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Loud banging reverberated through the room, jolting Lana from a dead sleep causing her to jerk upright. She groaned as a sharp pain filled her chest and almost fell back down on the sofa from the sudden movement. Sunlight streamed through the window and stabbed through her pupils, forcing her shut her eyes. She gasped for breath and had to make herself breathe slowly in and then out—repeat. The pounding was her front door, but the jerks would have to wait until she could function.
The comforts of the sofa had been her salvation until she’d been rudely awakened. Where the hell had she stashed her pain meds? She slowly opened her eyes and scanned the table. Several bottles were nearby, along with an unfinished bottle of water. She snatched a mild painkiller and swallowed a pill as fast as she could muster, chasing it with water. She didn’t want to take one of the potent ones. They knocked her out for hours. Afterward, she leaned back against the couch and sighed. It would take at least thirty minutes before she found relief. Unfortunately, the bastard at her front door wasn’t going to let her have that long before she had to answer the door.
“Lana,” Jessica called out.
Bitch. She should never have given her a key to her place. Now she’d be popping in at her leisure, disturbing her peace and quiet. Mornings were never her favorite time of day, and she hated being woken up. Jessica was about to learn that the hard way.
“Oh, there you are,” Jessica said as she entered the front room. Her blonde hair was perfectly groomed, and she wore a dark purple pencil skirt, white frilly blouse, and a light purple cardigan. She was back to being the perfect-at-all-times woman Lana had first met—at least in appearance. “You weren’t answering your phone. I wouldn’t have let myself in, but I was worried you might have hurt yourself.”
“It was damaged in the accident remember? I haven’t replaced it.” Lana glared at her. “Please leave your key to my house and get out.”
“Oh, yeah,” Jessica said and slapped her head. “I feel like an idiot. Of course your phone is broken. I’m going to ignore your last request because I realize you’re understandably irritable. You know I wouldn’t use the key unless it was an emergency.”
God help her... “What are you doing here?” More importantly what would it take to make her leave? She was starting to regret forcing herself into Jessica’s life. Was this how she had felt when Lana showed up on her doorstep? What a dick move on her part. In her defense, Jessica had needed a good, swift kick in the ass. She had been wallowing in self-pity and on the fast track to nowhere good. Lana, on the other hand, was recovering from major surgery and needed rest.
“I’m here to kidnap you,” Jessica informed her. “Bridesmaid lunch with Dani and Claire.”
“Have I died and gone to hell?” She tilted her head and stared at Jessica. “Why would Dani want you anywhere near her wedding?”
Jessica plopped onto a nearby chair. “I’m not, silly. That would be—tacky. Can you imagine the gossip?” She chuckled. “Me, a bridesmaid in my former husband’s wedding—how ridiculous. I’m here to make sure you arrive safely.”
Lana rolled her eyes. She had no desire to be a part of any bridesmaid lunch, but she had told Dani the night before she was good to go. Letting her down now would be rude. “What time is this shindig?”
How much time did she have to prepare for the inevitable? Judging by Jessica’s appearance, she should probably make an effort to look good. She’d much rather put on a pair of old sweats and a matching hoody. She might have a summer dress at the back of her closet that would work. It might even be comfortable—for a dress.
“In a half hour,” Jessica said. “Do you need help changing your clothes?”
Lana opened and shut her mouth several times. How was she to answer such an asinine question? A fucking half hour? She had to be joking. “I hope you plan on being late because I’m nowhere near being presentable, and I’m sure I’ll need more than thirty minutes to prepare myself for dealing with anything in the real world.”
“I’ll wait here,” Jessica informed her. “I’m sure you won’t be long.”
Lana wanted to punch her, but refrained from acting on it. After a cup of coffee and a much-needed shower, she’d have a better attitude. Not much, but enough to prevent her from thinking about doing bodily harm and other acts of violence on a regular basis. “You do that,” Lana gritted out and managed to stand without wincing in pain. “I’ll be in the other room cursing the day I met you.”
“Love you too,” Jessica said mockingly and then blew her a kiss. “Do call if you fall down or something.”
Lana gritted her teeth and moved as fast as she was capable of toward her bedroom. Yup, payback from butting into Jessica’s life—turnabout wasn’t a pleasure either. Thankfully, the master bath attached to her bedroom so she could strip in there and then head into the bathroom. The extra space would give her more breathing room. The pain pills hadn’t exactly kicked in yet, and she’d need whatever help she could to make it through the agony.
She closed the door behind her and headed toward her bed. Sitting would make things a little easier too. She felt so damn old and hated the idea of being an invalid of any kind. She stripped off her shirt and then slid off the rest of her clothing. Slightly out of breath, she stood and headed into the bathroom to turn the shower on. This was going to be the fastest shower in existence. Just enough to wash and get the hell out.
By the time she was done, the pain pills had kicked in enough for her to move faster. She’d take a little time to blow dry her hair straight and let it hang down. Her usual style was pulled up into a messy bun or rather anything that took her hair out of her face. She’d become rather lazy where her appearance was concerned. It had been a while since she’d done anything with herself to feel pretty. The last time had been... She stopped a moment to think and then remembered. The charity gala the Bradys had put on before the opening of the new pediatric wing—and even then she’d done the bare minimum.
When had she’d given up on herself? Maybe it was time to bring out a bit of her old self. She sat down at her vanity, picked up one of her makeup brushes and then began. When she was done she had perfectly contoured skin that emphasized her high cheekbones. The eye shadow brought out the gold specks in her brown eyes. All she needed was a little mascara to darken her eyelashes and her eyes would stand out. Satisfied with that, she slid on some pink lip gloss and then went to her closet to find the dress she’d been thinking about earlier. She located it in the back of her closet where she’d shoved it after an impulse buy. Dresses generally were not her thing, but this one had stood out.
She slipped it on and sighed. The material was soft against her skin and didn’t squeeze anything unnecessarily. It was a navy, velvet, floral maxi dress. The dark blue mesh overlay went to her ankles but was sheer from her knees down. Large pink lilies were imprinted into the fabric. The bodice was shaped like a triangle of satin that made a pointed tip dipping low beneath her breast, but still covered the bandages on her chest—barely. Thin straps kept the thing from falling to her feet. Wearing a bra with a dress like this was out of the question. It was a good thing she didn’t have any intention of wearing one. It would be too constricting and painful. She slipped on a pair of sandals and went to join Jessica in the front room.
“I’m ready,” she told Jessica as she sailed into the room. She’d remembered to grab a small clutch before she exited. It was big enough to drop her keys and a few other essentials into it. She’d have to talk Jessica into going to a store to replace her phone before they came back.
“Do you need to take any medicine before we leave?”
“No,” Lana responded. “I swallowed a pain pill before you barged in on me so rudely. I can’t take another for five more hours. We’ll be back long before then.”
Jessica nodded. “By the way, you look positively stunning. I never knew you could clean up so well.”
Lana wasn’t sure if that was condescending or not, but didn’t want to take the time to figure it out either. With Jessica, it really could go either way. “Shut up,” she said. “You’ve seen me in nicer clothes then this at benefits.” She hated being complemented on her appearance. Something about it always felt wrong or false to her ears. Someone giving her praise about her work was different. She’d earned her place there. Beauty was an accident of birth.
“This is different,” Jessica insisted. “You’re—I don’t know—softer maybe?”
Lana was done discussing it. “Don’t we have someplace to be? You insisted we had to be there in thirty minutes, and I took a full hour.”
“Oh, that,” Jessica said and waved her hand. “I lied. Not about the lunch, but about the time. I figured that way you wouldn’t take forever.”
Lana was going to kill her. She would get away with it too. No one would question her motives or anything. Jessica was known to drive people insane and to the brink of murder. So what if she went ahead and finished her off. The world would be a better place.
“Damn it,” Lana swore. “I forgot to have coffee.”
“Do you really need some now?” Jessica asked a little befuddled. “Haven’t you been awake long enough to get by without it.”
“Let’s go,” Lana said. She could order coffee at the restaurant. Evidently, Jessica didn’t understand its importance. Lana’s daily ritual of drinking the nectar of the gods kept her from doing stupid things. It helped clear the cobwebs away and think rationally. More importantly, she didn’t contemplate murder every five seconds. “I’d rather this be done with sooner rather than later. I am tired a lot these days.”
“Well, you did just come home from the hospital. Major surgery will do that to a person.”
Lana reminded herself to breathe. Again. “Since I don’t have a car at the moment, I kind of need you to drive me to this thing. So, can you please be quiet until we get there.”
“Sure thing,” Jessica said and headed to the front door, but not before Lana noticed her fighting a smile. What did she find so amusing? She held the door open for Lana and closed it behind her. “It’s locked and everything. See how helpful I can be?”
Lana did not slap her. She did not even clench her hands into a fist. In fact, she even refrained from opening her mouth and reminding her that she promised to be quiet. It was a futile effort, and Lana believed in not wasting her time. She’d befriended Jessica all on her own. Most days, she even liked her. Today happened to not be one of them.
To be fair that wasn’t Jessica’s fault. Lana didn’t want to deal with anyone at all. So she went to the car and slid into the passenger seat and waited for her. Jessica didn’t take long before she was inside the vehicle and driving them to whatever their destination happened to be. When they pulled into a familiar parking lot, Lana smiled. It was the last place they’d had lunch with Claire and Dani. Her favorite Italian place, and really the only place she liked to eat out at.
“At least the food will be good,” she muttered.
“What’s that?” Jessica asked. “I didn’t hear you.”
“How is Bella doing these days?” She didn’t want to repeat what she’d said, and the groomer Jessica took her dog to was near the restaurant. Maybe if she got her talking about Bella, she would leave her alone and not ask pointed questions.
“Oh, she’s fine,” Jessica said. “She’s adjusting to Preston being around the house, and I think she may have adopted him into her tribe.”
“Pack,” Lana corrected. “Dogs don’t have tribes.”
“Whatever,” Jessica said. “You know what I mean.”
Perhaps she did. She had been able to give her the correct word, after all. Lana slid out of the car and waited for Jessica to join her, then they headed toward the restaurant together. In front, she stopped short and tilted her head. The man in front of her looked rather familiar, but she was having trouble placing him. He had sandy blond hair, and when he turned, she would have recognized those dark brown eyes anywhere. She’d looked into them longingly once upon a time.
“Tony,” she said, surprised. “What are you doing here?”
“Lana Kelly, what a surprise. I moved here a few weeks back. Got a job here after I was discharged from the Navy—traveling the world wasn’t what I hoped it would be.” He grinned and pulled her into a hug. She winced when he squeezed her a little too tight in his bear hugging manner. “I’m so sorry, did I hurt you?”
He still looked as good as she remembered. Strong, broad shoulders and muscles—he’d always had plenty of those to stare at. Anthony Derosa had been her boyfriend in college. She’d dated him for two years until he decided she didn’t love him and enlisted. Sadly, he was right. She cared about him, and always would, but she didn’t think she could ever be totally gaga over a guy. Sullivan had ruined that for her when she was a teenager, and Lana didn’t trust her own heart anymore. Tony had been good to her though, and she wished she could have given him more. She hadn’t deserved him.
“I’m fine,” she said.
“No, she isn’t,” Jessica berated him. “She had major surgery and is still healing. Be careful where you’re squeezing her.”
“Surgery...” Tony turned to her. “Are you—”
“Don’t ask,” Lana interrupted him. “All you need to know is I’m fine. So you have a job here? Doing what?” She would much rather talk about how he was doing than the accident that disrupted her life.
“I’m working at the local news station. I was working in correspondence in the Navy, and that, along with my communications degree, met their qualifications. It’s the kind of job I always dreamed of having.”
“I’m happy for you,” Lana said, and she was. “We’ll get together for coffee or something now that you’re living here.” It was something you said to someone you hadn’t seen in a while. Lana hoped he didn’t take it the wrong way and assume she wanted to date again. She wanted him to find everything he wanted from life. That just couldn’t include her.
“I’d like that,” Tony said.
“We need to go inside,” Jessica tugged at her arm. “Dani and Claire are waiting.”
Lana had needed that reminder. She had to find an easy way to break the conversation with Tony. “Wedding plans,” she said feeling stupid. “Can’t keep them waiting.” She nodded and left Tony standing on the sidewalk as she moved toward the entrance. When she had the chance, she’d thank Jessica for pulling her out of that conversation.
Give Tony any encouragement and he would run with it. Something Lana had forgotten until it was too late. Tony would find a way to contact her to catch up. For that, she had no doubt, so as a last-ditch effort, she didn’t look back at him and encourage him further. Maybe, if she was lucky, it would work. Somehow, she didn’t think it would.