“There’s a guest house on the property,” I say. “Two bedrooms. Its own kitchen. Just had it renovated last spring. It’s yours for as long as you want it.”
She stares at me like I’ve just offered her a spaceship.
“Why?”
“Because Lola’s not going back to an apartment owned by the man who hurt her. And I’m not letting her best friend stay there either. There ain’t many places available in New Falls that aren’t owned by Reese or his family. I’m offering you a safe home.”
Something shifts behind Violet’s eyes. The suspicion doesn’t vanish, but it softens around the edges.
“V,” Lola says gently. “Please.”
Violet looks at her best friend. Sees whatever she needs to see. Then turns to me. “Fine. But I’m paying rent.”
“No, you’re not,” I reply flatly.
I don’t need the money.
“Yes, I am,” she argues.
“We can argue about that later,” Lola cuts in. “Can we please just go pack before I lose my nerve?”
I watch the two of them head into the building arm in arm. Violet is whispering something in Lola’s ear that makes her laugh. That’s when I see it. The friendship.
Not the kind that evaporates when things get hard. This is the kind forged in the same fire that makes family, the kind where one of them would step in front of a bullet for the other without a second’s hesitation.
A tightness pulls in my chest. That’s the kind of friendship I thought I had with Reese. I was wrong.
Violet hasn’t let go of Lola’s arm since she got here. She’s steering her through the parking lot like a bodyguard in heeled boots, checking every corner, every shadow, every parked car.
I like her.
I like that Lola has someone who loves her that fiercely. Someone who showed up in full war mode at ten in the morning with zero information because her best friend called and said something had happened.
Ace appears beside me. “The little one is terrifying.”
“Yeah. She is.”
“I like her,” he tells me.
I raise an eyebrow. I ain’t heard Ace even mention another woman since Harper took off and dragged his heart with her. Perhaps, he’s getting somewhere.
It’s taken me six years after Ashley left me to let someone into my heart again. Into my home. Maybe it’s time for him, too. I doubt his girl is ever coming back to New Falls.
I say, “Me too,” as we watch the girls.
We head upstairs. The apartment is smaller than I expected. Two bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom that barely fits two people standing.
I spot Lola’s phone on the floor by the couch. Screen intact. I pick it up and pocket it for her.
And then I see it. My hat. On the floor by the dining table. I pick it up. Turn it over and let the anger boil through me. And then I see his face when I was smashing it up, and I feel slightly better.
Reese must have found it. Must have held it in his hands and known exactly what it meant. That’s what set him off. That’s what turned a confrontation into something worse.
I carry it over to Lola. She’s standing in the doorway of her bedroom with a half-packed box in her arms and Violet beside her.
I don’t say anything. I just place it on her head.
She goes still. Her eyes lift to mine, and something passes between us that doesn’t need words. She reaches up with her good hand and adjusts it, tips the brim, and lets it sit.