space, the freedom. He sighed. “I didn’t want to hear about Allie. It hurt too much.”
“Ugh,” Hayley groaned. “I knew about it for five months, Gav. It was killing me not to tell you, but I knew you’d freak. And then I finally couldn’t take it anymore. But you weren’t calling me back and I didn’t know if you’d gotten the message or what. I knew you were going to freak,” she said again.
“Well, I think it’s safe to say you were right on that one,” Gavin said.
“So, she’s in Bend with you?”
“Yep.”
“Does she like it? Is she staying? Is this for good? Are you going to get married?”
He chuckled, even as he wanted to sigh heavily. He didn’t know the answer to any of those questions. They hadn’t had a conversation beyond him waking her up, making her eat and drink and then asking Are you ready to get up? and her saying Not yet.
“She’s been in bed since we got here.”
“Good for you,” Hayley said.
He laughed out loud at that. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, but not like that.” Then he did sigh. “She’s exhausted. And sick.” He felt pretty exhausted himself.
“But she wants to be there. I think that’s a good thing,” Hayley said, sounding more like the friend who was always on his side.
Even when he acted like an idiot, Hayley had his back. Not that she wouldn’t arrest him if he deserved it. Plenty of times she’d told him to pull his head out of his ass when he needed it.
But even she hadn’t been able to advise him on the impasse he and Allie had reached sixteen months ago. Allie was determined to stay in Promise Harbor and he was just as determined to be anywhere else.
“I think she needs to be here,” he told Hayley. “She needs someone to take care of her for a change. She needs to be far away so that they can’t need her.”
“I hope it works out this time, Gav,” Hayley said sincerely.
“Thanks. I need you to be sure everyone knows she’s okay. She’s here with me and she’s staying. Just make sure no one’s freaking out. Like Owen,” Gavin said of Allie’s dad. “Or Sophie.”
Sophie Brewster was Josh’s mom, but the families had always been so close that Gavin knew Sophie thought of Allie as another daughter. Allie’s mom had been Sophie’s best friend, and Gavin was sure Lily’s death had hit Sophie as hard as anyone.
“Or Josh?” Hayley asked dryly.
“Yeah, you can tell Josh that he’s lucky I don’t come back there and kick his ass for letting Allie get this stressed and sick.”
Hayley chuckled. “Couldn’t tell him even if I wanted to. He took off.”
Gavin scowled. “What do you mean?”
“He left.”
Gavin could tell that Hayley was grinning widely.
“Left?”
“Went to Greenbush Island.”
There was something in Hayley’s tone that caught Gavin’s interest. What wasn’t she saying? “Why there?”
“All I know is that he’d booked the honeymoon suite at the Oceanside Inn there.”
Yeah, that was all she knew. Sure it was. Hayley was a great cop and loved knowing stuff other people didn’t. She had contacts all over. If Josh Brewster left town and she wanted to know where he went and why, she’d know.
“So he went on the honeymoon?” Gavin asked. Hey, the guy had paid for the tickets. Maybe he wanted to get drunk on a beach instead of drinking in Promise Harbor, where everyone knew he’d been left at the altar. Gavin couldn’t say he blamed him.
“Technically he went to look for Allie.”
“Allie’s not on Greenbush Island.”
“I know.”
“You lied to him?” Gavin knew Hayley was a good friend.
“Didn’t have to. He didn’t ask me.”
“Convenient.”
“Everyone knows we’re close, but maybe Allie didn’t tell him we still keep in touch. Whatever he didn’t know before the wedding, I’m sure his mother filled him in on.”
Gavin grinned. He and Hayley had definitely had some fun. It had been minor things—parties at the river, underage drinking, sneaking into the swimming pool after midnight, taking the principal’s car for a joyride—stuff that hadn’t hurt anyone but had made them a bit notorious.
“Well, maybe looking for her is just his excuse to go off by himself and lick his wounds,” Gavin said. He paused for a moment, wondering if he’d feel a stab of guilt over Josh Brewster’s wounds. Hmm. Not a one.
“Oh, he didn’t go alone,” Hayley said brightly. “He took Devon Grant.”
“He took another woman?” Gavin asked, amazed. Sure, Allie had left him at the altar for another