Before I could think of how to respond so Vie knew I felt the same about him, my phone started ringing. The sales guy had already paired my phone with the car, so it was ringing and announcing, “You have a call fromJina. Sayanswerto pick up. Sayrefuseto send to voicemail.”
I was giggling so hard at the novelty that it took me a moment to remember to sayanswer.
“Hello, Jina!” I called out, excited to tell Jina there was a new man in my life now that she was back from her latestdeployment. We were lucky, her ship was rarely gone for more than a week at a time. Now that she was home, she could meet Vie!
“Willow? Thank God! Are you okay? Where are you?”
Worry spiked through me. “I’m out with, um, a guy. His name is Vie, and he’s—”
She cut me off. “Someone broke into our place! They even trashed the kitchen and bathroom. I’ve only walked through, but fuck, I think everything’s been damaged or destroyed!”
I couldn’t understand her words. We didn’t live in the best neighborhood, but it wasn’t so bad that people were going around and doing that kind of destruction. “Everything?”
Jina’s voice was quiet, and I could nearly feel her tears through the phone. “Yeah, everything. My grandma’s quilt, your signed Taylor Swift poster, everything.”
My breath caught. I pushed down my hurt and anger and focused on the practical. “I’ll be there in forty minutes. Call the cops. We’ll need their report if we want the renter’s insurance to pay out.”
“Yeah, I’ll do that,” Jina said.
I looked over to where Vie was watching me with silent intensity. “I’m bringing someone. I think he’s going to be helpful, okay?”
“Whatever,” Jina said. The word wasn’t sarcastic, it was heartbroken. “I’m going downstairs to sit on the bench next to the mailboxes.”
“Good, I’ll be there soon,” I promised. “We got this, okay? We got this.”
“Yeah,” Jina said, then hung up.
I looked over at Vie, but he spoke first.
“I’ll take care of everything,” he swore. “I can replace the things that were damaged and make sure that whoever did it is never able to do it again.”
“What if Jina needs to come live with us at your place?” I asked.
His eyes went wide. “Can’t I rent a suite for her at a hotel?”
I kept staring at him, and he sighed. “I can see I need to buy a home with actual rooms. That’s fine, I’ve been meaning to do that anyway.”
“Thanks, Vie,” I murmured.
“Anything for you, Willow,” he answered.
Guys had said that, but this was the first time one of them meant it. But then again, Vie wasn’t a man; he was my wraith.
Chapter 11
Vie
The worst thing I’d ever experienced was watching Willow’s devastated expression and knowing there was nothing I could do to immediately alleviate it. She hadn’t even seen the inside of the apartment yet, only Jina waiting outside.
When we pulled up, Jina was sitting on a concrete bench covered in graffiti and decals. She was hunched over, her head hanging down and her forearms resting on her thighs. She was dressed in a military uniform, her hair pulled back in a severe bun, with a duffle bag at her feet.
Willow screeched to a halt, bumping one wheel over the curb in her haste to park.
“Jina!” Willow yelled the moment she was out of the car. The door hadn’t even swung shut before she was rounding the car.
Other than looking up and mouthing “Willow,” Jina didn’t move.
In broad daylight and with so many humans around, I was forced to act human and wrestle with the car door to follow her. By the time I caught up, Willow had pulled Jina to her feet and the two were hugging tightly.
