She stared at him, shocked. “You found it?”
“We did,” Pru put in. “But you were already gone. We figured we’d take your stuff so we could give it back when we caught up with you.”
Back when that had happened, they’d probably been thinking more in terms of “if” rather than “when.” But they had found her, against all odds, and now they were headed back to Las Vegas.
Headed home.
Pru was behind the wheel, though, because she told Delia that after everything she’d been through, she shouldn’t have to drive another hundred miles. And while Delia had thought of protesting, she realized her friend was right.
Now she sat in the passenger seat and watched the dark desert flashing by outside the car windows. Part of her wished she could be with Caleb, but that was silly. This was her car, and that meant she needed to ride with Pru.
“Do you want me to stay with you tonight?” Prudence asked. They’d just passed a milepost that let them know Las Vegas was still fifty miles away, but Delia felt better with every minute that put Laughlin behind them.
She had a feeling it would be a long time before she went back.
Maybe never.
“I mean, you’ve been through a lot,” Pru continued. “I think it might be better if you weren’t alone tonight. I already have a toothbrush and a change of clothes with me, so it wouldn’t be a big deal.”
Although Delia was touched by the offer, she also knew she wanted to be alone.
Or rather, if she couldn’t have Caleb there to keep her company, she’d rather be by herself…if merely to suss out why she thought his presence would be so much more comforting to her. An impartial observer would have probably commented that Caleb Lockwood wasn’t the most soothing presence in the world.
However, Delia knew she was far from impartial when it came to Caleb.
“No, I’m fine,” she said, and hoped she didn’t sound — or look — as exhausted as she felt. “Honestly, I just want to go to bed and sleep for about a hundred years. I won’t be very good company.”
Pru redirected her attention from the road just long enough to give her friend a sharp look. “This isn’t about hanging out and braiding each other’s hair. I just think it’s better if you’re not alone tonight.”
Once upon a time, Delia might have agreed with her. But the last few days had made a few uncomfortable thoughts bubble up in her mind, and she knew she needed time to sit down and sort them out. Having Pru hovering around and making sure everything was all right wouldn’t help with that process at all.
“No, I’m really okay,” she said firmly. “But I promise I’ll call you if I start to feel hinky, and I’ll text first thing in the morning to let you know I made it through the night just fine.”
Pru’s lips parted, and Delia worried that she was going to keep pushing the issue. To her relief, her friend shut her mouth again just a second later, as if she’d realized that it didn’t matter what she said, that Delia had decided on a course of action and wouldn’t budge.
“All right,” she said at length, and her mouth twisted in a lopsided smile. “But don’t bother with that early morning text. You know I won’t see it.”
Delia smiled in response. They wouldn’t be getting into Las Vegas too late — a little before eleven, if her mental calculations were correct — and yet she had a feeling Pru would still find a reason to stay up for a few more hours after that and would want to get back into her usual routine of sleeping until at least ten in the morning, maybe later.
“Then I won’t. Anyway, everything’s going to be fine.”
Or at least, fine for this short breathing space. She couldn’t quite forget that remark of Caleb’s, the one where he’d said they’d won for now. He hadn’t added to the comment; he hadn’t needed to.
They might have beaten August Sellers, but whoever was behind the Styx Group was still out there, watching and waiting.
And planning, no doubt.
Was the man she’d seen in her dream connected to them somehow?
It was just a dream, she reminded herself, even though she knew that reality wasn’t what it had been a few months ago, that dreams and visions could be just as real as the actual, tangible things she could reach out and touch.
But Pru didn’t know about the dream. She only knew that they’d defeated the current baddie and therefore had earned some time off.
So she didn’t dispute Delia’s statement and seemed content to be quiet as they drove the rest of the way into Las Vegas. And because Pru had told her during the drive that they’d covered for her as best they could, letting her mother know that urgent business in Laughlin might keep her occupied until Friday, Delia knew she could take tomorrow off to recover. She thought she’d probably putter around the house, maybe go to TJ’s and get her favorite comfort foods, like that awesome Greek pastry stuffed with cheese. It didn’t land in her shopping cart too often because it was an unholy collision of carbs and fats, but she figured she’d earned it.
As Prudence pulled into the garage at Delia’s house, though, she said, “Are you absolutely sure you don’t want me to stay?”
“Absolutely,” Delia replied. “But you’ll still need to come inside to wait for your Uber.”
