bathroom. It had all been fun and sex and a lot of drinking. They'd certainly never had to deal with one or the other being sick until he'd gotten injured, and that hadn't gone well.
Well, he and Nikki were done, and she was definitely leaving with her pride intact. He didn't know if her bravado was a defense mechanism or if she was even more narcissistic than he'd realized, but she'd turned the breakup into his biggest mistake, not hers. That was fine. He didn't care what she had to say about him. He was just happy not to have to deal with her anymore.
As for the media, who knew what would come next? That was probably in Nikki's hands. But she'd spent a lot of time on the story she'd spun today. Hopefully, she'd just stay quiet for a while and let everything die down. That would be the best thing, although he suspected he was being overly optimistic.
Sitting up, he grabbed his phone and punched in Keira's number. She probably didn't want to hear from him, but he needed to speak to her.
"Hello?" she said, a wary note in her voice.
"It's Dante."
"I know. Why are you calling?"
"Two reasons. I broke up with Nikki."
A longer silence than he would have expected followed his words. "Okay," she said finally. "Why?"
"A lot of reasons. She's leaving Whisper Lake tonight. I wanted you to know in case any of the media hang around town to ask you about her or us."
"Is her story about us all being friends going to hold?"
"I don't know. I'm sorry she ambushed you the way she did."
"I was surprised, but I wanted to help. I felt a little guilty that things weren't completely innocent between us."
"You have nothing to feel guilty about. And I didn't break up with her because of you. That's the truth, Keira."
Silence met his words. Then she said, "You mentioned you were calling for two reasons. What's the other reason?"
"When I left the rehab center today, I witnessed an argument between Mark Langley and a middle-aged, red-haired woman. She told him he was going to be sorry. He said he was already sorry. He told her it was over, and she said he was wrong. Then he jumped into his car and left. A moment later, she did the same."
"Really? Did he say her name?"
"No. He didn't say her name, and I don't know who she was."
"Maybe it's that woman, Mandy, the one who called him a few days ago when I was in his office. He said basically the same thing on the phone."
"I know you think this Mandy is the sister of the woman who died. Have you seen her photo online? Does she have red hair?"
"I never looked Mandy/Amanda up. I stopped digging. I thought I was being paranoid."
"Maybe you weren't."
"Maybe I wasn't. Thanks for telling me."
"Of course. Keira?? He wanted to say something, but he wasn't sure where to begin.
"Just say goodnight, Dante."
"I'll say goodnight, but I don't want to say goodbye."
"You will eventually."
"But that's not today. So, I'll see you around." He disconnected the call before she could say the word he didn't want to hear.
Chapter Thirteen
"I don't want to hurt you," Hannah said as she came into Keira's boutique late Friday afternoon.
Looking into her friend's troubled gaze, Keira steeled herself for what was coming. "Let's go in the back." She motioned for Connie to take care of their sole customer and then headed into the sewing room. "I know you're worried about your dress, Hannah," she said, as they moved into the next room. "The wedding is a week from tomorrow, and I haven't finished it yet. But I can promise you that it will be done." As Hannah opened her mouth, she rushed forward. "If for some reason, you don't want to wait, maybe you've found another dress you like better, it's fine. You can tell me. I'm very aware that my inability to finish the gown is stressing you out. I won't be hurt."
"It's stressing you out more than me," Hannah said, walking over to the gown that was hanging in plastic on a rack by the wall. "I told you it was beautiful weeks ago. But you keep insisting there's something more you want to do."
"There is. I want it to be perfect for you, Hannah."
Hannah turned to face her, giving her a bewildered smile. "Keira, I'm not perfect. I never have been. I have red hair and freckles and skin that hates the