inventory of the amenities, I was tempted to sprawl out on the large
fluffy bed in the center and shut out my thoughts until morning. Things had
gotten complicated quick. Speaking of I complicated, I still had to let Nina know
that I arrived safely, and I should probably tell her the truth. She was going
to freak, but I hoped she would settle for the short version for now. I was finally
coming down from the adrenaline wave I’d been riding all day. Exhaustion was
setting in.
Fumbling though my carry-on, I
dug out my phone. Three missed calls, all from Nina. I smiled. She must have
been holding back, because I expected more like ten. As I sank down into the comforting
softness of the bed, I dialed, and immediately held the phone away from my ear when
her voice came bursting through the speaker.
“Oh my God, Lo, why didn’t you
answer your phone? I’ve been trying to call you for hours!”
She was right. I should’ve
answered, but I was just prolonging the inevitable…the truth. “I’m sorry, Nina.
I made it here just fine. I’m safe.” An audible sigh escaped me. “Shit! This is
so complicated. I don’t even know where to start, and even if I did I’m too
fucking exhausted to go into all the sordid details. So please, just listen to
me, okay? The truth is I’m in Las Vegas,” I paused, “with Parker.” I held my
breath and braced for the wrath of Nina, and I knew I deserved it.
“Lo, are you IN-FUCKING-SANE? Oh,
this is worse than I thought!”
Her voice suddenly seemed far
away, and I knew why. I’d witnessed it a million times, usually when Leslie
called panicking because one of her cats didn’t come home. She was pacing with
her hands absentmindedly at her sides. I could hear her footsteps clicking across
the floor and her rambling in the background.
“Nina, you have to trust me on
this. It’s the only option right now. Can you hear me?”
“Only option? Only option for
what? I can’t imagine how being anywhere with Parker Blackwell is the ONLY option,
Lo! What are you talking about?”
“He’s helping me, save The Grandview,
Nina.”
“How, Lo? And why the hell did
you have to go to Vegas WITH HIM to save The Grand?”
I tried to reassure her. “Listen,
it’s complicated,” I soothed, “Please just trust me for now, and I promise I’ll
tell you everything soon.”
“What am I supposed to say that?
You’re so fucking stubborn you’re going to do whatever the hell you want anyway.
You always do. So, what am I supposed to tell Jake?”
The sound of his name slammed
into my heart unexpectedly. Jake… “What does Jake have to do with this? Jake
left, remember? And so far it looks like he’s not coming back.”
“Well, that’s just it, Lo. He
didn’t leave. I saw his truck at Evelyn’s this morning.”
“Evelyn’s? What?”
Evelyn would call from
time-to-time and ask Jake to stop over and fix things around her house. I hated
it, and he knew it, but he said that if he helped her it would “keep the peace”
between us. I guess in a way he was right, but that was before she decided to
pull the rug out from under me and sell her share of The Grand. Why would he
help her now?
“I don’t know, Lo, it’s not like
I knocked on the door and asked what he was doing there. Could you imagine?
Jake, you son-of-a-bitch, you just ripped my best friend’s heart out, and by
the way, what the hell are you doing at Evelyn’s?”
“Okay I get it, but I don’t want
him to know anything. I mean it! If you run into him just give him the same
story we told the staff. I’m out-of-town working.” I could hear myself talking,
but my mind was spinning in the background trying to make sense of it all. Jake
knew how much that woman hurt me, so, why? Why the hell would he do anything to
help her, especially now?
“Fine, I won’t tell him anything,
and you’d probably like to make me pinky swear, but you’re in Vegas so I guess
you’re fucked, huh?”
Nina always seemed to know