Page 126 of One Little Kiss
“I’ve got work to do, GG. Did you need anything else?” Ashton asks coldly.
“Nope. Not a thing.” She steps into the hall and catches me eavesdropping.
“Did you just give him a nickname?”
“Pfft. Ashton’s story is still being written. Don’t you worry ’bout him, though. Love has a funny way of working out sometimes.” And cryptic as ever, GG struts out the front door onto the pathway that connects all our homes.
There are no missed calls or messages when I check my phone.Winnie! What have you done?Jumping in my car, I head home to see if she left a note.
There, on my kitchen island, sits a pile of photographs and her ring. Rage is the first thing that comes to mind because I recognize the woman in them. It’s the woman claiming to be Lindsey. I snap a picture and send it to my brothers.
Colton: Winnie’s gone.
Colton: None of these are real. Who the fuck is this woman?
Preston: …
Ashton: Working on it.
Halton: Ry says her name is Claire.
Why do I know that name? Fucking Claire.
Colton: Claire Milford? The woman who slept with Winnie’s live-in boyfriend?
Halton: Yes, and she’s not sure?
Colton: Where the fuck do I find her?
New Message
Rylan: I think she lives in the townhomes on Railroad Street. She works at the hospital.
Scooping up the folder, I race back to my car. Ashton is standing beside it.
“What now, Ash?”
“If Macomb had anything to do with this, you have my word it’ll be the last thing he ever does. Pacen or no Pacen.” Whatever he’s hiding, I can see it cuts deep.
“If I’ve lost Winnie …”
“Since when have you ever lost anything, Colty?” A smirk I haven’t seen from him in years appears on his face. “You make choices and see them through. Rules, people, obstacles be damned. You’re not about to let a little miscommunication ruin your happily ever after, are you?”
I gape at him. I’ve been bitching about the communication issue in this family for as long as I can remember, and the D-bag just reverse psyched me. Tossing him my keys, I hide my grin. “You’d better drive. I’m too keyed up. We might not make it down the mountain.”
He catches them easily. “Railroad Street or Winnie first?”
“Railroad Street. I’m not getting Winnie back until I have the full story.”
* * *
Finding Claire proved easier than either of us had imagined. As we drive down the street, we see her sitting on the front stoop in between Jason Darling’s legs. When he leans down to kiss her, I almost vomit.
“What the ever living, what?” Ash mutters beside me.
“Pull over,” I sigh. “This will be fast.”
Ash reaches across the console and holds me in place. “Think before you swing.”
