Meredith wanted to click away, to deny the pain of this image.She didn’t, because she had to read the caption first.She needed to know who was looking for her, and if the police were involved.She squinted at the short block of text under the image.She zoomed in and attempted to sound out every word.
Meredith Rose, from Plainview, Kansas, has been… missing by a family… Her last known… was in Memphis, Tennessee.She is thought to have joined a… group in the Ozarks which recently…
“Mary?”
Meredith slammed the laptop shut and sprang up from the chair.She’d been so intent on deciphering the article that she hadn’t heard Wynona approach.The woman was standing in the open doorway with a coffee mug.
“What’s wrong?”Wynona asked.
“Nothing.”
“You look like a goose walked over your grave.”
Meredith ran a shaky hand through her hair.She couldn’t think of an excuse for her jumpiness, so she stayed silent.
Wynona clearly had other things on her mind, because she didn’t pry.She swept inside the room, set her coffee mug on the desk, and drew a cell phone from her back pocket.“Wade sent me a text earlier.”
Meredith sank into the chair again.Her knees felt weak.“Oh?”
She referred to the screen.“It says, ‘Please have Mary make room for me in the barn.I can sleep there and stay out of your way.’”
Meredith, whose heart was still pounding from the close call, didn’t respond.
“Is that passive-aggressive?”Wynona asked.“Is he trying to guilt-trip me because I asked him to move?”
“You asked him to move?”
“Well, he can’t sleep in the living room.It’s indecent.”
Meredith made a noncommittal sound.Wade wasn’t parading around naked, and she didn’t have delicate sensibilities, but his presence had definitely caused a disturbance.Putting him farther away from the house couldn’t hurt.Out of sight, out of mind.
“I told him he was making you uncomfortable.”
Her mouth dropped open.“Why would you say that?”
“Isn’t it true?”
Meredith moistened her lips, uncertain.She didn’t think it was fair to blame Wade for the chemistry between them.He’d kissed her, sure—but she’d kissed him back.“It’s more of a mutual discomfort.”
Wynona studied her in quiet contemplation.“Hmm.”
“I can handle him,” Meredith said.“I don’t need your help.”
“Just be careful.”
“Why?Is he a womanizer?”
“I’m not sure,” she said, tapping her chin with a fingertip.“I think he plays the field, and he’s always been too handsome for his own good.I imagine women have come easily to him, like everything else.Billy used to complain that he couldn’t bring a girlfriend over when Wade was home because they all preferred him.”
“He wants to be a better son to you,” Meredith said.
Wynona let out a sarcastic laugh.“Is that what he said?”
“Not in so many words, no.”
“He doesn’t care about our relationship.He just wants to say he made an effort before he gives up on me.”
“Maybe you’re judging him too harshly.”
