“I can’t believe all the trouble she’s causing. I hope you don’t believe that we wanted you to leave, Colin. You didn’t really give us a chance to talk to you before you left, but Alex and I wanted you to stay. We always knew Sara was a bit unstable, but we never thought she’d react the way she did.”
Zach leaned back, running his hand over his face. “Unfortunately, she had a number of friends who loved drama. It would have died down eventually, once people realized what was going on. But you know small towns, they thrive on gossip. We wanted you to stay, Colin, but we also understood why you had to go. Seems like it worked out best for you anyway.”
Zach winked at Lila. Colin felt gut-punched. He thought everyone had turned away from him, including Zach and Alex.
“I thought you were disgusted by my lifestyle.”
“Well, now, that would be a bit hypocritical of me, wouldn’t it?” Zach replied with a sly grin.
Hell, Colin should have guessed that Zach and his partner, Alex, liked to share women.
“Unfortunately for you, Sara became fixated on you, seems she still is. I don’t know where she is, either. She left town a few months ago. Turns out she’d been stealing from us, took off with thousands. So if you find her, I’d sure like to know.”
Colin nodded and stood, reaching out to shake Zach’s hand.
“Next time you come back, come out to stay with me and Alex, hear?” Zach offered as he walked them out.
“Sure,” Colin said, although he had no real intention to ever come back. This place held too many bad memories.
“Nice to meet you all. Ahh, here is my appointment. Come in, Mrs. Flanders. How is Fluffy today?”
Colin walked out in a slight state of shock, letting Lila and Gavin lead him to Gavin’s truck and drive him home.
*****
Lila was going insane. Two weeks had passed with no sigh of Sara and she was ready to explode. She was so bored she was scrubbing toilets. She was fed up with being confined to the house; she couldn’t even ride Sunshine without an escort. It sucked, big time.
The phone rang and she raced for it, picking it up.
“Hello,” she said breathlessly.
“Hey, girlfriend,” Laken replied, sounding much happier than she had in a long time. “Guess what?”
“What?” Lila asked, sitting on the sofa.
“I’m opening a shop!” Laken squealed.
“What? You’re doing what?”
“I’m opening a clothing store. I have heaps of clothes I’ve made over the last few years that have never been worn and I’ve been wor
king on some new pieces since I got back. I also have a couple of friends who are making clothing and want somewhere to sell them. So I thought, why not open a store? I can’t live off my parents forever.”
“Laken! That’s so exciting!” Lila said, happy for her. They spoke for a few moments about the details.
“Anyway, that’s not the only reason I’m calling,” Laken told her. “I have a favor to ask.”
“Sure, shoot.” Lila was happy to do whatever she could to help her friend.
“I know you can’t do anything until this bitch is found, but I wondered if you’d work for me once everything calms down. I’m not sure how much I can pay you, but I need time to make the clothes so I’m going to need help in the shop. Luckily, it comes with a small apartment over it and the landlord gave me a good deal.”
“Of course I will,” Lila told her. “I’d love to.”
“Yay! James and Rye are fixing it up this week, and then I’ll just need to spend the following week getting everything set up and doing some marketing, which isn’t my strong point.”
“Man, I wish I could help you with all that.” It was starting to feel like she was being punished for what Sara had done.
“I know. You know, the doors would be locked and it would be just me there. Well, and Savannah said she’d help too. Actually, I think I’ll ask her to help with the marketing, isn’t that what she used to do?”