It had been a year. Sal hadn’t found her. He’d moved on.
But he was still in her head, still on her skin and a big part of the reason she couldn’t let herself believe that she could have good things. Deserve good things. How could she, when she knew what happened the last time she’d let her guard down?
She was so sick of being scared.
This dream had been different from her previous nightmares of Sal. She hadn’t been revisiting her past. He’d been here. Defiling this place that had saved her. Talking about Liam. That had never happened before.
She had to talk to Kaya. After last night, she needed to make sure this dream was just that and not a warning of what was coming.
***
It was close to nine in the morning when she got to the door of Kaya’s small rental cottage. Dani let out a surprised squeak when it opened before she could knock, and Kaya was there, grabbing her arm and yanking her inside.
“How did you know?” She looked frazzled. Exhausted. Nothing like herself at all.
“Know what?” The only person who’d ever been able to put a dent in Kaya’s calm was Jace, so Dani half expected to find the button-pushing sous chef hovering over her shoulder. “What’s going on?”
Kaya dropped her arm and made a sound of frustration. “Sorry for the manhandling. I had a crazy night and I can’t seem to get my act together this morning.”
“I can relate.”
Kaya’s head tilted, eyes narrowing on Dani’s face. “What happened?”
Good question. She’d spent the morning driving around in her old Crown Victoria—the one she’d insisted on buying because it was in her price range, despite Liam’s concerns about the mileage—trying to figure that out.
She’d left early enough to avoid running into Liam and having to have that conversation. The oh-my-god-did-I-really-get-drunk-and-jerk-you-off conversation. She couldn’t handle it, not so soon after her dream of Sal. Being reminded of the consequences of her last mistake had her doubting herself. Doubting everything.
“I’m a little hungover, but fine,” Dani lied.
“Hungover? How long did that party last after I left?”
Long enough to have potentially destroyed the best relationship she’d ever had for a few kisses and life-changing orgasms. Long enough for her to wish they could go back to cuddling on the couch, taking care of each other and talking the way they used to, for hours about everything. Could any of that happen again without one or both of them thinking about what they’d done and how good it felt?
She didn’t think so. At least, she wasn’t sure she could. It might not have meant as much to him.
What would happen when Liam moved back to Texas and got caught up in his life again? Would they lose touch? Would he miss her? The only outcome that might be worse would be him staying in Sedona, giving in and making beautiful babies with Gillian.
He’d be blissfully happy, and look back and laugh about that one night when his drunk friend threw herself at him over pie. It was too painful to contemplate.
There really was no way for this to end well for her. Even if Liam wasn’t intentionally cruel—and it wasn’t in him to be—she would still get hurt.
Maybe he feels the same way you do.
But hoping for something like that was asking for disappointment. He’d already done more for her than she’d ever expected. That had to be enough. If she were smart, she’d already be working on her Life After Liam Plan. She could really use Kaya’s advice. Along with needing to share her dream, it was one of the reasons she’d come here. But Dani wasn’t such a bad friend that she couldn’t see that Kaya was the one who needed help right now, so she forced herself to shift gears.
“For future reference, Bailey is a bad influence and you shouldn’t leave me alone with her again. But I’m here now and my head is still attached, so how can I help?”
Kaya glanced over her shoulder before lowering her voice. “The phone call I got last night? It was my aunt, who never calls me, letting me know my grandfather had gone missing. I came home to change and go out to look for him but… He was already here.”
She shook her head as though she still couldn’t believe it. “He walked here from the reservation. It takes nearly three hours to drive that route, and he walked it. Alone. I can’t believe he got this far without someone noticing.”
Dani couldn’t either. That was one hell of a walk. She got out of breath struggling up the beginner trails in Boynton Canyon. “Is he all right? Does he need to go to the hospital?”
“I don’t know.” Kaya ran a hand over her loosely braided hair, her expression troubled. “He’s one of the few people I’ve never been able to read. But he hasn’t gotten up from the couch since he woke up this morning, he’s refusing to let me take him home, and the Divine Darla has the flu.”