a torrid affair.” Marin pursed her lips. “All of this happened because of the damn book.”
“All of this happened because it’s supposed to.” Abigale gingerly turned the pages, studying more of the instructions. She still needed to mail it to herself, and all sorts of crazy shit. She’d been so focused on the plan, and then on Zach, that she hadn’t been paying as much attention to the rest of it. “It happened because Zach’s been the one all along. And I never saw it.”
“You just weren’t ready to, sweetheart. And he never let you see it on his end.” Marin reached over and caught her hand, squeezed gently. “It’s happening now. Take it and grab it and don’t let go.”
A fist seized her heart and Abigale closed her eyes. “I don’t plan on it. I just . . . hell. What if I’m reading this wrong? What if you all are off base?”
Abigale blew out a breath. “Man, I hope not.” She plucked her shirt from her chest and eyed the new tattoo on her chest. It was covered by the dressing, angry and red and not at all the sexy little surprise she’d hoped to present him with, but he’d get the sentiment, she knew.
“He has an A on his chest,” she whispered.
“I know.” Marin glanced over her. “We’ve only had a hundred get-togethers a year, Abby. I see him without his shirt all the time. I asked him once what he was going to say when you finally noticed.”
Abigale arched a brow, waited.
“He told me that you never did notice all that much about him, so it wasn’t an issue.”
Abigale winced. “That’s not . . . completely true.” She’d noticed plenty about Zach. When she let herself look. She just hadn’t always let herself look. And now she couldn’t not look. “Marin, this is insane.”
“No. It’s completely sane, and it’s completely right. What’s insane is that it took you this long to notice. Any idea what you’re going to say to him?”
Abigale focused on the clock. “No. And the way traffic is going, I’ve got a while to figure it out.”
Time enough. Too long. Not long enough. Closing her eyes, she started to try to puzzle her way through everything that had to be said between them.
Chapter Twenty-two
Make yourself findable.
That was what Zane had said.
Zach had spent half the day at home, but Abby hadn’t shown up.
It was Tuesday. Tuesdays were a workday.
So maybe he should do the smart thing and get his ass to the office.
Of course, the last thing he wanted to do was work.
Still, he stomped through the back door of Steel Ink, up to the front, and watched as the employees scattered. All but Javi. Javi looked at him with a sidelong glance. “You look pissed.”
Zach didn’t respond to that. There wasn’t any point. “Has Abby called?”
“Nope.” He shrugged and said, “But if she does, I’ll make sure you get the call, boss. Promise.”
Zach grunted. As he turned around, he saw Keelie standing in the doorway to the hall. She held his gaze and he wanted to just push around her, but she had her tall, skinny frame planted there and unless he physically moved her, she wasn’t going to budge. He could tell that from the look in her eyes.
“What?” he bit off.
“Have you been able to talk to her?”
Baring his teeth at her in a mockery of a smile, he replied, “No. She’s avoided my calls and me ever since Sunday. Happy?”
“No.” Keelie looked away and took a deep breath. “I’ve tried to call her a few times, but she’s not answering the phone. Is she okay? Has anybody talked to her?”
He debated on whether or not he should just avoid answering that to make her feel bad. Part of him wanted to make her feel bad, part of him figured she deserved it. But the bigger part of him felt guilty for thinking that way. He didn’t need to feel more guilty on top of everything else. When he could think without being pissed, worried, scared, he figured maybe Keelie hadn’t really meant any harm and maybe they could get past this. Maybe.
“Oh, she’s talking to people,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets and staring at her lowered head. “She’s just not talking to me. She’s talking to Marin. She’s talking to Zane. But she won’t talk to me.”