“It means that I love you. And I thought it important she knew.”
He swore silently, aware that Alice had just turned his relationship with Charity inside out because confidence wasn’t Charity’s strong suit. Greg had done a number on her self-esteem and Alice’s appearance had to have rattled Charity.
He needed to see her. He needed to do damage control, fast. “I have to go,” he said. “And so do you. I’ll put your suitcases back in your car and you can check in at the Graff, or whatever Marietta hotel you choose, but I strongly encourage you to be on a flight tomorrow because I won’t be seeing you tomorrow, or any other time in the future.”
“There’s no reason to kick me out, Quinn. This house is huge. There are plenty of bedrooms—”
“No.”
“I’m not asking to share a bed with you, baby. I just think it’s silly to send me all that way back to that strange little town—”
“Alice, stop. You’re not endearing yourself to me. In fact, every word you say just makes everything worse. So you need to go now before I say things I’ll regret.”
“Like what?”
“Like you’re manipulative and spoiled and selfish.” He paused, lifted a brow. “Should I go on?”
“That was harsh,” she whispered.
“I warned you.”
“You promised we’d always be friends.”
“Friends respect each other.” He walked down the hall toward the spacious entry. “Which suitcase has my things in it?”
“The one outside,” she said, voice low.
He brought the case in, opened it, and pulled out everything that looked like it belonged to him, and then closed the case, and set it on its wheels next to the other one. “Ready?” he said, curtly.
“No.” And then she saw his expression and sighed. “Yes. But, Quinn, please don’t be so mad at me. I’m doing what I can to protect us.”
“But there is no us,” he said firmly. “There hasn’t been an us for years.”
“We only broke up in July.”
“I hadn’t been happy for a long time.”
She knocked away a tear with her knuckled fist. “Are you happy now?”
“I am. I love her, Alice.”
“But you’ve only just returned to Montana.”
“I know, but she’s the one I’ve been waiting for.”
*
Charity sat on her bed and played the voice mail messages Quinn had left for her.
“I went to the house to check on you and discovered Alice there and you gone. It’s not what you think. I do not want her here. She’s no longer at my house. Please call me back.”
And then, “Charity, why won’t you respond? I know you’re upset but let me explain. We’re supposed to be friends. Friends hear each other out.”
And then the last, “Charity, it’s almost nine, I’m wrapping up here at the Gallaghers and on my way to Marietta. I’ll be at your house in twenty-five minutes.”
He’d left that last message over an hour ago, and she’d waited for him to come, but he hadn’t. She’d fixed her hair and changed her clothes and put on fresh makeup so he wouldn’t know she’d been crying, and then he’d been a no show.
This was exactly why she hadn’t wanted to fall in love. She hadn’t wanted to be hurt and disappointed again. Growing up, her life had been filled with hurt and disappointment. She was tired of being less than, tired of emotions that left her feeling broken.
Fighting back fresh tears, Charity changed into her pajamas and prepared for bed. She wasn’t going to be able to sleep though. She couldn’t remember when she last felt so miserable.
The last few weeks had been amazing and she’d felt so much hope and happiness. And fun. With Quinn she’d had fun. And he’d been a friend. They’d talked about so many things and she’d come to trust him. Which was why she’d dared to hope. And dream.
Her phone rang twenty minutes later. She let it ring another time before picking it up off her bedside table.
Quinn.
A lump filled her throat as she looked at his name on her phone.
For a split second she considered not answering and then realized she was too exhausted to play games. If it was going to end, then let it end cleanly right now. She couldn’t do the back and forth. She couldn’t handle another Greg situation.
“Hello?” she answered, her voice still rough from her earlier tears.
“Charity, Noel is missing,” Quinn said bluntly. “That’s why I’m not there. I’ve been out driving Highway 89 and all the back roads, looking for him. I’d hoped to have found him by now, as I didn’t want to worry you, but since I haven’t, I needed to tell you. I don’t know how he got out of the house, and I’m sorry—”
“I’m going to go look, too,” she said, jumping out bed. “I’ll start driving around Marietta.”
“I’m on my way to Marietta now. Why don’t I just pick you up? I should be at your house soon.”
“I’ll be ready,” she said simply, pulling warm clothes on instead.
They drove for an hour, up and down Main Street, up and down Church, up and down Bramble, up and down every single side street. Nothing. No sign of a big red dog, or any dog, anywhere.
It was after midnight when Quinn drove Charity back home. They’d refrained from discussing anything personal while searching for Rusty, but now that Quinn was pulling down her street, Charity summoned the courage to broach the other issue very much on her mind. “Alice,” she said quietly.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there when she arrived,” he said.
“It wouldn’t have changed anything,” she answered, trying very hard to keep her emotions under control, “because it doesn’t change the facts.”
“And just what are those facts?”
“She claims she’s your girlfriend—”
“She’s not.”
“She says she is.”
“She’s wrong and she deliberately mi
slead you,” he retorted grimly, pulling up in front of her house and shifting into park. “Don’t believe anything she told you.”
Wasn’t that what Greg had said, too? For her not to believe the gossip? For her to listen to him? And yet Greg had played her, and played her…
Was Quinn just another Greg?
Charity closed her eyes and held her breath as she pressed her fingers to her brow bone. Her head thumped. Her heart hurt. She was devastated they hadn’t found Noel and still shaken from her encounter with Alice and confused by everything happening with Quinn. “I don’t want to do this with you right now,” she whispered. “I’m so tired I can’t think straight.”
“Look at me, Charity,” he said urgently. “There is nothing between Alice and me. I give you my word. I swear—”
“But she’s here. And she seems pretty certain you two are still a couple, or about to be a couple again.”
“She’s having a hard time accepting that we’re over.”
Charity blinked hard, trying to hold back the tears. “Or maybe you’re not really over. Maybe you’re still with her, or meant to be with—”
“No.”
“I wish I could believe you,” she said tightly, the air trapped in her lungs. She hadn’t wanted to cry in front of Alice, and now she didn’t want to cry in front of Quinn. She had to cling to a shred of self-respect. “I want to believe you, but my head is mocking my heart, telling me to wise up and see what’s really going on.”
“Nothing is going on. Charity, I’ve never lied to you. I’ve always been truthful.”
“Well, with the exception of you being Douglas Quincy.”
“You’re not innocent there either. You pretended to be Tricia Thorpe, but I’ve never held that against you.”
She didn’t answer. She couldn’t answer.
From the corner of her eye, she saw him flex a gloved hand against the steering wheel. “I never kept Alice a secret,” he said in a low voice. “From the beginning I told you about her, and shared how it was a relationship that didn’t work. Everything I said was true—”
“Then why is she here?” The words burst out, sharp and loud. “Why is she staying at your place?”