Page 43 of Love and Other Lost Things

“I missed you, dumbass,” the woman said, leaning back to look at him. And then she shifted so she was facing Jane. Her smile slowly faded, and her eyes widened. “Jane?”

“Hi, Ali,” Jane said, taking in her old friend. Ali still wore black, but instead of jeans and a hoodie, she had on wide-legged pants and a cropped top under an expensive-looking wool coat. Jane was suddenly self-conscious in her sneakers and jeans.

Ali stepped back. “Well, this is… yeah. A surprise.” She shot Nik a glance that Jane couldn’t quite interpret. “I definitely didn’t expect to see you here.”

Nik shoved his hands in his pockets. “We just ran into each other, and I invited her to come for a drink.”

Ali’s gaze swept over her. “So, you’re… back from LA?”

“Just for a few days.”

At that moment, they were interrupted by another woman hurrying down the sidewalk, her red hair frizzing, coat flying. Hannah. She looked exactly the same as Jane remembered her.

“Thank the Lord I finally made it. I thought I’d never get Amelia to sleep.” Hannah reached over to give Ali a squeeze, and then she made her way down the line to Nik. Finally, she shifted to his left. “And you must be…” Hannah stopped, blinking rapidly. “You must be… Jane! Oh, my God.”

The next thing Jane knew, she was wrapped up in a tornado of red hair, vintage fabric, and lavender-scented lotion. And, just like that, she was back in Hannah’s room, lying on her back in a pink canopy bed flipping through their horoscopes in the Linden Falls Gazette.

“Hi, Hannah,” Jane murmured, over the lump in her throat.

“Jane, I honestly can’t believe it. Nobody told me you were coming.” Hannah stepped back to look her over.

“Nobody knew,” Ali said, her voice flat.

“It was a… last-minute trip,” Jane said.

Hannah’s face softened. “I heard about your dad. I’m sorry for your mom. I’m sure she’s happy to have you here.”

Jane looked down at her hands. “That’s why I came. To help her out a little.”

Ali huffed. “I’m surprised you did, especially after all this time.”

Hannah gasped. “Ali!”

Ali turned to face Jane. “We thought something terrible had happened to you when you left.”

Jane blinked. “You did?”

“Of course we did. You were our best friend. We hung out every single day, and we had all those summer plans.”

Nik had wanted them to go camping at Randall Park and on a road trip to New York City. And she and Hannah were talking about applying for summer jobs at the ice cream shop.

“And then you just…” Ali held her hands together and splayed out her fingers. “Poof. Gone without a word. We literally thought you’d been kidnapped, because there was no way you’d leave without telling us where you were going.”

It hit Jane with a jolt. She had been such a mess when she’d left, in such a hurry to disappear, she hadn’t considered how her friends must have felt. And then, like she had with Nik, Jane had avoided thinking about Hannah and Ali once she got to LA. It had been less painful that way.

“Your parents just kept telling us you were fine, but nobody would say anything else. Finally, Hannah’s dad went over one day to talk to your mom. She told him you’d gone to California to make it in the music business.”

Jane nodded. Because what else could she do?

“Taking off like that was really messed up. Why couldn’t you have just told us you were going? Sent an email once in a while or something?”

Jane had no idea what to tell her. No idea what to tell any of them. Through the window of the bar, the people of Linden Falls were talking and laughing, home for the holidays, and visiting with friends and family. What am I doing? Jane didn’t belong here. Not in this town, and not with these old friends, pretending that anything about her life was normal.

How could she explain where she’d gone for the past ten years or what she’d been through? With any luck, in a week, she and her daughter would be in a questionably stolen car on their way to disappear forever. If she stayed here and hung out with them, what would her friends think when she just took off again?

“I’m sorry. I really am.” Jane twisted the top of the paper bag in her hands. “But I should get going.”

Ali shrugged. “We wouldn’t expect anything less.”

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