“Give her a second, Wren. It’s fresh. Let her digest it. We’ll find her. I doubt she’s driving around town, considering everyone is fucking crazy right now. That asshole needs to be shot.”
I snort. “I wanted to kill him, but Rye held me back. Billy must have called him to tell him where I was going. Did you read that shit? I thought it was bad when Rye was summarizing it. When I actually read it… I swear I thought I was going to kill him. But he’s gone. He’s nothing and no one now. They fired him and the chief editor who ran the story without evidence. A scorned ex and a never-included cousin don’t count as reliable sources.
“The entire paper is freaking out—and they should be. They’re printing a retraction story, but it’s not good enough. They’ve pulled it off the blogs, their website, and their social media sites, but that story has been shared so many times by individuals that it’s out there for good.”
I drop to the sofa, and he relaxes while sitting down beside me.
“We’ll get this worked out. You’re meeting Erica tomorrow, right? My assistant is going to be there with the camera. This shit will trump that story by far. Allie will be the victim instead of the villain. Just calm down.”
I nod slowly, trying to catch my breath. Where is she? Not at a hotel. I’ve checked. Not at any of my friends’ houses. I’ve checked. I drove door-to-door. Nothing.
My phone rings, and I almost drop it in my haste to answer. My heart thuds when I see Allie’s name flash across the screen.
“Allie,” I say softly, trying to calm down so I don’t freak her out, “where are you? I’ve been looking—”
“I was afraid to be at the house. Bella doesn’t think anyone knows where we live, but I know my address is in records. After all, that’s how Roger found me. But I’m safe. And I’m still in Sterling Shore. Angel is with your mother if you want to go see her.”
I clutch the phone, biting my knuckle on my other hand to keep myself from exploding.
“I want to see both of you. But right now, it’s more important that I see you. Please. I can tell you’ve been crying. Let me come to you.”
She sniffles, and my chest tightens harder.
“You can’t. Wren, I… I was stupid to think this would be okay. I guess I wanted to live the fairytale while it lasted. But we… I think it’s best if we let things cool down for a while. Maybe revisit this later and see how we feel.”
Cold. Detached. She doesn’t sound like herself at all.
“Allie, what are you doing? This is ridiculous. I know I should have stopped this before it started, but I never fucking thought they’d print that complete made-up garbage. Let me come to you. I’ll fix this. I swear I’ve got something in the works. Tomorrow—”
“You kept taking Erica back,” she says suddenly, confusing the shit out of me.
“And? I told you it was stupid and shallow of me.”
She sighs long and hard, drawing in a breath as though she’s steeling her resolve.
“You and I have a daughter. It was risky for us to jump into such a serious relationship so soon. I… I’ve never done this. And I don’t trust many people, yet I trusted you.”
“But you don’t trust me now?”
She laughs under her breath. “I trust you, Wren. I really do. But I think you’re as confused as I am about us. I know what I want, but I don’t… I don’t know. This is a mess, isn’t it? I’m public enemy number one, and you’re the golden boy of Sterling Shore.”
The brokenness of her tone tears at me. Allie has felt dejected her entire life, and now the entire town is making her feel like the unwanted pest she’s always felt like. I want to fucking punch someone.
“Allie, let me come to you. I’m seriously not above begging. I’m close to tearing the city apart to look for you. Save me some trouble.”
She blows out a breath, and I hear Bella muttering something in the background. Please let her be on my side.
“I’ll call you tomorrow. We’ll talk about it then.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“Then stay on the phone with me until then,” I say, not giving a damn about how pathetic I sound.
I almost feel her smile, and that gives me a little hope.
“Tomorrow, Wren. We’ll talk then, and there will be a lot of questions I need answered. And then we’ll figure out where we’re going.”
My entire body relaxes. “I’ll answer anything you want to know. But, Allie, I never gave a fuck about Erica. I just didn’t know how little I cared until I met you. It’s easy to accept something and settle when you don’t know there’s something better waiting.”