things. Of all people, Anna had had a clear-eyed view of what really mattered in his family, and it wasn’t the luxury resort or the fact they had lots of money. It was the way they showed up for one another.
He couldn’t keep her on the outside anymore, couldn’t hold her at arm’s length.
“She would tell me to take action,” he finally answered the question his grandmother asked. “And she would tell me to stop sitting here and do something to show how I felt.”
His grandmother smiled and patted his hand. “Go do it, Gabe. Whatever it is, go do it.”
He stood and then bent down to pull her into a hug. Oh, his grandmother seemed so much smaller than he remembered, her shoulders delicate and almost fragile under his touch.
“Bring her back,” she said into his shoulder.
“I will,” he said. “If I can bring Anna back, I will.”
19
Three days of nothing but bingeing on Netflix hadn’t done a thing to cure the ache in Anna’s heart. After returning home, she’d showered and dropped into bed, exhausted. And once there, she hadn’t wanted to leave. Instead, she opted to take the blanket off the bed and drag it to the couch, where she’d camped out. She hadn’t even bothered getting dressed. Pajamas were good enough for bingeing on TV. Three days, and still she missed Gabe.
And not just him. Anna missed the Elk Lodge, and even the way Gabe bickered with his brothers. She missed baking cookies with him in that little hotel kitchen. She missed sitting down with Elin in her beautiful apartment. And she missed—
A knock at the front door of Anna’s one-bedroom apartment was the first thing to jar her from the routine she’d fallen into. But she wasn’t ready to return to the real world. Better to ignore it.
Another knock, this one louder and more insistent. “Anna? I know you’re in there. I can hear the TV.”
Elena. “I’m coming,” she hollered, but didn’t lift her head off the pillow. It was so far from here to the door, and her limbs felt tired and achy like she’d recently finished running a marathon. Anna had run a marathon once, just because it had seemed like something she should try. Something she could make conversation about with clients. This was worse.
But after a few more heartbeats, she took a deep breath, hauled herself out from under the cocoon of blankets and headed for the front door. Even the lock seemed to resist her, sticking a few times before it finally came open.
The doorknob turned before she could open it. Anna stepped back out of Elena’s way as her friend barged in the way she always did. Elena stepped into the kitchen, separated from the living room only by one countertop, and set an armful of bags from her restaurant on the counter.
Turning back to face her, Elena gave her a once-over look from top to bottom. “You look terrible,” she announced. “I thought you might be dead.”
“I’m not dead.” Anna shrugged.
“Your phone hasn’t been on in days.”
“Yeah, well—” She gazed off into the distance. Leaving the phone off had seemed like the far better idea. If her phone stayed off, she wouldn’t be forced to acknowledge Gabe hadn’t called to make things right. The flip side was she couldn’t see if anybody else called, but that was a small price to pay. “I didn’t feel like talking.”
“You can’t send a single text that says, ‘flying back sooner than expected, lots of work’ and then go off the radar for three days,” Elena scolded. “People worry about you. Namely me.”
Anna pushed a hand through her hair.
Elena seemed to read her mind. “Go take a shower and change into some fresh clothes. I’ll be here when you get out, and we’re going to talk.”
Anna did as she was told, knowing it was useless to argue with Elena once she started down the motherly path. The hot water felt good. Even the steady draw of the brush through her hair felt good. She twisted the locks into a neat bun and pulled on a pair of yoga pants and a top. Her suitcase sat glaring at her from the corner of the room, a painful reminder of what happened. “I’ll return you soon enough,” she muttered. “Wow. I must be losing it. I’m talking to a suitcase and myself.”
She headed back to the living room, only to discover Elena had cleaned up the place. Her stackable washer rumbled in the background,