“WES, WHERE ARE YOU?” If only April Branagan had been able to sleep, maybe she wouldn’t feel so awful about Wes not calling her back over the last twenty-nine hours. “I’m on the bus. We’re pulling out of the station. This is it. I’m really on my way. I know everything’s probably fine, but please, whatever you’re doing, call me, okay? I want to try to get some rest before I reach Manhattan.”
She hung up the phone and made sure she didn’t need to plug it into the handy power outlet beside her seat. In fact, this would have been a very enjoyable ride if she hadn’t been up for almost two days, and if she’d heard from a certain someone who was supposed to be meeting her at the other end.
The trip from St. Louis to the Port Authority in New York would take over twenty-six hours, with eight stops and a transfer in Chicago. She’d planned to sleep most of the way, but instead, she was a nervous wreck.
To make things worse, the guy sitting across the aisle from her—a thirtysomething travel writer typing on his laptop—kept staring at her legs, which was making her uncomfortable. Until she realized she was jiggling her foot. Probably shaking the whole row.
She stopped. Gave him a conciliatory smile. Heard him hit the keyboard again as she watched her hometown disappear street by street.
By the time they’d gone ten miles, her mind had gone right back to worrying. Where the hell was Wes? Her ex-boyfriend/current business partner had gone ahead to New York to settle their living arrangements and meet up with some college friends who lived in Manhattan and had the connections she and Wes needed to get their fledgling concierge business off the ground.
Their last conversation had been great. He’d been excited about seeing her and showing her the temporary apartment he’d found for them. So why wasn’t he picking up?
The guy across the aisle was gathering up his things. One glance told her she was the reason. He stood, taking the time to give her an evil look.
Ah. Her leg was bouncing again. “Sorry,” she said, but he didn’t respond. At least now she had the row to herself.
Maybe if she just closed her eyes for a bit?
That lasted about two minutes.
Wes had managed to get an amazing deal on a place in Nolita, which, she’d quickly learned, meant the area north of Little Italy, in a building that was being remodeled. It was just a small room and a bathroom on the second floor of an empty apartment, but it was cheap, belonged to a friend of a friend and, well, they didn’t need all that much in the way of luxuries. The biggest problem would be the sleeping arrangements.
Wes knew their relationship was and would remain strictly business. They’d actually been over for a while. April knew he’d hoped the break they’d taken would only be temporary, but she had to wonder if he wasn’t answering because he knew her mind was made up and he was pissed about it. Although he’d had plenty of time to tell her he didn’t want to move forward with their business plans. She figured there had to be a good reason why he hadn’t been in contact, and she couldn’t help but worry that he’d been in an accident, or the victim of a mugging—or worse.
She stopped herself. No use sending herself into more of a tizzy. She’d find out what was going on soon enough.
At their stop in Chicago, she ordered a croissant and a large double espresso venti from a kiosk in the bus terminal then added a double-chocolate brownie and a blueberry muffin. She’d probably gain ten pounds before she even got to the most amazing restaurant city in the world.
The transfer to the new bus went smoothly, but it also meant the end of no neighbors. This time a lady wearing a Chicago Bears hat sat in the seat right next to her, pulled out a paperback book, then turned to face April. “I’m Lorene. Lorene Patrick. I’m going all the way to Toledo, and it’s my first time there. But I’ve got a job waiting for me. And my friend, Kiki, she’s letting me share her apartment until I can find a place of my own. Where are you headed?”
April stuffed half her muffin into her mouth, just to give her time to adjust to this new situation. Her first thought was to move seats immediately, but then she thought that Lorene might be the distraction she needed.
She was wrong. So very wrong. Lorene ended up talking her ear off for the next three hours before enough people had left the bus that April could finally claim a new seat. The first thing she did was call Wes. Of course he didn’t answer. She’d already sent three stealth texts while Lorene had been talking. And talking.
By now April wanted to strangle him. “Goddamn it, Wes. Where are you? Why aren’t you answering? Do I really have to call every hospital in New York to make sure you’re still alive? You’d better have a damn good excuse for this bullshit. I’m giving you one more hour, and then I’m going to call the police.”
The worst thing about cell phones was the inability to smash down a receiver. She made do by punching the disconnect button five times. It didn’t help.
April turned toward the window and stared at the lights of South Bend, feeling disembodied. She was so incredibly tired. But closing her eyes just revved her mind up into a spiral of one terrible thought after another.
When her phone actually rang, it made her jump so hard the thankfully quiet woman next to her jumped, too. Fumble-fingered, April finally saw that it wasn’t Wes calling. It was her mother.
She pasted a smile on her face, a trick she’d learned working as a waitress. Smiling through terrible situations made them less terrible. And tended to disguise her voice enough that it might earn her a tip. “Hi, Mom.”
“I hope I didn’t wake you,” her mom said. “You hardly got a wink of sleep the last couple of days.”
“I’m awake now. Don’t worry. I slept all morning. Besides, I should be worrying about you. Did Cassie get all her stuff inside? Are the kids settled yet?”
“It’s all coming together. I’ve put everyone to work, so we’ll be done by suppertime. But tell me about your trip. It must be so exciting. Is Wes calling you every twenty minutes?”
“Yeah, sure. Wes is beside himself waiting for me to arrive. He’s got the apartment all ready and everything.”
Her mother didn’t respond right away. “April Michela Branagan, are you telling me the truth?”
“Mom, it’s fine. I’m just tired, that’s all. Too much excitement, not enough room to burn off my nervous energy.”
April glanced at the woman next to her, who didn’t even pretend not to be eavesdropping. She turned to the window again and asked her mother to tell her about how the rest of the family was doing.
Her mom and dad had a full house once more. With five kids—only two of them still in school—her folks never did seem to get any peace. Her sister’s husband had left her, and Cassie couldn’t take care of her kids and afford a place on her salary, so they’d gone where all the Branagan kids seemed to wind up. Back home. God knew where everyone was sleeping. What a mess. Four kids, plus two sets of grandkids meant there was no vacancy at the inn. Which was a little scary for April, considering her business partner wasn’t calling her back.
But even if something bad had happened, she wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of this plan of theirs. She’d worked too hard, scrimped and saved every dime, to make her dream come true. Whatever was
