down. Picked it up again and pecked out a text message that took almost a minute to compose. Then he erased the whole thing. He couldn’t do this in a text. He’d have to tell her in person, and that wasn’t going to happen tonight, not when he looked like he’d just gone nine rounds in a boxing ring.
Not feeling that great, he finally wrote. Take a rain check?
He turned off his phone before he could see her answer.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Sienna had a craving for Ma’s baked ziti and meatballs. She had no idea what was on the menu tonight, but Ma hadn’t made Italian food in a while, so the chances were good. Between the fresh air, their anxious search for Dawn, and the awkward adrenaline spike of seeing Jason again, she was starving. Ma always served dinner right at six, which meant Sienna had plenty of time to go home and change. Maybe even sneak in a cat nap.
Can I bring anything for dinner? She kept one eye on the parking lot and Jason’s yellow Volkswagen. When he swung by her car and beeped, she gave a casual wave and then slid down in the seat. Just in case he meant to roll down his window and issue her a few more warnings about Dash.
Oh honey I thought I told you? We’re going to Silver Valley. Your father has a dr. appt & then he’s taking me to dinner.
Sienna rubbed her finger over the screen. Ma must’ve forgotten to tell her, or she’d been so preoccupied with imagining Dash naked that she’d missed the message altogether. Well, that was nice. Her parents rarely went out together, just the two of them. She wondered where they’d left Louie. After his suspension, he’d been on a short leash.
Your brother is with the Adams, her mother added, as if reading Sienna’s mind. I asked Doris to send me hourly reports.
She couldn’t tell if Ma was joking. Probably not. The Adams were about as straight-laced a family as you could get, next to the Kingsleys. Their only daughter Tera changed her hair color monthly, but other than that she was an honors student who’d tutored Louie back in middle school. Since they lived right across the cul-de-sac, they were an easy ask when Ma needed a favor. Bet Louie’s dying right now. Doris Adams usually roped her guests into playing cards or watching political talk shows and discussing the fate of the country.
Have a great time! she wrote back. She slid up in the seat and started her car. She thought about texting Dash, but he’d mentioned having a few hours’ of work at the gym. No reason to bother him now.
Back at her apartment, she poured a glass of wine and considered her options for dinner. She did have some cold cuts in the fridge. She could order delivery from Gino’s Pizzeria, two blocks away. Or she could venture downstairs to Zeb’s. She glanced outside. After the frigid cold of winter, Whispering Pines was enjoying an early spring thaw. Tiny buds clustered on the trees along Main Street. Birdsong filled the air. Best of all, the sun stayed up longer, lingering on its way into the hills.
Sienna sipped her wine and watched the Friday late afternoon traffic on the street below. Whispering Pines never got much of a rush hour, but at half past five there was a steady stream of cars and pickups passing her window. She recognized a few. There went Connie Masters in her red BMW SUV, probably toting all six kids inside. And Bruce DeLeon in his sticker-covered pickup with the bumper hanging off the back. She smiled. How long would it take for her to feel comfortable when she moved to London? Would she immediately put down roots the way Max had? Or would she miss the ones she was leaving behind?
As she absently counted cars and tried to guess who drove them all, a small red sedan pulled to the curb, engine running, flashers on. Trouble? Sienna leaned closer to the glass but couldn’t make out the faces of anyone inside. The car looked familiar, but a half-dozen people in town probably drove the same one. The engine wasn’t smoking and all four tires were intact, so those were good signs. Maybe the driver was lost? Finally the passenger door opened and a man stepped out. He bent down and said something through the window, pounded a fist on the roof of the car, then scowled