CHAPTER 43 GIGI
GIGI
I t had taken some doing, but eventually, Gigi’s gruff rescuer had broken and given her his name.
Now Gigi’s new buddy Jackson was asleep in a chair at his beat-up kitchen-table-for-one, his shotgun beside him, his chair turned to face the metal door to his tiny house—which, Gigi had to admit, a less optimistic person might have referred to as a shack .
A less optimistic person might also have been concerned with the fact that said shack was in clear view of the lighthouse, but Gigi excelled at looking on the bright side.
Such as: Jackson had given her the bed—or technically, the mattress. Such chivalry! Such beard!
And to be honest, Cranky Men Who Hate Everyone were kind of Gigi’s specialty.
Besides, it was the middle of the night.
Even if she did manage to make it into town somehow, everything would be closed.
And even if she managed to somehow get ahold of a phone, Gigi only had three telephone numbers memorized: Grayson’s, her mother’s, and Savannah’s.
Two of the three of them were in the game without their phones, and the third was in Arizona, which meant that Gigi’s only real option in town would have been to go to the police, and that wouldn’t get her to Hawthorne Island.
It wouldn’t get her to Savannah.
So waiting until morning it was. Unfortunately, all Gigi could do was lie there and think about how much Savannah was probably hurting and the lengths her sister would almost certainly go to in order to pretend she wasn’t.
A whistling of wind. A creak of wood. Sounds broke Gigi from her thoughts. Slate? Gigi glanced at Jackson—and his gun. It would serve Mr. I Am Sorry About This right , she thought. But…
Gigi sat up and slowly made her way to the door. She didn’t want Slate dead . Just… properly remorseful.
For what felt like a small eternity, Gigi stood on the inside of the metal door, listening, but there wasn’t a single sound. Not the wind. Not the creaking of wood.
Finally, she flipped the deadbolt and opened the metal door all of an inch. There was no one there—but there was something on the ground. Gigi couldn’t quite make it out with only a bathroom light on behind her, but that didn’t stop her from crouching down to get a better look.
A flower. Gigi shook her head. It was only a flower.