He sighs. “I feel like Nora is holding on for today. I wish there was a way to drag it out and keep her here longer for Nellie. Man, I’ve never felt so powerless in my life,” he says, pain clear in his voice.
“Bro, this has to be hard. I’m here when you need. Whatever you need,” I say. “Maybe you and Nellie should take a vacation when things settle. It’s on me. My gift to you guys.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to. Let me do this for you. Wherever you guys want to go.”
“Thanks, man. I’ll let you know. First, I need to get Nellie through today. I want this to be perfect for her. It has to be her dream wedding.”
“Are you kidding? Do you see the way she looks at you?” I chuckle. “This wedding could be in a cave with no light and not a crumb of food and she’ll still be happy as long as she’s married to you.”
“Yo, that reminds me. What happened to Missy? I would think she would have loved to come to something like this. She seems to like having her ass at family functions.”
I groan. “This is your wedding day, so I’m not going to answer that.”
“We’re going to talk about it sooner or later. I’ve had questions since you first brought her around.”
“Not today. Listen, I’m heading into the shower. I have some shit I need to handle before I head over to the house. See you soon. Love you, man.”
“Love you too.”
I toss the phone on the bed and head into the bathroom for a shower. My mind chucks question after question at me the entire time, almost causing me to lose track of time. The biggest question on my mind—what the hell does Roni plan to do when she gets here and how did she plan to find me when she took off?
Could Nate and I be assuming things? Maybe this is home for her. It’s possible that my mention of Seattle in the letter I left sparked a memory.
And you know that’s bullshit.
Do I ever. Which leads back to my other questions. What does she plan to do when she arrives?
I walk out of the bathroom, wrapping a towel around my waist. As I look at the clock, it’s clear that I totally lost all sense of time. I grab my phone from the bed and scroll to the number I saved for the phone I sent to Roni.
As I’m dialing, a notification comes up for one of the credit cards I gave her. I furrow my brows. She returned all the cards after her shopping trip. I move to my wallet to count and make sure I have them all.
Sure enough, I have the card she used. I open the notification up to see what the charge is for. A little digging and I find all I need to know. She has purchased a plane ticket and rented a motorcycle.
Only a few seconds and I’m able to get the plates and VIN number for the bike. Deciding not to call in a favor, unsure of sending a stranger to intercept her, I log into the GPS I had placed on the phone I sent her.
I’m glad I don’t need Felix or Wyatt for this. I shake my head as I see she’s indeed heading for me. However, I won’t be here when she arrives.
I contemplate sending her a message, but she’s on a bike. Her safety is more important to me. I don’t want her distracted.
A plan forms and I head over to the hotel phone to call the front desk. The perks of being in a suite will work out for me today. I grin as I think of Roni’s face when she finds out I’m two steps ahead of her.
“Good morning, Mr. Black. How can I help you?”
“I have a guest arriving this morning, but unfortunately I won’t be here when she arrives. Her name is Roni Black. I’ll provide you with a picture for reference.”
“Yes, sir. We will be on the lookout for her,” the concierge says. “Will there be anything else?”
“Actually, I want her to join me at my brother’s wedding. She’ll need a dress and heels. Please see to it that she’s provided with both and a car. I’ll drop the address at the desk when I depart along with that image. Place all charges on my account.”