“No, I don’t think so...” Jasmine walked off the set to a side table where her purse and a bunch of clothes were scattered. “Oh... it might be off? Or did it get wet?” Finally, her expression changed to one that was a little more contrite. “Sorry, y’all. I didn’t realize. I hope you weren’t too worried.”
“We were,” I answered, and took a deep breath. “But the most important thing is that you’re okay. Thank God.”
The irritation that had been building up inside me over the past couple of minutes had finally started to recede again. Getting caught up in some sort of historical reenactment and blocking out the rest of the world for hours at a time was totally a Jasmine thing to do, but it was hard to be angry if her phone really had stopped working.
Plus, I was relieved that she was all right. Lord, she’d had me worried.
“Yeah, we’re glad you’re okay,” Nolan said. “We even stopped by your family’s property before we came here.”
Jasmine’s face fell. “Oh, God. Seriously? I should probably apologize for whatever they said or did.”
Cooper snorted. “It was your uncle, so—”
“So, yes,” Jas groaned. “I should definitely apologize. Was he mean? I’m sorry, guys. I honestly had no idea you were out looking for me. I guess I’ve lost track of time, now that I’m conscious of it.”
At least she understood how worried we’d been. She understood better than anyone that dealing with her family wasn’t for the faint of heart.
“It’s time to call it a night,” I said, barely stifling a yawn as my body started to register my extreme exhaustion, brought about from stress as much as it was from the lateness of the hour. “Do you want to come back with us?”
Jasmine looked over at Micah and then to Axel before shaking her head. “No, I don’t think so. I want to see more of what these guys are doing here. They have some really beautiful concepts—and I’ve had to give my two cents on every single thing I’ve seen so far.” She paused, her face lighting up again for the first time since we’d arrived and burst in on whatever they’d been doing. “But thank you for coming out here. I really do appreciate it, and I’m sorry that y’all were worried.”
I couldn’t even be upset. I wasn’t surprised that she wasn’t ready to leave since they’d obviously been in the middle of something they were enjoying. And if the situation had been reversed, I probably wouldn’t have been ready to leave Nolan and Cooper behind, either.
Muriel threw me a quick, knowing look. “We’re just glad you’re safe, Jas. Give one of us a call if you need a ride when you’re ready.” She paused, then grinned. “I assume Axel or Micah can let you use one of their phones.”
“Yeah, of course,” Axel nodded. “No problem.”
“We’ll be happy to give her a ride back to the resort,” Micah added. “I’d say y’all have already done enough driving for one day.”
“Amen to that,” Cooper grunted. “I’m just glad it all ended well.”
Nolan gave my arm a gentle, reassuring squeeze, and it took every bit of my willpower to keep myself from jumping into his arms.
Not that I would have done anything except fall asleep once I was there, but it still would have felt nice after such a long, hellish evening.
“We should probably let y’all get back to...” Nolan’s brow furrowed for a moment. “You know... to whatever.”
“Yeah,” I nodded. “Let’s go get some rest.” I gave a little wave to Jasmine. “I’m glad you’re okay. I’ll fill you in on everything else that’s happened later.”
“Okay,” she smiled. “Thanks. Oh, but out of curiosity, who reported me as missing in the first place? I would’ve expected you all to call the police when you couldn’t find me, and not the other way around.”
The four of us looked at each other. I could tell from everyone’s expressions that we were all equally as clueless.
Cooper pulled out his phone. “One second. I’m on it.” Moments later, his phone vibrated, and he flashed it in our direction. “Vic says it was Randy Johnson who made the initial missing person call.”
Jasmine rolled her eyes. “Why the hell would he—never mind. It doesn’t even matter at this point. But if y’all see him, tell him he really should mind his own business.”
I didn’t blame her for being annoyed. Randy had been chasing after Jasmine ever since we were kids. No matter how many times—and with varying levels of politeness—she’d turned him down, but he didn’t seem to understand no as an answer.
I sighed. “He probably tried to call you, like we did, then jumped to the worst possible conclusion when he never heard back from you.” I couldn’t help but smile a little, though, as I promised to relay the message. “If I see him, I’ll let him know you’re in good hands.”