“I was leading into that. Gently.”
The idea of Meg approaching any subject gently tickled Lauren’s humor. “Like a dentist starting a root canal.”
Meg grinned. “So tact isn’t one of my strong points.”
“It’s okay,” Lauren said. “I can guess what she wanted anyway.”The book. It was always the book.
“She just wants to know if you’re on schedule,” Meg said.
“Why didn’t she call me herself?”
“She doesn’t want to pressure you.”
Too late. The suffocating feeling was back, pressing on Lauren’s chest, squeezing her lungs. She forced herself to inhale. “So she got you to do her dirty work.”
“Only after I plied you with wine.”
Lauren stared down into her glass. “I am writing.”Trying to write. “Every day.” Even to her own ears, the words sounded weak. Like an excuse.
Meg raised her eyebrows.Shedidn’t make excuses. After she’d been fired from her Fortune 500 job, Meg had formed her own very successful boutique PR agency. Her drive and determination made Lauren feel even worse about her own floundering panic. “And how are you feeling?”
Think positive.“Good.”
Meg didn’t say anything. She didn’t have to. She’d been in that hotel room.
Lauren sighed. “Better,” she amended.
“So...”What’s the matter?The words hung silently in the air like a thought balloon in a comic strip.
What’s the matter with you?
“I think... I need to do more,” Lauren said.
Meg frowned. “Lauren, when I came down to Saint Louis, you were exhausted.” And that exhaustion had brought on a full-scale panic attack. “The whole point of you coming here was to give you a break. To give you a minute out of the spotlight so you could concentrate on your writing.”
“I know. And I’m grateful.” She was, too. Meg hadsavedher. “But...”
“You just need a chance to relax. Until things get back to normal.”
Lauren’s hands tightened on her glass. She set it down carefully. There was no “normal” anymore. Not one she recognized. Her old life was gone.
At least when she was on tour, she’d had a role to play. She could be, for hours at a time, the person that her audience expected. Hostage Girl, clear-thinking and brave.
But away from the SWAT teams and television cameras, who was she?
Only with Jack she had felt briefly, intensely, herself. Present.Alive.
“I need to do more with mylife,” she explained.
“Like work at the bakery?” Meg asked dryly.
Lauren winced. “You heard about that.”
“Sweetie, you’re on an island now. The two main occupations are fishing and gossip. And since my nephew’s girlfriend also happens to work at the bakery...”
“Your nephew’s dating Thalia?” Lauren asked, diverted.
Meg’s eyes narrowed at the change of subject. Lauren smiled ruefully. No one could ever accuseMegof being unfocused.
