Page 43 of Love and Lies

“So a normal Saturday night, then?” I asked with a grin.

“Exactly.” She laughed. “Hey, did I hear correctly that the great Jess Coldwell is thinking about branching out from investing and opening his own place?”

I shot Thaz a glance. “You have a death wish, right?”

“Why are you looking at me?” he shot back. “Cass said it, not me.”

“Because of a rumor you started.”

“No, no, no. A few people may have asked me about opening a place, which I didn’t deny, and while we were on the subject I might have mentioned your name… but I never connected the two. I swear.” He put his hand on his heart.

Cassandra looked back and forth between us. “So it’s not true?”

I shook my head. “No. Balthazar just can’t accept that his dream isn’t going to come true.”

My buddy rolled his eyes, and while he was busy telling Cassandra that I was bound to come around at some point, I glanced back over at Helena, who was still sitting next to Pratt. If I wasn’t mistaken, they’d moved closer together in the last few minutes.

I wasn’t mistaken. I watched as Pratt stroked Helena’s cheek and leaned toward her, gritting my teeth. Not out of jealousy… or not just jealousy. It was mostly concern.

“I’m going over there,” I said, getting up.

“What are you planning to do?” Thaz grabbed hold of my arm. “You want to start a fight with Pratt? It doesn’t exactly look like Helena has a problem with him being in her personal space.”

He was right about that, even if I didn’t see the appeal. Okay, Pratt wasn’t bad-looking, and he could be charming—as long as you didn’t mess with him, at least. But he was also a piece of shit, and I didn’t want Helena anywhere near him.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I took it out. When I saw the name on the screen, I held my breath, forgetting about Helena and Pratt for a moment. I gave Thaz a wave. “I have to take this. It’s important.”

He nodded and continued speaking to Cassandra, while I gave Helena one last glance, making my way through the crowd and over to a door hidden almost seamlessly against the dark painted wall. Beyond it, a hallway led to the employee break room, empty at that time, since the club was so busy. I stepped inside and took the call.

“Hi, Mia.” My heart was in my throat.

“Hey, Jess. It’s been a while.” Her soft Australian accent awoke so many memories that I needed a second before I could speak again.

“Yeah, it has.” We hadn’t talked since we broke up—over Skype, because I hadn’t had time to go and visit her. We’d both sat in front of our laptops in tears, before we accepted that we had to end not just the relationship, but also, at some point, the call. That was the last time I’d heard her voice. After that, I’d talked to Paul on the phone a few times to sort out the transfer of the lodge, but I’d let that connection fall by the wayside as well. Instagram was the only channel I got any updates from, and at some point I’d seen on there that the pair of them had gotten together. So this call was very out of character.

“What time is it there?” Mia asked now. “I hope I didn’t wake you.” She’d often gotten confused about the time zones before, when we were long distance.

“You didn’t. It’s just after eleven at night, but I’m out anyway.” It must have been about three in the afternoon where she was. And warm, probably; it was late summer over there.

I heard her take a deep breath. “How are you, Jess? Is New York still your own personal hell, or have you gotten used to it by now?”

“It’s the beginning of April and still only fifty degrees outside—does that answer your question?” I replied jovially. I didn’t want to tell her how I really felt. Even if talking to Mia felt strangely familiar, the times when we would have told each other everything were long gone. “And you guys? Is everything okay? With the lodge, I mean.” I didn’t need any updates about her relationship with Paul, that was for sure.

“Well… not really. That’s why I’m calling.” She hesitated briefly. “We’ve been having some issues recently. I wouldn’t ask if there was any other way… but there was this storm, and we couldn’t rent four of the bungalows, then the AC unit went bust, and—”

“How much do you need?” I interrupted; I didn’t want her to think she had to justify herself. She and Paul did a very good job with the lodge and didn’t have a lot of savings. If I hadn’t left, they wouldn’t have had these issues in the first place, so helping them out was a no-brainer.

“Not much,” she prevaricated. “Five thousand would cover it.”

“Is that all? Are you sure?” The damages she’d mentioned sounded like three or four times that amount.

“Yes. It’d be enough for us to apply for a loan.”

My heart sank. “You’d rather take out a bank loan with interest than borrow money from me?”

“Jess, it’s not about you. I know you would give us more. But Paul—” Mia broke off.

So that was how things stood. “Paul doesn’t know you’re calling me about this, does he?”