Chapter 9 Lori
LORI
"We'll be okay," Lori told Mitch, placing her hand on his chest where she could feel his heart beating too fast. "You can track my phone and Tessa's watch now. You'll know exactly where we are the whole time."
"I know," Mitch said, but he didn't look reassured. His hand came up to cover hers. "Just promise me you'll call when you get home. Let me know you made it safely."
"I promise," Lori said. "And you promise to let me know the second Ryan wakes up."
"I will," Mitch agreed.
Lori started to turn away, started to follow Tessa toward the elevator, but Mitch's hand tightened on hers and pulled her back.
Before she could process what was happening, his other hand cupped her face, and his lips were on hers.
The kiss was brief but intense, full of worry and need and something deeper that made Lori's breath catch. When Mitch pulled back, his eyes were dark with emotion.
"Please be careful, Lori," he said softly, his thumb brushing across her cheekbone. "I don't know what I'll do if I lose you. I..."
"Taxi's here," Tessa called, walking back toward them. She stopped abruptly when she saw them, looking awkward. "Oh. Sorry."
"No, it's okay," Lori told her, feeling her cheeks heat. She turned back to Mitch, throwing caution to the wind and rising up on her toes to press a quick kiss to his cheek. "We will be fine. I promise."
"Lock the doors as soon as you get home," Mitch said, his voice rough.
"We will," Lori assured him, squeezing his hand one more time before letting go and following Tessa to the elevator.
In the taxi, Lori settled into the back seat beside Tessa and watched the younger woman fidget with Lori's phone, clearly pretending to be absorbed in something on the screen but not really looking at it.
Lori sighed. "Okay, spit it out."
"What?" Tessa looked at her with exaggerated innocence.
"What you're dying to say," Lori told her. "I can see it written all over your face."
"I'm not dying to..." Tessa stopped and then turned in her seat to look at Lori properly. "So. You and Mitch?"
Lori sighed again, longer this time. "I don't know what to tell you about that at the moment," she admitted. "As soon as we've figured out what this is, I'll let you know."
"Uh-huh," Tessa said with a knowing nod. "Lori, I think you and Mitch make a good couple. And you deserve to be happy. You deserve to have a second chance at love."
"Yes, but he lives here, and I live in Florida," Lori pointed out, finally saying out loud the thing that had been weighing on her heart. "Long-distance relationships never work. They just drag out the inevitable until someone gets hurt."
"Then luckily for the two of you, you live in the twenty-first century, where travel no longer takes days to get anywhere," Tessa said with a smug smile.
"You're also two grown adults who can travel wherever and whenever you please.
And if I were the two of you, when you finally do figure out what this is, I'd spend summers here in Nantucket and winters in Florida. "
"If only it were that simple," Lori said quietly. Then she narrowed her eyes at Tessa. "What about you and Ryan?"
Tessa immediately started to back away, shaking her head. "That's not the same thing at all, and you know it."
"Oh no," Lori said firmly, reaching out to grab Tessa's hand. "You started this conversation, which means I get the right to ask my goddaughter about her love life."
"I..." Tessa cleared her throat and looked away. "I messed things up with Ryan. Badly."
She told Lori about what had happened in the park the day she was kidnapped.
About Ryan telling her he loved her. About her response, throwing his past relationships in his face and essentially saying she didn't trust him not to hurt Maggie.
About how cold he'd been when he woke up in that basement and realized he'd been taken, too.
"So you see," Tessa finished miserably, "I've completely messed things up. He'll never forgive me for what I said."
"Then apologize," Lori suggested, giving Tessa's hand a squeeze.
"Be honest with him about your fears. Tell him what you told me, about being scared and protecting yourself and Maggie.
I saw how Ryan was when you'd been taken, Tessa.
The man was falling apart. He loves you. Really, truly loves you."
Tessa just nodded, not looking convinced, as the taxi pulled up in front of Seabird Cottage.
Lori paid the cab driver, since Tessa didn't have her wallet, and they both climbed out. As they walked toward the front door, the phone, which Tessa still had, rang.
"It's Trent," Tessa said, showing her the screen where an incoming call was lighting up. "He must have seen I called from your phone."
"I'm going to take a shower and get some clean clothes on," Lori said, "I feel disgusting."
"I'll take this in Mom's office," Tessa said, and Lori nodded.
They went inside together, and Lori made sure to lock the front door behind them, throwing the deadbolt for good measure. She wished they'd been able to stop and pick up Misty from the vet. The dog was the best alarm system, as far as Lori was concerned, better than any electronic security system.
But Misty was safe and fed and probably sleeping on a comfortable bed at the veterinary clinic. That would have to be enough for now.
Tessa headed toward Carrie's office with the phone pressed to her ear, already saying, "Trent? Yeah, it's me. I need your help with something."
Lori climbed the stairs to the second floor, her legs feeling like they weighed a thousand pounds each. The adrenaline that had been keeping her going for the past day and a half was finally wearing off, leaving her exhausted and shaky.
She reached the bedroom, Carrie's bedroom, that she'd been using, and pushed open the door, stepping inside and closing it behind her. She threw her purse onto the bed, which hadn’t been slept in, not that she’d slept, since the night before last. Lori stopped and frowned.
Had it really only been yesterday? It felt like a lifetime ago.
Lori turned toward the dresser to pull out fresh clothes.
Then she froze.
Her blood ran cold, every hair on her body standing on end.
On the mirror, written in what looked like red lipstick, was a message:
This is not over. You will still pay for what you did. I will still destroy you and your family just like you and your friends destroyed mine.
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