Morgan rolled her eyes. “You men, so dramatic.”
“What if this were Patrick?” I countered.
“This also has nothing to do with me or Patrick. Stop projecting. I cannot believe I’m even having this conversation with you. With Austin, sure. He’s the one who fucks everything up. He even fucked up whatever was going on with that girl in HR.”
“Julia?” I asked. “They were together?”
Morgan shrugged. “They’re not anymore. But I thought you were always the one who had your shit together. Austin always has trouble with women. Landon has Miranda.” She scoffed. “Enough said. But your life is put together, even with everything going on with Vanessa. Why are you acting crazy over one girl?”
“I care about her. And I care about Landon. I don’t want to see either of them hurt. Not knowing is making me feel insane. I have to go out there and do something.”
I reached for my jacket and pocketed the keys to my car.
“What exactly are you going to go do?” Morgan demanded, following me into the garage.
“I don’t know. I’ll make it up as I go along.”
I hurried past the empty space where my black Mercedes always rested and hopped into my truck. Morgan stood, watching, as if she wanted to jump into the passenger seat or talk some sense into me. I noticed the exact moment when she decided it wouldn’t matter. She sighed and looked resigned.
“Will you let me know how it goes?” Morgan asked.
I nodded briskly and then pulled out of the garage. Before I had a second thought, I was already barreling across town. The logical explanation was that Emery was at home. She’d wanted to check on Kimber to make sure everything was all right. They were probably up late, talking, or maybe they had gone to sleep.
Except I didn’t believe that.
I didn’t know why.
But I just had this feeling. A gut instinct.
I wanted to shake it, but I wouldn’t until I saw for myself that she was there. I careened down Milwaukee Avenue, out toward her sister’s house. Pent-up tension and energy coursed through me. I felt on edge about her lack of response to my messages.
I parked my truck across the street and killed the engine. Shoving my hands in my pockets against the cold, I dashed across the street and up to the front door. I went to ring the doorbell and then shook my head. I couldn’t ring the doorbell because Lilyanne could be asleep. That would be a real dick move. I didn’t want to wake her up. They probably had a crazy routine to even get her to sleep in the first place. Instead, I knocked on the door and hoped someone was up to hear it.
After about a minute, the door cracked open, and Kimber’s face appeared. “Jensen?” she asked in surprise.
“Hey, Kimber. I didn’t mean to wake you up.”
“Oh, you didn’t. It’s almost time, and it makes it kind of hard to sleep.” She placed her hand on her belly and gave me a genuine smile. “Can I help you?”
“I was hoping to talk to Emery.”
Kimber frowned. “She went out hours ago to meet Heidi. She hasn’t come home yet.”
“Oh,” I said slowly. “I see.”
“Have you tried her cell?”
“A couple of times.”
“Heidi is a bit of a bad influence. Love the girl to death and back, but they’re trouble together. I can’t even tell you what they went through in high school.”
“I believe it.”
“Do you want me to give her a call and see where she is? I didn’t even check before she left.”
“Uh, no. That’s all right.”
“Just come on inside. It will only be a minute,” Kimber said with a kind smile.
I ducked inside without another protest.
She shuffled over to her phone and then smiled. “I have a text here. Looks like Emery is on her way home. She should be here soon, I guess.”
I clenched my jaw and then released it. Emery was responding to Kimber’s messages but not mine? What the fuck?
Something was wrong here. I could feel it. I could sense it. But I didn’t know what was happening.
“You can stay and wait if you want?” Kimber offered.
“Oh no,” I said immediately, backing away. “Uh, no. I’ll check in with her tomorrow. If she’s safe, then that’s fine by me.”
Kimber tilted her head in worry. “Are you sure?”
“Completely,” I said.
Then, I exited the house and hurried back to my truck. The reasonable and rational thing to do would be to wait until Emery got home. I wanted to talk to her about Landon—the things that had been said and the things that I suspected about Landon. I needed to clear the air. I needed to figure out why they had broken up and what Landon had meant about me not knowing her.