Walker
HOPE HARBOR TOWN CHAT
RAYNA:Does anyone know where the Darling girls disappeared to? I just got an email that book club is canceled?
BABS:Book club is canceled?
BABS:I just stopped by the store. The bookstore is closed. It’s never closed!
I shake my head and scroll past the town group chat and down to the one that’s been silent for hours.
TALLY:Last minute girls’ trip with Penny. We’ll be back in a few days.
ME:where are you going?
ME:Did you get there okay?
ME:Tally, please just let me know you’re okay. I’m going out of my mind here.
Her last text was sent this afternoon, and now it’s almost dusk. I’d been busy meeting with Fletcher, the town’s lawyer, and Gail, trying to make this impossible situation more tenable for everyone. But if Tally doesn’t answer her phone soon, I’m going to storm out of this meeting and go search for her. Something’s very wrong. I can feel it.
“Are you sure this is what you want to do?” Fletcher taps his pen against his finger, one, two, three times.
I glance over at Gail and she nods.
I practically swallow my tongue trying to answer. I have no idea if this will make things better or worse. I just know that we need to pay Frank his money and get him out of our lives forever.
I hope Tally forgives me, that one day she understands I did this all for her. I pick up my phone again and then drop it; a message hasn’t miraculously popped up. Taking a deep breath, I take the proffered pen and sign page after page, forever changing the ownership of Darling Daffodils Farm.
Hours later, I’m pacing the porch, at my wit’s end. No one knows where the girls are, and if anyone has a clue why they disappeared, they’re not talking. Rosie merely looked at me and said “You screwed up, Cowboy” when I tried to talk to her.
I’m trying not to worry Gail. Fortunately, we were so busy sorting out everything today, I don’t think she’s noticed the girls haven’t been home. Plus, she isn’t big on using the phone so I doubt she’s seen the messages in the town chat.
I type out another desperate message.
ME:Tally, please baby, whatever I did, I’m sorry. Just tell me you’re okay.
CHAPTER 50
Tally
My head hurts, and I’m starving. Those are the first two thoughts that enter my brain when I wake up. Though I barely slept in the first place. Between the spring from this pull-out bed that kept jabbing me all night and the endless loop of worst-case scenarios I continued to run through in my mind, I hardly slept a wink.
We are supposed to start out for Connecticut this morning. Leaving last night seemed like a bad idea, especially once we pulled out the wine and some old LEGO sets my sister had stored here for Dad. We spent hours laughing and crying together as we reminisced on old family memories and discussed our hopes and dreams for the future.
Penny told me things I never knew about her relationship with Dick, and as much as I thought I’d be able to commiserate and talk bad about Walker, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. It was too hard trying to come up with anything bad about that man other than the fact that he broke my heart.
I let out a long breath and my stomach rumbles again. Okay, I really need to feed myself.
The bed creaks, and I remember the text I sent last night. Not the one in response to Walker’s many texts but the one to Rochelle.
Despite everything, I know sending that message was the right decision and already it feels as though a weight has beenlifted from my shoulders. I throw off the sheet and pad softly over to the kitchen, trying not to wake my sister, who is sleeping soundly in her bedroom.
Her pantry is pathetically barren, and I know it’s because she lives on coffee and treats downstairs in the shop. Dammit. A glance at the clock tells me it’s only 5:53 a.m., which means that nothing is open in town, either. Just as I’m giving up, my stomach offering another hungry growl, I spot the plate of cupcakes covered in plastic wrap on her counter.
Yay for small wins!
She stole those the other night after helping me make several dozen for the farmers market tomorrow. I grab the one with the most frosting and take an enormous bite.
