My finger trailed over the address book Aunt Lindy kept next to her phone in the kitchen. There were other ways I could track down Emily, but this one would work.
I dialed the number and waited for her to answer.
“Hello?”
“Emily, it’s Sierra.”
“Sierra?”
“Yeah, hey. I know this is weird calling out of the blue, but I’m at Aunt Lindy’s and I found your number. So I thought I’d call and say hi.”
“Hi.”
I chewed my lip. I was too nervous to get the courage to keep talking.
“Sorry about your aunt,” she offered.
“Thank you. I inherited the estate. I’ve been on the island a couple of weeks trying to clean out the house.”
“Oh, that sounds like a big undertaking.”
I smiled. It was almost as if she were here. “It is. Bigger than I thought.”
“Do you maybe want some help?”
“What?”
“I could drive over for a few hours. I could help you for a little bit. If you want.”
I had to stop from squealing. “I would love that. I’d love to see you.”
“Ok, I’m about thirty minutes away, so give me about an hour and I’ll be there.”
I clutched the phone in my hand. “Thank you.” I hadn’t even bothered to ask where she lived now or what she did. I guessed we could catch up on all those things when she arrived.
An hour later I had my former best friend wrapped in a bear hug. I greeted her on the porch and almost cried from happiness.
“You look amazing.” She glanced at me.
“And I love your hair.” She was always the cute petite one. We were yin and yang. And it worked for us.
“Thanks. I thought short summer cut for the summer. You know?”
I led her inside. “Thanks for offering to help me out. I’m so overwhelmed and I have to leave in two days.”
“Two days?” She seemed surprised.
“You sound like Blake.”
“Blake?” Her mouth fell open.
“Shit,” I whispered. I wasn’t going to talk about him.
“You and Blake?”
I sat at the kitchen table. I nodded. “Sort of. Yes.”
“Ok. So I know we haven’t talked in eight years. But you have to tell me what’s going on.”