“Okay, I’ll take that spot then. The one next month,” I said, panic starting to set in.
“You can do it,” Inari whispered to me as Pam printed out the invoice for the deposit to hold the date.
I didn’t have faith that I could, but now I was going to have to. This would be good. I’d have to throw myself into planning and working, and I wouldn’t even have time to ponder or think about Ryder. It was going to be all fashion, all the time. Perfect.
I shook hands with Pam and said I’d be back next week to talk about lighting and chairs and so forth. I’d designed shows before, but I wanted to do something different for this one. Something awesome.
“This is going to be epic,” I said to Inari as we went back to the studio.
“I know,” she said, giving me a fist bump.
Seventeen
The next night there was a knock at my door. I knew who it was before I’d even answered it. I’d been avoiding Rory for days, and I couldn’t anymore. I’d cut Ryder out of my life, not my best friend.
“Hey,” I said, opening the door. “I’m sorry I’ve been MIA.”
She held her arms out and hugged me. “I know. I’m sorry too. I wish this wasn’t the situation we’re in, but here we are.” She came in, and I shut the door.
“Whoa. What’s with all the baked goods?” I still had a ton of them lying around. My stupid employees were apparently all boycotting sugar or something.
“I made a bunch of breakup cakes,” I said with a grim smile. That was what I used to do when one of my friends would break up with a guy. I wasn’t great in a crisis, but at least I could bake a cake.
“I see that.” She seemed wary, as if anything she said was going to upset me.
“It’s okay, Rory. It is what it is.”
She sat down on the couch and slipped off her red heels. “I hate it when people say that, but in this case it’s true. God, I’m exhausted,” Rory said. We were carefully avoiding talking about the R word.
“Work?” I asked.
“Yes, and other things.”
I sat down beside her and took a breath. “Look, we’re going to have to talk about him, so let’s just get it over with. How is he?” I had trouble saying his name out loud.
“He’s . . . um . . . he’s staying with us. Again. Not just because of what happened, but also because he got kicked out of his place. He hadn’t been paying his rent.”
“What? I thought he was working.”
She shook her head. “No. He lost his job three days after he got it. Lucah thought about going to check on him to make sure he was still there, but I told him that was a little too intrusive.” That explained a lot.
“So what was he doing when he was supposed to be working?” I asked.
Rory shrugged. “No idea. He said he was just walking around, but who could walk around for twenty-five hours a week? It’s just so hard to tell with him. He’s a good liar.” Yes. He was a good liar. At least I wasn’t the only one who had fallen for it.
“Wow,” I said.
“Yeah. It’s been really tense, Sloane. I’ve missed you so much.” She looked like she was about to cry.
“Lucah is just so upset all the time, and Ryder does nothing but lie in bed, and this is supposed to be a happy time for me. I’m supposed to be planning my wedding. That might sound selfish, but I don’t care. Every time I think things are getting back to normal, they blow up again.” Now I was the one offering the hug.
“I’m sorry, babe. I should have called you back.”
She shook her head and wiped her eyes, careful not to smear her mascara.
“It’s okay. You’re here now and we’re okay. Do you mind if we just have dinner with the two of us tonight? I can’t take another meal with those two.” Poor thing.
“Absolutely. And we can stuff our faces.”