before she’d gone into work every day despite the fact she’d been battling pneumonia. Weakness was not a word she welcomed into her vocabulary. “Your uncle looked pretty shaken up.”
“He was. He’d been called a couple of times before to take pictures for the sheriff’s department, but those were all property damage things. He’s joined at the hip with that camera. I make fun of him, but he’s even got a show at the library this month. You should check it out.”
“Well now he’s got photographs of Jackie Willet’s body to round out his collection.”
Jerking back in her chair, Ginny inhaled sharply. “That’s a horrible thing to say!”
Emily closed her eyes. Had she really let those awful words escape her mouth? “I’m sorry.”
“He was worried about you, Em. He came to my shop soaking wet just to tell me you might need a friend right about now.”
“I…” Her knee-jerk reaction was to say she didn’t need anything, anyone, but she caught herself. While she had no problem deceiving herself, she wasn’t in the habit of lying to her friends. “I could use a friend about now.”
“Then let me help you. Tell me what’s going on.”
“I can’t afford to fall apart, Ginny. I just can’t. Laurie needs me. She was already so upset over…over the accident and now this…I don’t know how to help her.”
Ginny’s chair scraped against the floor as she stood. Emily opened her eyes at the noise and looked up. Tears welled in Ginny’s eyes as she bent and grabbed Emily in a fierce bear hug, cutting off her air supply. “I know a little bit about what it’s like to have something terrible happen to a friend. She’ll get through this, Em. We’ll all get through this.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“We’ve done it before.”
Emily blinked away tears. Until this moment, she’d never realized the toll her kidnapping had taken on her friend. “I never thanked you.”
“For what?”
“For being my friend. For staying my friend when everyone else treated me like a leper. For not running away when everyone else did.”
“Now it’s your turn,” Ginny admonished on a tear-choked whisper. “Just don’t run away. Talk to me. Let me help you.”
Emily took a deep breath before blurting out, “I’m not fine.” She half expected the admission to shatter her into a million pieces. It didn’t, much to her surprise.
“I know, but you will be.” Sniffling, she released Emily and sank back into her chair. She smiled. “Okay, now that we’ve got the heavy-duty drama out of the way, I’ve been thinking about something.”
Grateful that her friend was lightening the mood and changing the subject, Emily grinned back.
“A little birdie told me you were K.I.S.S.I.N.G Bailey O’Neil last night.”
Emily opened her mouth to ask where she’d heard that, but then decided that asking might open a whole set of questions she wasn’t prepared to answer, like, What the hell had she been doing kissing him?
“You know what else I’ve heard?”
“What?”
“He’s housebroken. He’s not going to be all cute, and then go and pee on your favorite shoes.”
Like the teenage-girl best friends they’d once been, the two dissolved into uncontrollable giggles.
Not wanting to go home, for fear the coroner’s van would still be there picking up Jackie Willet’s body, Emily drove Laurie and Anna to the only movie theater in a thirty-mile radius. Bailey had called while Emily was in the coffee shop of the hospital to warn her that the entire county shared resources and there was a good chance it would be hours before the corpse was removed. The two girls were understandably distraught about their friend’s death. Emily didn’t want to expose them to witnessing the aftermath firsthand.
She glanced in the rearview mirror. Despite the generous width of the backseat, the two friends sat shoulder-to-shoulder. Laurie, slumped in her seat, stared aimlessly out the side window, while
“He was. He’d been called a couple of times before to take pictures for the sheriff’s department, but those were all property damage things. He’s joined at the hip with that camera. I make fun of him, but he’s even got a show at the library this month. You should check it out.”
“Well now he’s got photographs of Jackie Willet’s body to round out his collection.”
Jerking back in her chair, Ginny inhaled sharply. “That’s a horrible thing to say!”
Emily closed her eyes. Had she really let those awful words escape her mouth? “I’m sorry.”
“He was worried about you, Em. He came to my shop soaking wet just to tell me you might need a friend right about now.”
“I…” Her knee-jerk reaction was to say she didn’t need anything, anyone, but she caught herself. While she had no problem deceiving herself, she wasn’t in the habit of lying to her friends. “I could use a friend about now.”
“Then let me help you. Tell me what’s going on.”
“I can’t afford to fall apart, Ginny. I just can’t. Laurie needs me. She was already so upset over…over the accident and now this…I don’t know how to help her.”
Ginny’s chair scraped against the floor as she stood. Emily opened her eyes at the noise and looked up. Tears welled in Ginny’s eyes as she bent and grabbed Emily in a fierce bear hug, cutting off her air supply. “I know a little bit about what it’s like to have something terrible happen to a friend. She’ll get through this, Em. We’ll all get through this.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“We’ve done it before.”
Emily blinked away tears. Until this moment, she’d never realized the toll her kidnapping had taken on her friend. “I never thanked you.”
“For what?”
“For being my friend. For staying my friend when everyone else treated me like a leper. For not running away when everyone else did.”
“Now it’s your turn,” Ginny admonished on a tear-choked whisper. “Just don’t run away. Talk to me. Let me help you.”
Emily took a deep breath before blurting out, “I’m not fine.” She half expected the admission to shatter her into a million pieces. It didn’t, much to her surprise.
“I know, but you will be.” Sniffling, she released Emily and sank back into her chair. She smiled. “Okay, now that we’ve got the heavy-duty drama out of the way, I’ve been thinking about something.”
Grateful that her friend was lightening the mood and changing the subject, Emily grinned back.
“A little birdie told me you were K.I.S.S.I.N.G Bailey O’Neil last night.”
Emily opened her mouth to ask where she’d heard that, but then decided that asking might open a whole set of questions she wasn’t prepared to answer, like, What the hell had she been doing kissing him?
“You know what else I’ve heard?”
“What?”
“He’s housebroken. He’s not going to be all cute, and then go and pee on your favorite shoes.”
Like the teenage-girl best friends they’d once been, the two dissolved into uncontrollable giggles.
Not wanting to go home, for fear the coroner’s van would still be there picking up Jackie Willet’s body, Emily drove Laurie and Anna to the only movie theater in a thirty-mile radius. Bailey had called while Emily was in the coffee shop of the hospital to warn her that the entire county shared resources and there was a good chance it would be hours before the corpse was removed. The two girls were understandably distraught about their friend’s death. Emily didn’t want to expose them to witnessing the aftermath firsthand.
She glanced in the rearview mirror. Despite the generous width of the backseat, the two friends sat shoulder-to-shoulder. Laurie, slumped in her seat, stared aimlessly out the side window, while
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