Page 107 of Places I've Never Been

Della wiped the tears off her own cheeks. “She called everybody as soon as she saw the photo drop. We all agreed you shouldn’t fly back alone. That’s a lot of time to beat yourself up, and you don’t deserve that.”

“Did you draw the short straw?” Mattie sniffed.

Della gave her a be-serious look. “I volunteered. Piper started pounding heads and contacted you while Lizzie and Renic woke up the lawyers and I took care of the transportation.”

Mattie considered her sister. “You chartered a plane, and flew all this way, just to give me a ride home?”

“Yes. I did.” Della took her by the shoulders. “Look, I know I make shitty choices sometimes, and I can be a selfish, self-centered, spoiled, you can stop me anytime now…”

Mattie giggled despite herself.

“I swear from now on I will have your back the way you, Piper, and Lizzie have always had mine. I’ll be here whenever and wherever you need me. No matter what.”

Mattie sniffed and smiled. “Bellamy Babes forever?”

Della lifted her hair to reveal the bell tattoo at the nape of her neck. “Always. Now go take a shower and change your clothes. The charter will be ready to leave by the time we get to the airport.”

Mattie slept in fits and starts during the flight home. Every time she woke, tears would start, and Della would soothe her back to sleep. When they arrived, it was the middle of the night, and she had a throbbing headache and stuffy nose from too much crying. The airport was blissfully deserted. Della’s rental car was a discreet SUV that blended into the night, but Mattie hesitated before climbing in.

“There’s probably cameras camped out at my door, and Piper’s. Adam knows where I live. So does his manager.”

“We’re not going there.” Della gestured for her to climb in. “Trust me, nobody knows where you’re going, and nobody’s going to bother you tonight, except maybe me. Get in.”

They stowed her bags, and then Della followed chirping GPS directions to a tree-lined street in Bel Air Estates. She pulled up to intimidating iron gates that broke up a long brick privacy fence and pressed a button in an app on her phone. The gates swung open, and Della drove through.

Mattie glanced behind them to make sure the gates closed. “Where are we?”

Della grinned. “Hideaway House.”

Mattie rolled her eyes. “You can’t be serious.”

Della laughed. “No, but that’s what I’ve been calling it. It used to belong to Nicolas Cage, but then it was foreclosed on, sold, resold, and spiffed up. Now it’s owned by a company who leases it out to visiting dignitaries, scandalized actors, and girls in need of some quality alone time. They’re extremely discreet, and they have no idea who we are. I leased it under a fake name.”

Mattie gave her sister an appraising look. “That’s very cloak and dagger. Have you been watchingMission Impossibleagain?”

“Hey, those are great movies.” Della looked smug.

Mattie did a double take as the house came into view. She wasn’t sure what she expected, but nothing she imagined could have come close to the enormous ivy-covered cottage nestled among stately old trees. It looked like they’d driven through some portal into the English countryside. It was too dark to see much of the landscape, but quaint Victorian streetlamps lit the way down the drive to the front door.

“Have we somehow stumbled onto a movie set?” Mattie asked.

“Nope.” Della pulled up to the front door and parked. “We’re home. For now anyway. Safe and mostly sound. I’m totally jet lagged and wired. Come on, let’s get some tea.”

Mattie grabbed her bag while Della took her suitcase. Della opened the door and stepped back for Mattie to walk through first.

“Mattie!” several voices shouted.

She was bombarded with hugs, tears, and a tangle of words from Lizzie, Piper, and Renic. It showed more than anything how horrible everything was that everyone she loved had traveled all this way to rally around her. Her sisters were here, in the same room, and they weren’t fighting. They were united in their concern for her, and it was too much to process.

Mattie lost her battle with self-control and burst into tears again.

Lizzie wrapped her arm around Mattie’s shoulders and escorted her through the kitchen into a cozy den filled with comfortable chairs and a fireplace big enough to stand in.

“It’s okay, Mattie. Cry as much as you need. Let it all out.” Lizzie stroked her hair.

“I loved him,” Mattie burbled. She hadn’t meant to say it. She hadn’t realized that was why she felt so miserable until this moment, but it was true.

“I know,” Lizzie whispered. “I know. That’s why it hurts so much.”

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