“I’m at a party.” Her tone wavered somewhere between exasperated and deeply offended. She picked a piece of the cottony fluff off her sleeve. “You told me I could go, remember?”
Remy continued to study the thicket behind her, wanting to know who she was hanging out with back there.
“Of course. What I mean is, what are you doing back here when the party is obviously over there?” He jerked a thumb in the direction of the trucks and music.
“Clearing my head,” she snapped as she checked her watch. “It isn’t time to go home yet. What are you doing here?”
“Informing you that I’ve postponed the trip to Miami.” He didn’t appreciate her attempt to distract him. “But now that I’m here, I’d like to know what you’re doing in the woods with some kid I’ve never heard of until tonight. Who is this Lucas?”
“A friend. Amazingly, I’ve managed to make a few in the short time I’ve been here.” Folding her arms, she stared him down.
For a moment, she reminded him of her mother, that quiet strength emerging to calm down a situation. Remy’s throat burned. Was this why he’d avoided spending too much time with Sarah this year—other than in a guardian/protector role? Because she could raise old ghosts with just a look?
Regret flowed through him and he clapped a hand on her shoulder.
“I only want to make sure you’re not drinking again.”
“I’m not.” She met his gaze, a hard glint in the reflected firelight. “But I was having fun with my new friends.”
“Is that why you haven’t answered my texts? Because I wouldn’t have needed to track you down, Sarah, if I could have gotten ahold of you.”
“Oh.” She swallowed, guilt clear on her face before she started digging in her bag for her phone. “I haven’t been checking it.”
Her dad frowned. “That thing is usually superglued to your hand.”
A few things spilled out from her purse in her rush. He bent to help her.
“I’ve got it!” she snapped, swiping up some stuff and jamming it back in the bag. “Can we just go now?”
Phone in one hand, she tucked the leather satchel under the other arm, her movements jerky.
“Okay.” He pointed at the path down the hill. “I’m parked down here.”
“Me, too.” She hurried away from the bonfire.
“You don’t need to tell anyone you’re leaving?” He looked back over his shoulder where the music had gotten slower and a few couples were dancing close together.
He thought he recognized Ally Finley—Erin’s niece—who whispered something in Sarah’s ear as she walked past.
“No. I’m sure the party is breaking up soon anyway.” She walked faster.
She seemed annoyed. Agitated. That made two of them. He waited until they’d cleared the party and were safely back down to the parking area for the soccer field before he spoke again.
“I got a call from Theresa earlier.”
“Shetoldyou?” She twisted the strap of her purse around one finger, her voice pitched at a frightened whisper.
“No, Sarah. She’s waiting for you to talk to me.”
“Can we get in the car at least?”
“Fine.” He unlocked the doors on the rental. “Get in and we’ll pick up your vehicle tomorrow.”
He could see the light on her phone as she hopped in the passenger side. Was she checking the messages that she’d missed from him earlier? Or saying good-night to this Lucas person?
“Oh, God.” Sarah’s eyes were wide in the reflected electronic light of the screen.
“What?” He struggled to hold on to his patience, but it felt like every time they needed to talk something else came up.
