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Clearing my throat, I fought to regain control of the situation. “The resort doesn’t have a cat.”

I was still wary of guests being potentially allergic. On top of that, I didn’t get any work done when Duchess was roaming the halls. Because she didn’t roam. Now that we’d officially brought her inside to get away from the cold, she sat in my office and stared at me while I worked. And unless Noah came in the office to tell me something, her attention never wavered.

“I’m thinking about bringing her home, actually.” It was the first time I said those words aloud and my mother squealed on the line.

“Oh, that’s fantastic!”

“Noah likes the cat.”And I gave Noah what he wanted.That and I read pets were good for anxiety. If Duchess had the potential to help with some of his anxiety, then I’d feel guilty as hell for being the reason he didn’t have her.

Besides, the cat was kinda cute. She had a staring problem but she didn’t raise hell. I could deal with that.

“Oh, I have to go tell Carolyn about the luncheon tomorrow. Bye, Grey!”

Her heels clicked away and it was just me and my dad on the line again.

“I’ll let you go,” I told him, feeling restless. I should have sat in the sauna at the resort to release some tension once I finishedwork, but I rushed home because I wanted to see True before she left for her date with Noah tonight.

“I’m not in a rush,” my dad offered as if he’d read my mind.

Silence dominated the line until I found the words.

“I don’t know what it means. Am I bisexual? Have I always been bisexual and didn’t know it?” Why didn’t I feel this for anybody else before Noah? All I knew was that my feelings went deeper than friendship.

My dad cleared a cough from his throat. “Why does it have to mean anything? There are a lot of people out there living life the way they want. That’s between you and the people you love. If you wanna put a label on it once you figure it out, then fine. It doesn’t change anything.”

“Yea…right. I hear you, dad. I’ll give it time. Like you said, I could just be caught up in the heat of the moment. Thanks for letting me rant.”

“You ain’t gotta thank me for that, Greyson. You should call me more. I miss talking to you. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

We ended the call and I walked along the path to True’s cabin. I found her front door unlocked and opened, but when I knocked, I didn’t get an answer.

“True!” I called through the screen door. Nothing.

I knocked again.

“Red!”

Nothing.

I opened the screen door and walked in, expecting to hear the shower or music coming from her room while she got ready. Instead, I found every room empty.

Retracing my steps to the front of her house, I checked to make sure I hadn’t hallucinated seeing her car. Even if she was gone, why had she left the door unlocked?

I pulled the knot of my tie loose and walked outside, taking a left to head to the back of her house.

She wasn’t on the side or behind it, so I walked a few feet into the clearing behind her cabin.

My shoes crunched over the dead leaves on the ground while my head was on a swivel.

I wasn’t scared. My gut told me she was fine. But I still wanted to know where the hell she was.

“True!” I stopped walking to listen for a response. All I got in return was an echo of footsteps coming from my right.

So, I went right.

The footsteps stopped every few feet and I stopped too to call her name, but never got an answer.