Once Upon a Friendship

And that’s when he knew for certain that something was really, really wrong.

* * *

“HE NEEDS TO EAT.”

Gabrielle looked up from her papers when her roommate spoke. She’d spread them out all over the living room floor in her attempt to memorize as many of the intricate threads of investments and expenditures as she could.

“Who does?” She knew.

She just didn’t want to think about him up there all alone. Dealing with all of this by himself. That’s why she was giving all of her time to helping sort things out.

Downstairs. Where she could focus on the business at hand.

“Liam, who else?” Marie’s tone of voice had a bit of an edge to it. As if she was hurt.

“How do you know he hasn’t already?” Gabrielle pretended not to notice.

“You know how Liam gets when he’s riled up and focused.”

Yeah. He’d gone almost forty-eight hours without a proper meal during finals. More than once.

And when he was on a road trip—at least on the two she and Marie had taken with him to Florida—he’d have driven straight through without stopping for anything but gas if she and Marie hadn’t ganged up on him.

He was their friend. They had always taken care of him. “What time is it?” she asked. Marie was still wearing her coffeehouse apron. It couldn’t be that late.

“Almost seven.”

Oh. “And you’re just coming upstairs?”

“I didn’t want to disturb you,” Marie said, her smile tinged with a bit of sadness. “You’re a lot like him, you know.” Maybe. Probably.

“I have to work hard right now. I just invested most of my savings in this building.” Not to mention the call she’d had from her brother earlier that day, asking for a couple hundred dollars to get his car fixed. Again.

“You’re going to work like a fiend to help him.”

“Like I’d do for any client.”

“If you say so.”

“It’s true.”

“What about your rule to quit by noon when you work on Sundays?” Marie sounded peevish. And Gabrielle knew what that meant. Her friend was bothered and wasn’t going to let it go.

Because she couldn’t. When Marie’s heart hurt, she listened to it.

And she was right. Gabrielle did have her Sunday rule. Everyone needed a time to refresh in order to be their most productive.

“I’ve just taken on a rather large case, and I have very little time to get up to speed.”

“Liam isn’t even a suspect. Technically there is no case.”

Feeling tension build, Gabrielle figured maybe Marie was right. Maybe she’d worked too long for a Sunday.

“What are you getting at?”

“I don’t know. It’s just, you’ve been...different. With Liam.”

“I have not! I’m helping him. Just like I’d help you.” She was lying to her best friend. She hated how that made her feel. “He’s our friend.” She continued on her collision course, an edge to her that didn’t pop up often with Marie. “You’d do the same.”