Chapter 54
Sage
My home setup for my crafts these days was spread across the second greenhouse, and Rhodes had assembled a workbench for me to help keep me organized.
I shot a glance over at Phiny. She’d come in here, a bundle of anxiety about Chloe.
“What did she say about it?” Unscrewing the flower press, I tried to work through the problem.
Our sister had been showing up less and less to family functions, and when she did, she was distant and aloof. On top of that, Phiny had spotted bruises.
“She said it was something that happened at work.” Phiny picked up one thing after another from the workbench, idly turning them over in her hands. “The first time, I believed her … but I’m not buying it.” Phiny’s jaw clenched.
“You don’t know who she’s seeing? I tried talking to her about it.” I checked the flowers, pushed the plates back together, and leaned against the workbench. Conversations with Chloe hadn’t gone well lately. “We need to ask her.”
“I did!” Phiny said, angrily wiping tears from her eyes. “I asked her if anyone was hurting her, but she said no.”
“Well, we have to keep asking. If that’s what’s happening, then we have to stop it.
” Chloe’s behavior was completely out of character.
“I wouldn’t have thought she’d be with someone who would hurt her.
” I bit my lip, hesitating over the words.
There was judgment there, and maybe that’s why Chloe hadn’t come to talk to me.
“Have we been too hard on her? Made her feel like she can’t tell us something? ”
“I don’t think so. We’ve all been going through a lot.” She dug her toe into the gravel a little. Wasn’t that the truth? The last few months had been hard. “I was going to ask Wade …” Phiny flopped a hand uselessly in my direction.
Going in for a hug, I squished her to me. Phiny was always the one putting on a tough face for everyone, though she was just a squishmellow inside.
“Wade is working through some things,” I agreed.
That was putting it lightly. The injury to his shoulder had done damage to his shooting arm, and it had spun him for a serious loop.
He’d been on desk duty at the department while he rehabbed.
You couldn’t exactly be a small-town cop without passing your range test. Wade was worried that his position was in jeopardy if he didn’t improve, and he loved that job.
“I’ll talk to Rhodes. If somebody is hurting her, that’s going to stop. We’ll make sure that we all help.”
“Okay,” she swallowed. “We just need to figure it out.” She heaved a breath.
“I know everything has been a mess lately. Ellis dying and that whole thing with Cedric.” Her eyes filled with tears.
She didn’t need to tell me about the sorrow surrounding his death.
We’d all taken it hard, but surprisingly so had Phiny.
“What a psycho that guy was, huh?” She rubbed a hand across her nose.
“It’s been a clusterfuck. But,” I gave her a hard look. “All hands on deck for Lo.” She nodded grimly in agreement. “Come on. Let’s go see if we can find Rhodes. He should be back from Donatello’s with our pizza.”
She sniffled again but nodded. It was too hot to cook, so Rhodes had volunteered to grab us all pizza, taking Opal with him and promising to pick up a gallon of ice cream on the way back. She had more than a little sweet tooth, but I’d been finding out how much I loved her every day.
Walking back across the grass with Phiny, we passed the greenhouse where everything had happened.
There was still so much guilt that I held, and so many unresolved feelings after learning about Rick Eton’s role in my life.
Therapy was helping, but that block on my memory was stubborn, and we’d decided not to push.
At the front of the house, I could see that Rhodes and Opal were already home, and I swallowed hard. I was so very lucky. He was my happily-ever-after, and each day with him felt better than the last.
I slanted a look at Phiny. “I hope they got ranch.”
She shoved a shoulder into me. “Shut up. I’m not watching you desecrate pizza that way.” Her nose wrinkled, but she slung an arm through mine.
“It’ll be okay, Phin. We’ll figure it out. We’re Holts.”