Page 79 of Jagged Line Paradise

“I wasn’t there for her. My ringer was off.”

“It’s okay, sunshine. It’s gonna be okay.”

She’s gonna blame herself for this because she wasn’t there. I didn’t know she had turned her ringer off. Maybe it was intentional, maybe it wasn’t, but I can already feel how bad this is gonna be for us.

Her fear is palpable as I help her find her shoes and put on my own. Not a single word is spoken as I walk her from my room, hand-in-hand, down the hallway. Not a single glance is stolen as we ride down in the elevator. No connection is made as I drive her away in the car. She looks out her window as her knee bounces up and down, her palms rubbing back and forth along her thighs.

“I wasn’t there,” she mumbles, though I know she’s not really speaking to me. “I wasn’t there, and my ringer was off.”

I don’t even know what to say.

I don’t have a fucking clue what she’s feeling.

We always hated her mom. Her mom didn’t give a shit about her when we were growing up. Hell, her mom wouldn’t even acknowledge that something was off the day she went missing. I was the one who’d had to go to the police station and report it.

It’s been a long time since then, and maybe she’s changed, I don’t fucking know. I just know that Lonnie’s been stuck taking care of her—she takes one damn night away and her mom ends up in the damn hospital.

She’ll blame herself.

I know she will.

I know this won’t bode well for us.

“We’ll be there soon. It’s only a couple of miles.”

She nods, though she still looks out through her passenger window.

“I’m gonna park and I’m coming in with you.”

Her ginger locks whip around as she turns her head. “You can just drop me at the door.”

“No, I’m coming in with you.”

“I don’t need—”

“I know what you don’t need. What youdoneed is some support, and I’m coming in with you. Don’t argue with me.”

She huffs but she doesn’t say another word.

I park in the first empty spot I find, which thankfully, isn’t terribly far from the entrance—another perk of being in a small town is a small hospital. Lonnie opens her door before I even come to a complete stop and she leaps out, walking with quick steps toward the curved driveway in front of the main entrance, tugging her bag strap across her body.

I sigh, grab my sunglasses from the center deck, and quickly follow behind her. I jog a few paces to catch up with her, but even with quick steps, she can’t get away from me that easily. She tenses as I approach her side and it guts me to see the way she grips the strap of her bag with both hands so tensely.

I know I fucked this up in the shower last night. I did. But it’s not gonna stop me from being the best friend she needs right now. She’s just gonna have to deal with that. I reach out, snatch her left hand away from her purse strap, and grip it tight. She looks over at me with narrowed eyes, testing me with a single tug. But I’m not letting go. I lock our fingers together and cock an eyebrow at her, daring her to pull away from me, daring her to declare her fierce independence in this moment, knowing that she won’t.

And she doesn’t.

She leads us through the parting automatic doors and straight for the elevator. She knows exactly where she’s going.

“How many times have you been here with her?” I ask as the elevator doors shut us into the small space. She punches the button to the fourth floor, and I squeeze her hand, making sure she doesn’t let go.

“We’ve been here a lot.” She sighs. “You don’t have to be here, you know. I don’t need a support system. I’m doing just fine on my own.”

I turn my body to face her, looking down at her with a tilted head. “Are you though? Fine?”

She glances at me, then looks straight ahead at the metal doors. “It’s fine. It is what it is.”

“I don’t have anywhere else to be.” The elevator pings and the doors slide open. “I’m staying here with you today.”

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