“Okay, yeah.” He stepped back. “You might as well come in.”
I should turn right around and head home. This conversation had gone okay, so maybe my luck would hold and Iris wouldn’t throw anything at my head when I told her the truth.
I stepped forward. “Sure.”
“So, you want to tell me what you plan to do with Sue when you find her? Or would that make me an accessory?”
I shook my head. “Nothing like that. I’m going to do what Travis or I always do when she rolls into town: give her a chunk of cash and tell her to go away.”
Hunter snorted. “Probably why she keeps showing up. I’m surprised she didn’t land on your doorstep first, if she knows you’re an easy source of cash.”
“Yeah. I know.” She usually did almost exactly that, hanging out somewhere she knew I’d be but Iris wouldn’t. But this time she wanted ten times what I usually gave her, so maybe she knew she needed another strategy.
Hunter tapped his lip. “I wasn’t going to say anything until I had something concrete, but I might have narrowed down where she is.”
“For real? I’ve been driving around all over the place looking for her car, with no luck.”
“I’m thinking she’s either somewhere off Dixon, Timber Drive, or Walnut Creek.” He settled onto a chair at the kitchen table and motioned me to sit across from him. “She’s got friends in all three places and hasn’t burned those bridges yet.”
“I’ve been up and down Dixon and Walnut Creek a half dozen times over the last few days and seen no sign of her or her vehicle.”
He frowned. “The car could be in a garage…”
“But most of those houses don’t have one.” I finished his thought. Those were older, working-class neighborhoods, and most of them had carports if they had anything at all.
“Or they could have been out,” he said.
“Every time?” I shook my head. “I’m thinking she’s somewhere on Timber Drive.”
“Yeah, that sounds like the best bet.”
As Iris chatted away about her day, I told myself,Just give it one more look before you come clean.
Once I got her settled in at home, I went out driving again. Yet another delay in the inevitable that I couldn’t stop myself from making.
Timber Drive was about halfway between my house and Iris’s so I told myself it wasn’tmuchof a delay. No red cars in any driveways, though.
7
Iris
Jackson wasn’t home yet, even though dusk darkened the sky. Something must have come up at his work, because he picked me up from my work, dropped me here, and left again with barely a word.
I’d tried to tell him I could drive myself, but he’d flatly refused. Apparently that was still a no-go.
His dinner was going to get cold, and thinking that made me feel like a 1950s housewife. I kind of hated it, but even though he’d promised to cook tonight, he wasn’t home when I got hungry, so I made something simple. Just some chicken Alfredo.
So what if I’d accidentally grabbed a vegan heavy cream at the store instead of the real thing, and the sauce had turned out a little sweet? It was still edible.
Okay, so maybe Jackson was the better cook.
For a moment, I let myself imagine how it could be between us. Him cooking, me cleaning. We could split all the home maintenance since we were both capable there—as long as he didn’t nitpick about which hardware brands I chose—then cuddle on the couch afterward.
I’d just plated up dinner and stuck the plates in a warming drawer when my phone rang with the special tone that had me jumping out of my skin to answer it.
“Travis!” I screamed as his face popped up on my phone. Even through the terrible video quality, his familiar face was clear enough for me to discern all planes and angles and short-cropped dark hair.
“Iris!” He imitated my tone with a teasing wink.
