Like how to help Monroe, who was looking rather glum. Walking up beside her sister, she took her hand in hers. Monroe gave her a small smile. “Don’t worry, Addie. I’m all right.”
Dotty shot Monroe a worried look. But when Monroe looked up at her, Dotty had wiped the worry clear.
“Of course you will be,” Dotty said. “We’ll get that divorce, don’t you worry, and we never have to come back here.”
Addie wasn’t sure that she never wanted to come back, but she just nodded.
“I’m going to feel better once we’re all home and back to normal,” Dotty told them as they reached their gate.
She frowned when they got there and found no one was boarding. They checked the electronic display board.
“Shit,” Dotty muttered. “It’s been delayed.”
Monroe ran her hand over her face. “I’ve got a really bad headache. Can we go get some painkillers while we wait? Maybe some water?”
“Yes, sure,” Dotty said. “I guess I could use some coffee.”
They headed to the convenience store and got Monroe some painkillers and a magazine before they went to the café next door for some water and coffee.
Addie didn’t get anything. Her stomach was too tied up in knots.
Time ticked by painfully. Dotty got out her laptop and started to work. She answered a few calls. Monroe sat there and just stared at the same page on the magazine for ages.
Addie tapped her hand. Her sister looked up at her. “Are you okay? Did Butch say something to upset you?”
Shoot. Her voice was basically non-existent at this stage, and Monroe gave her a worried look. “You need to stop talking or you’re going to lose your voice altogether.”
Yep, she knew that, but she was worried about her sister.
“Don’t worry about what Butch said. He was just speaking the truth. I’ve got to start taking responsibility for the things that I do.”
Is that what he’d actually said? It didn’t seem fair. Sure, she might have married a man that she barely knew, and then tried to track him down in a series of bars, but she hadn’t asked for any of this to happen.
“Don’t worry so much, babes.” Monroe patted her hand. “We’re just going to go home and go back to our normal lives, right?”
Right. Except it didn’t feel like something she wanted anymore, which was strange, since Addie liked the routine of living in the same place, eating the same food, and doing the same things day after day.
Somehow, what had once felt comfortable now felt almost boring.
Weird.
Dotty turned away from her laptop. “There seems to be some weather issues at the other end. I think maybe I should try and see if we can get home via a different route.”
Monroe frowned. “What do you mean?”
“We could fly into Los Angeles and drive home,” Dotty suggested.
Addie shrugged and nodded and Dotty started tapping on her laptop again.
How long had they been waiting now? Probably only about twenty or thirty minutes, but it felt like forever. She didn’t really like flying, because it felt like they were sitting ducks out here.
Should she have messaged Cash and told him about the delay? But what could he do without a ticket? He couldn’t get back here. Maybe Dotty should have bought a ticket for one of them, so they could sit here until they got on the plane with them.
Urgh. She was worrying about nothing.
Then she glanced up and saw them, a group of four men coming towards them.
Immediately, she knew that they were bad news. Panic held her immobile for a few seconds.
