She locked her screen and dropped her phone in her purse.
And proceeded to have one of the worst anxiety attacks she’d had in a long time.
10
CONNER
Conner wasat the animal shelter two hours longer than he expected. The box of kittens he’d been led to believe held six or seven ended up holding two dozen. He refused to short change any of the other animals in his care and attention simply because he had his hands full with the world’s cutest and orneriest kittens.
For a solid three minutes, he’d contemplated bringing one home for Boomer. But he liked his lamps in one piece and his blinds intact.
His first urge was to text Sadie to find out how the family meeting went. He had no doubts that Marc made things difficult, but he truly hoped Sadie accomplished what she set out to regardless. If anyone could, it was her. But his phone was filled with missed calls from Mom. Seven to be exact. The last one was from eleven minutes ago. He switched the speaker to Bluetooth and called her back.
“Conner! I was worried about you. Is everything okay?”
“Fine, Mom. I was working a shift at the shelter and it ran late—”
“Oh, thank goodness. I worry about you, you know. You’re all the way in the Arctic. A bear could attack you and we might never know.”
He chuckled, missing her overly dramatic nature. She’d been convinced he’d be mauled by a bear since the first day he mentioned the opportunity in Alaska. At least once a week, she reminded him about howdangerousthe last frontier was. Never mind that she and Rodney were planning to take an Alaskan cruise next summer now that they had a good excuse. Dangers were only for non-vacationers. “Just working, Mom. Everything okay there?”
“It’s your sister.”
Conner bristled with concern. If her fiancé turned out to be anything other than the pleasant, kindhearted man he presented himself to be, Conner would be on the next plane to handle things. “What happened?”
“She can’t stop fussing about the seating chart.”
At a stop sign, Conner just sat there and stared out. He was too tired for this. “I hardly think this counts as an emergency, Mom. The wedding is months away. Whether or not I’m bringing a plus-one is completely up in the air.” It amazed him how different he felt about this topic tonight than he had only a couple of days ago. Had Sadie really made that much of an impact on his otherwise hardened heart in so short a time? Enough that he was already thinking about bringing her as his plus-one?
“She has to order the tables now, you see. Whether you’re bringing a date effects which size table she orders for the groomsmen.”
“You’re making that up so you can be nosy.”
“Am not!”
“He caught you, Annie. Give it up,” Rodney, Mom’s new husband, hollered in the background. “Let the man get some sleep sowecan get some sleep.”
“Good night, Mom. Rodney.” He ended the call before Mom could figure out another topic to keep him on the line longer. Had he known there wasn’t an emergency, he would’ve saved that conversation for the weekend. She’d no doubt call again after she caught wind that he signed up for the charity bachelor auction.
He drove along Forget Me Not Drive, enjoying the sun dipping below the water at long last. He was so enraptured by the scene that he nearly missed the woman standing at the edge of the curb, looking as though she were going to dart in front of him. A familiar woman. “Veronica?” He slammed on his brakes hard enough to earn a honking horn behind him. But his heart was racing more from the haunting from his past than the near-accident.
He rolled his truck forward, scanning the area where he’d spotted the woman. But there was no one now.
If he had much sense, he’d head home and directly to bed. He was obviously exhausted from the long day and seeing things. Boomer occasionally forgave him for missed walks on late nights as long as he made up for it with carrot sticks and let the pup sleep with his head on the pillow. And therewouldbe drool because of it.
Tonight, though, he didn’t seem to have that practical sense. Restlessness pushed him through his fatigue. The urge—theneed—to text Sadie tugged at him almost as badly as the desire to see her. If he was being honest, he was concerned not to have heard from her by now. Had the meeting gone sideways after all?
Marc was in attendance. Of course, it had.
He waited until he pulled into the driveway to shoot off a quick check-in message and then let Boomer out back to run his zoomies. After several minutes without a response, he dared to send another. Though he’d driven by the store and found the parking lot empty, it was possible the meeting was still ongoing.
Conner:Everything okay?
He didn’t want to come off as smothering, but a twisting feeling in his gut told him something was wrong. It could be the ghost sighting of Veronica causing it, but just in case, he started to type out a third text. Before he could finish, she replied.
Sadie:No.
Sadie:It’s terrible.
