met Regan Wilde - Landel.” Confidence walks over to her. Her use of my maiden name surprises me. But, it, clearly, surprises Gigi more. The paper cup she’s holding slips from her hand and lands with a splatter at her feet. Confidence yelps and hops back. I stand to help, but Gigi stays frozen, not taking her eyes off me.
“Is she okay?” I ask.
Confidence glances at me and nods with a reassuring smile. “Noé?” she calls out to Tanaka’s assistant, and slides a protective arm around Gigi’s waist before she leads her from the room, without either of them saying another word.
I sit, barely registering when Noe comes in to mop up the spill. Gigi’s behavior just now was bizarre. I know very little about her. She’s Hayes’ aunt, but was disowned, when she ran with a man her father didn’t approve of. When her brother died, leaving Hayes an orphan, he went to live with her, and she raised him.
But I’ve been very curious about her lately. She was shot when a disgruntled employee went ballistic outside of the Rivers’ business headquarter. And, as far as I know, the last thing Remi did, before he hauled ass out of town, was visit her in the hospital.
She’s rebuffed all of our efforts to talk to her about his visit. And I felt bad harassing an old lady, who was recovering from a gunshot wound, and who probably knew nothing about whatever was up with Remi. But now, I wonder if there’s more there.
I get up and walk out to the reception area to see if I can catch them and maybe get her to talk to me. But when I get there, Confidence is walking back into the salon, alone.
“Where’s Gigi?” I ask, peering over her shoulder to see if I can catch a glimpse of her.
“I told her to go on home. She’s still healing from the gunshot and she’s tired…” Her eyes don’t meet mine and she swallows audibly.
The hair on the back of my neck stands up. “What’s wrong?”
She winces and sighs heavily before finally meeting my eyes. Her eyes are bleak. My heart stops. “Has something happened to Remi?” I can barely get the words out and sag with relief when she shakes her head in vigorous denial.
“No, but I do want to talk to you –”
“Mrs. Landel, your phone’s ringing.” Noé calls as he rushes over to us, holding my vibrating purse out to me.
I stifle my irritation at the interruption and take it from him. “You didn’t have to bring it out here.”
“It rang twice already, I thought maybe it was urgent.” A new worry blooms. Eva seems to be settling back into school after her suspension, but anyone calling three times in a row can’t be good news.
“Sorry,” I mutter to Confidence as I fish my phone out.
I let out a sigh of relief when the name Kal flashes on my screen. She’s Remi’s ex… the one who got away. A few days ago, she showed up looking for him. Last time we talked, she thought she had a lead on him and said she’d be in touch. He’s gone off the grid before. But never for this long and never without being in touch at least sporadically. I’ve been waiting for her to call and tell me what, if anything, she’s found.
The call rolls to voicemail before I can answer it. I hold my phone up to Confidence, “I need to take this, one sec.” I sit down in one of the waiting room chairs and call her back.
“Did you find him?” I skip the formality of a greeting when the call connects.
“Reggie?” My brother’s voice rings in my ears.
Wild relief rushes through me. Fear I’ve kept bottled up overflows and anger surges. I cover my eyes with my hands and start to sob. “Remi? Oh my god, is that you?”
“Yes. Hey, Reggie. Don’t cry. I’m sorry” Remi says in a soothing voice that makes my blood boil.
“Don’t you dare tell me not to cry, you asshole. You better be calling me from whatever hospital you’ve been laid up in - in a coma – unable use the phone for the last six months.” A bone deep fear that I haven’t allowed myself to acknowledge breaks and I yell at him through my watershed of tears.
“Regan. I haven’t been to fucking Disneyland, okay?” he interjects impatiently.
My anger pushes me to my feet. “Don’t you dare raise your voice at me Remington Wilde.