“Itisyou!” Daphne said, crossing the room and embracing her old friend. She hadn’t seen Amber in nearly a decade, but she’d recognize her anywhere. It helped that, aside from the slightly haunted look in her friend’s eyes, she looked exactly the same.
“What are you doing here? It’s good to see you,” Amber replied, returning her embrace.
“Gabe—Philly’s—wife, Callie, is my sister.”
Amber frowned. “How did I not know that?”
“My industry name was different. No reason for youtoknow. And certainly no reason to guess I’d see you here.”
Amber smiled. “Sancerre. That was the name you worked under.”
Daphne rolled her eyes. “Parks wasn’t sexy enough. But in retrospect, I’m glad they pushed something different. Makes it easier to sneak under the radar—then and now.”
“You two know each other?” Lovell asked, joining them.
Daphne hesitated. If Amber hadn’t shared her history with the Falcons, she wasn’t about to bring it up. Her eyes sought her friend’s. A rueful kind of shyness flashed across Amber’s face, but she cleared her throat and straightened, meeting Lovell’s gaze.
“I modeled for several years before, I…well, in my younger years. Nothing like the heights Daphne reached, but it was a good living for a bit. We were at the same agency, and she took me under her wing. Mentored me.”
Lovell’s gaze bounced between the two, then he nodded. “Would you mind getting Daphne a cup of coffee or something while I go change? I’m going to call everyone in. Daisy finally made her move.”
Amber’s eyes drifted to Daphne in question. Daphne gave a tiny tip of her head, indicating she’d fill her in.
“Of course, happy to,” Amber said.
They watched Lovell disappear down a long hallway, and Daphne attributed the little twinge of something in her chest to the fact he’d be covering up some damn fine assets with clothes.
“Nice view, isn’t it?” Amber said.
Daphne chuckled. “Callie’s sent me pictures of everyone. I thought I was prepared.”
Amber laughed. “You can never be prepared for the Falcons. Wait until you see them all together.” She glanced at the thin watch on her wrist. “Which is likely to happen soon. Let’s grab some coffee before the stampede.”
“And maybe you can tell me how you ended up here?” Daphne gently prodded as she followed Amber into the massive kitchen. Her brother-in-law and his family—all products ofabusive homes—helped others out of those situations. She hoped her friend hadn’t been one of them, but had a sinking feeling that hope was about to be dashed.
Ten minutes later, the bare bones of Amber’s story left her raw and aching for her friend. Daphne hated that she hadn’t reached out, or even checked in more frequently, when Amber withdrew from the modeling world. They’d kept in touch over email for about a year after Amber married her now-ex-husband, but then she seemed to disappear completely. At the time, so many of Daphne’s friends were doing the same. Some no longer wanted to be a part of the industry, some left to marry or pursue other things. For a few, babies became the center of their lives with little room left for a globe-trotting, night-owl extrovert of a friend. She’d assumed Amber was in that same crowd and decided to let her go. Now she kind of hated herself for that decision that was more of a lazy nondecision.
“It wouldn’t have mattered if you’d known,” Amber said, reading her mind. “Believe me, there was nothing you could have done. And before you say you could have been a friend, I wasn’t allowed friends. He cut me off completely.”
Male voices began filling the lodge room, a deep rumble occasionally punctuated by an easy laugh.
Arrogance made Daphne think she would have found a way to reach her friend. But her failure was her burden to carry, not Amber’s to assuage. She also sensed that telling her story was one of the ways Amber was taking her power back, and Daphne wasn’t about to diminish that. “I’m glad you got out, and I’m glad you landed in a safe place.” She paused, then added, “Although after today, maybe it’s a little less safe? We should join them.” She tipped her head toward the rumble.
“Are Philly and Callie coming?”
“No,” Daphne said, topping off her coffee. “They are both out of town and should be back tomorrow.”
Amber shook her head. “Not sure about Callie, but Philly got back earlier today. Something about not finding a hotel on the way back, so deciding to drive through the night.”
Daphne groaned and dug her phone out of her pocket. “Callie willnotbe happy if Philly finds out before her that I’m already here. I need to text her.”
Amber chuckled. “These men have no secrets. All of them, including Philly, already know you’re here.Andthat you played some role in helping Lovell. He would have told them when he called them all in. I’d say they gossip worse than Southern meemaws, but in this, it isn’t actually gossip, so it’s hard to fault them.”
Used to living her life mostly on her own, she hadn’t considered the Falcon’s Rest grapevine—a gross failure on her part. Chalking it up to a learning experience and bracing herself for her sister’s response, she dashed off a text including a promise to call her tonight if Callie was available.
As if on cue, a familiar voice boomed through the walls. “Daphne Parks, bring your ass out here!”
Amber laughed again, the sound muted as she pushed through the kitchen door back into the lodge room.
