But she would wind up seeing him.
Detective Joe Brentwood would call her, and Jeremy’s eyes would widen when he saw her, and she could only imagine his anger—and his opinion, whether kept inside or voiced out loud. “My friend is in trouble, and you’re going to bring a psychic quack in on it?”
“Will there be anything else?”
The waitress startled Rowenna, who barely managed not to jump. “No. Thank you. May I just get the check, please?”
As soon as she had paid the bill, she slipped out and hurried to her car. He wouldn’t be heartbroken to discover her gone, and she knew that even though he owned one-third of the Flynn plantation, he wasn’t living out there and instead was staying at a small, privately owned hotel just the other side of Jackson Square.
Her own hotel was just down Royal, and as she drove those few blocks, she couldn’t help wondering whether she would be stuck dreaming about him for days to come, and paradoxically hoping both that he wouldn’t show up in Salem…and that he would.
Upstairs in her room, there was little to do. She had organized almost everything over the last few days, knowing she would be heading out in the morning.
Feeling absurdly disconsolate, she sat on the bed, then nearly jumped sky-high when her cell phone rang. She expected it to be Jeremy, wondering why she had walked out on him without even saying goodbye.
So much for psychic connections. It was Kendall.
“Hey,” Kendall said.
“Hey, yourself.”
“You’re leaving tomorrow—you weren’t even going to call?” Kendall asked.
Guilt washed over her. She had known Kendall for years, having first met her at Tea and Tarot, the shop Kendall had owned until recently, when she’d sold out to an employee, so she could give her full attention to her marriage and the theater she had dreamed of founding since college.
“No, of course not,” Rowenna said. It wasn’t a lie. She would have remembered to call. Wouldn’t she?
“Why don’t you come out for dinner?” Kendall asked her. “We won’t keep you late.”
Rowenna looked around the room. She thought about lying, about telling Kendall that she was a mess, that she had a million little things to do to get ready to leave, after having lived in a hotel room for two weeks.
But she wasn’t going to. Kendall had been her friend forever. Yes, she was married to Jeremy’s brother, but that wasn’t worth ruining a friendship.
“I just had a late lunch,” Rowenna said.
“I won’t make you eat a lot,” Kendall told her.
Rowenna laughed. “Sure, I’ll drive on out. Thanks. It will be good to say goodbye one last time.”
“Hey, don’t say that,” Kendall protested.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. I mean, before going home.”
“Great.”
“Hey, you know, you guys could come up my way for Thanksgiving,” Rowenna told her.
“It’s hard to leave here right now. I’ve got the little kids doing a First Thanksgiving play on the Wednesday right before. But Aidan and I will come up soon. I promise. Come on over now, why don’t you? Or as soon as you’re packed and ready. Is your flight early?”
“No, it doesn’t leave until noon.”
“Great,” Kendall said. “Get your butt on over here, then. Or, even better, Jeremy’s heading out to talk to Aidan about something, so he can pick you up. I’ll have him call you to tell you what time. See you soon.”
“No! No, no, I’d rather have my own car. In fact, maybe I should just stay here and get some things taken care of. Kendall?”
Rowenna realized she’d been talking to the ether. Kendall had hung up.
Great. Just great.
What to do now? Behave normally, that would help.
The phone rang again. She hoped against hope it was Kendall calling back, but of course it wasn’t.
It was Jeremy.
“I hear I’m picking you up. Would an hour be all right?”
“It would be fine, but I’m not sure I should go.”
“You have to go. You picked up the lunch check. I owe you a meal, but since my sister-in-law is taking care of that, I’ll have to settle for playing chauffeur. By the way, I’m sorry my call took so long you decided to ditch me.”
She winced. She would have loved for him to speak to her so pleasantly a few weeks ago.
“So…an hour?” he asked.
“Sure, fine, thanks.”
When she hung up, Rowenna hesitated, then put through a call to Joe Brentwood.
“Hey,” he said, picking up his cell phone. “You still coming home tomorrow? I’d like your take on something that happened here.”
“Joe, you’re supposed to say you’ve missed me and you’re delighted I’m coming home soon.”
“I miss you and I’m delighted you’re coming home soon. And have I got an interesting case for you.”
“It’s about a man named Brad Johnstone and his missing wife, Mary, right?” she said with a sense of fatality.