Page 25 of Not Another Yesterday
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Less than an hour later, I walk through the doors at Murphy’s and grin when I spot Vada, Tori, and Summer sitting in our favorite booth. It’s the one closest to the bar and the small office frequented by Shane and Ronan—or the “man-ogle booth,” as we girls dubbed it last summer. It gives Tori and me the perfect vantage point to get a visual fix on our guys.
Most days, just watching Ronan work is enough to make my blood simmer. He’s such an exquisite male creature, with that perfectly fitted Murphy’s shirt and his gloriously sculpted body that strains against the fabric. I’m never the only girl drooling over him, but I do take pride in the fact that I’m the one who goes home with him.
“Have you talked to Ran yet this morning?” Tori asks me with a telling look the second I slide into the booth. She obviously knows about Ronan’s little getaway.
I press my lips together. “Yep.”
Vada looks up from her menu. “What’s up with Ran?”
“He’s on his way to Tennessee,” I say.
Vada’s face scrunches in confusion. “What? Why?”
“His ex called him this morning. Something happened to her, and Ran’s trying to figure out how to help her.”
Vada’s eyebrows nearly hit her hairline. “Wait, his ex from Montana?”
I nod.
“What the hell happened to her?”
I shrug. “I don’t really know. I don’t think Ran knows very many details, either. He just said all her stuff was taken, including her money and car, and that she’s stuck in Tennessee and doesn’t have anyone else she can turn to.”
“So he just up and left to drive to Tennessee? Today?”
I nod again.
“And you’re okay with this?” Vada asks, her eyebrows—and the pitch of her voice—rising with every question.
“Ran didn’t exactly ask for my input, but yeah, I guess.”
Vada cocks her head to the side. “Kitty Cat, I love you. And you knowI love Ran. And weallknow he’s been through it, but…”
“But what?”
“But you do know you don’t have to be okay with everything he does, right? Don’t you think it’s weird to help an ex out like that?”
“What are you saying?” I don’t need Vada to echo my own insecurities; I need my three closest girlfriends to talk me out of my jealousy, not confirm that I have reason to worry.
“I don’t want to start shit, but isn’t this the same ex-girlfriend who hung out with Ran in Montana in the middle of the night? You don’t worry about this at all? It just seems weird to me.”
“I trust Ran.” And I do. It’s Miranda I don’t know how to feel about.
For half a second, I imagine Miranda getting into Ronan’s car, her face puffy from crying, her hand brushing his. I blink it away before it can take root. I trust him. I trust him. I have to.
Tori comes to my aid. “You’d help Steve out like that if he called you and asked for your help.”
“Yes, but that’s a little different, don’t you think?” Vada asks.
Tori cocks her head to the side. “How so?”
Vada’s jaw works for a second, like she’s chewing something back. “I don’t know, it just feels different.” For the first time, she won’t meet my eyes.
Summer shifts uncomfortably in her seat but stays quiet. I can’t tell if that means she agrees with Vada or just doesn’t want to get involved.
“If it makes you feel any better, Cat,” Tori says, “when Shane told me about Ran this morning, he didn’t seem concerned. He said Ran really just looked and sounded like he needed to help out a friend. Just like Ran would drop everything to help one of us out.”
