“Hey, Merry,” she said in relief.
“Hey, yourself. What are you doing? Have they crowned you rodeo queen of Wyoming yet?”
“No, but soon. I can feel it.”
Merry laughed until she snorted. “What are you doing?”
“I’m on my way to work. You won’t believe what I’m doing.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t ask. But is it strippergrams? I thought they told you they only hired girls with boobs.”
Grace leaned against a streetlight and laughed so hard she had to close her eyes. “No, it’s not any form of stripping, so whatever you were about to say about working the pole, drop it.”
“Like it’s hot?” Merry cooed.
“Yes. What I’m really doing is working with a location scout. On a Madeline Beckingham movie.”
“Are you kidding me? Oh, my God. Are there robots and explosions and stuff?”
“No, this one is about monsters. And cowboys. Hence the location. But it’s more than I could’ve hoped for. An industry job in Wyoming. And the pay is good.”
“Speaking of—”
“I’m not moving to Dallas!”
“That’s not what I meant. Scott called me.”
Grace’s heart dropped with such suddenness that she felt dizzy. She pressed her shoulder harder to the streetlight to be sure she didn’t fall. “Merry—”
“He left a pissed-off message, asking if I knew where you were. He says if you don’t call him, you’ll be sorry.”
“I…”
“What a dick,” Merry snarled. “Oh, my God. I hate that guy.”
“I know,” Grace breathed. Lights danced behind her eyes. He hadn’t said anything more. Merry didn’t know.
“You should’ve left him a long time ago.”
“I know,” she whispered. “Listen, my bus is almost here.”
“Okay, I just wanted to give you a heads-up. Call him if you want, but I don’t think you should. I blocked his number, so it makes no difference to me. But I thought you should know he called.”
“Thank you.”
“Do you want me to call him back? Tell him to go to hell?”
“No!”
Merry laughed. “Are you sure? I could tell him he’s no good at oral sex. Isn’t that what you said? He tried that alphabet trick on you once?”
Relief made Grace smile. “Yeah. But I almost had him trained by the end. Almost.”
“Good for you.”
“My bus is here,” Grace said, relieved that it was the truth and she didn’t have to lie to her best friend any more than she already had.
“Okay. Have a great day. Say hi to Madeline Beckingham for me.”