn’t admit I’d chosen that kind of guy. He sounded so sincere when he swore it hadn’t been him.”
“But suddenly you believe me? After all this time?” Rose might be glad her sister was here, but some remaining hurt slipped out. “That may have been ages ago but I still have nightmares about it, Lil. If Harry Mickerson hadn’t seen him dragging me into the bedroom—”
Her sister shook her head frantically, slapping her hands over her ears. “I know! I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry! Last year, a woman from the bar near our house accused him of doing exactly what he’d done to you. His buddies vouched for him, but it made me wonder. Finally. Then, a few months ago, I got pregnant.”
Rose gasped. “You’re pregnant?”
Tears in her eyes, Lily shook her head. “Ron accused me of cheating and kicked the crap out of me. The doctor said I could have miscarried for any number of reasons, but I can’t help but think it was because of what Ron did. He’s always had a temper but this was something different. I’ve been trying to get out ever since, but last time we talked, he took my phone after so I couldn’t call you again. He didn’t trust me even after I told you to leave me alone.”
Rose’s pulse quickened. “I called the other day, and he answered. I had no idea. So he doesn’t know you’re here?”
“I don’t think so. That’s why I tried to make him think we weren’t speaking anymore. And I made sure not to store your address under your contact in my phone. Also, I took his car and left it in the commuter lot at the bus station. Should slow him down.”
“You stole his car?”
“And some cash. For the ticket up here. And a pay-as-you-go phone. I tried to call you on it last night, but I was too nervous to leave a message.”
Rose’s heart sank. The calls when she’d been with Josh. “I had no idea it was you.”
Lily shook her head. “It was a long shot.”
“What if he reports you to the police?”
“I can tell them where the car is. And with your help, or once I find a job or whatever, I can pay back the cash. But Rose, I think that’s the least of my problems if he finds me.”
“Would a restraining order stop him?”
The tight press of her sister’s lips, and the way she cast her eyes down to her lap, told Rose that it wasn’t too likely to help.
“Okay, here’s what I think we need to do.” Rose stood. She had always been pretty level-headed in a crisis. Her daily life may be a hot mess, but if there was a way to get paid for being the person who kept their cool when things were on fire, now that was Rose’s dubious strong suit.
Lily looked up. Looked at Rose as if she had all the answers. Her big sister had never looked at her that way. Now was not the time to get mushy, but her eyes welled a little all the same.
“First,” Rose said, “you need some rest.”
“I don’t have time—”
“You said he might not even know where I live. You look exhausted.” She looked her sister up and down. Clothes rumpled and slightly dirty hair. “Looks like you could also use a shower and some clean clothes.”
Her sister sighed. “I left literally everything except some cash and my license. Didn’t even bring a credit card. I didn’t want any way for him to track me.” She reached into her pocket to show the meager contents.
“Well, you’re here now, and I have a closetful of clothes you’re welcome to. You need to get some sleep, and we need to get you somewhere safe. I’m going to do everything I can to help you, okay?”
All the years of anger and hurt faded as the tears streamed down her sister’s face. Yes, Lily had believed the lies of a monster over her own sister. Yes, that hurt. But Lily was still family, and she needed help.
Her sister stood and put her arms out. Rose sank into the hug. They hadn’t hugged in so long. “Thank you, Rose. I don’t deserve this…but thank you.”
Rose straightened her arms, so she could look her sister in the eye. “Don’t say that. Everyone deserves to feel safe.”
Her phone pinged once, and then again as her sister headed up the stairs toward the guest room.
Josh: Harrison seems to have his appetite again and we’re out grabbing some food. Any chance you’re still home? Mind if we swing by for just a minute?
She shook her head sadly. Everyone did deserve happiness, but right now, Rose needed to put hers on hold.
I’m sorry, she wrote back. I can’t. Something’s come up. I might be unavailable for a while.
Her gaze landed on the empty stretch of stairs where her sister had just disappeared. She needed to tell Josh, but she didn’t know what to say yet. She didn’t know what she was going to do next at all.
Prior to having a kid, Josh had seen drive-throughs as a waste. A thing lazy people did to save time, when in fact all they did was burn gas. Why sit in the car for ten minutes waiting behind all the other cars to get takeout when you could walk your ass into the store and probably get it faster?
Now, drive-throughs saved his life. Need coffee but your kid fell asleep? Drive-through. Need antibiotics but you’ll be banned for life if you take your sick child into the pharmacy? Drive-through. Need a burger but your child is afraid of the restaurant mascot? Bingo.
While he idled in a line to order the meal, he read and re-read the message from Rose.
Maybe he should text her again. Maybe she just meant she wasn’t available today because she had to work?
Something about the tone of her message, though…it seemed off. He’d dialed her to try to talk after it came through. No answer.
They’d had a good night last night. An amazing night. While they hadn’t made love, they’d pressed close and whispered plans and everything had seemed to finally be on the right track. Could she be having second thoughts? Had he pushed too fast with the long-distance dating plan?
He tried her again while he waited for their drinks. Still nothing, so he called his brother.
“Hey. I know Vicky’s supposed to be avoiding stress, so I’m hoping you can help me out. Do you know where Rose is? I need to tell her…” I’m still in love with her and I’m worried she’s changed her mind about me in the light of day. “Uh, it’s a long story, I guess but we’ve sort of been seeing each other since I got back. The last text she sent me was sort of weird. Now I can’t reach her. Called Limly Systems but she’s not at work.”
“The one-night stand! I knew something was going on there. Hang on, man.” Some muffled discussion followed, presumably between Dave and Victoria.
Josh gripped the phone and paid for—yes, thank you, finally—Harrison’s cocoa and his own third cup of coffee while he waited and wondered what the hell could be going on that involved a conference about Rose’s whereabouts.
“I guess…something came up,” Dave said slowly when he came back on the line. “I’m not at liberty to give details, but she said she had a family emergency. Victoria said she’d send her a text. See if it’s okay to share the deets.”
“Look, David— Wait. Did you just say ‘deets?’ Never mind.” He lowered his voice as they pulled out of the drive. He parked in the lot for a moment, letting the engine idle so Harrison wouldn’t wake while he finished his call. “Man, I need to talk to her, okay? It’s a little more than just… We had this whole talk about our relationship last night. Now she’s being cryptic and telling me she can’t see me. I need to know if she’s okay.” Or if I did something wrong.
David sighed. “Far as I know, she’s fine.”
“As far as you know? What the fuck does that mean?”
A man knocked on the window with a sign saying he needed food. Josh had no cash, but he grabbed a bag with a couple of egg sandwiches he’d purchased at yet another drive-through and handed it to the man with a smile. If nothing else, he could help a stranger, but he really wanted to know what was going on with Rose.
“I don’t know what to tell you,” David grumbled.
“I swear to God, David. Just tell me. Please!”
A nauseating chill surged in his body. He’d let Kara walk out the door and disappear from his life. If something was wrong with Rose, he wanted to be there.
“Look,” David lowered his voice. “I’ll text you her address but she might not be home. And if she isn’t, I can’t help you.”
“Thank you.”
“But after you get done trying to play white knight, I want you to come over to the office. Michael and I would like to talk to you.”
He shook his head. He’d given serious consideration to Rose’s suggestion that he give Michael another shot, but now was not the time. “Harrison’s been sick. He’s better today but still pretty tired. After I check on Rose, I’m taking him back to the hotel.”
“We’ll come to you, then. It’s important, Josh.”
“Fine. Whatever. I’ve got to go.”
Josh’s stomach rumbled. Great. His girl wasn’t speaking to him and he’d given away his breakfast. Well, he needed to get more food. Living on hotel room service was getting expensive. Not to mention, the address Dave immediately texted him wasn’t too far from where he’d picked up his sandwich.
Might as well go back. And while he was at it, he might as well swing by and talk to Rose. Assuming she was even home. And if she was, that she would tell him what the hell was going on.