Page 36 of Hidden Resolution

“Can I hug you?” she croaked.

“Yes, if you’re careful of my right side.”

As they embraced gently, Zack offered up a quick excuse and left them to reconnect.

The next thirty minutes were all Erica and what had happened, how she was feeling, and everything else Shonda had missed.

But the conversational table turned, and vulnerability gripped her.

“So, where the hell have you been? I thought you were only going for a week?” Erica asked.

“Ten days,” Shonda corrected with a weak smile.

“Okay, ten days. It’s been fourteen. You couldn’t shoot me a text to say you were still alive?”

“I’m sorry, E. I met someone. He’s amazing.”

“I sense abutcoming on. What’s up?”

Leave it to Erica to zero in. Maybe it was her writer brain always scanning people for emotional nuances. Or maybe it was just because they’d known each other forever.

“He’s a player. I’m crazy about him, but I can’t say he didn’t clarify from the get-go he wanted nothing more than a holiday fling.”

“So, you’re pining away for a guy you met in the islands? It should help that you’re home, right?”

“It should,” Shonda agreed glumly.

“But it doesn’t,” Erica concluded, reading her like a book.

“He lives in Stonebrooke.”

“You’re shitting me!”

“No. And should I mention he is the brother of your new boyfriend?”

“What? Which one?”

“Mason,” Shonda said.

“Ah.”

“‘Ah’? What do you mean by ‘ah’?” Shonda demanded hotly. She’d jumped up to pace, then stopped cold at the foot of the bed, scowling. “What do you know?”

“Don’t you remember him from school? He was actually the most serious one of all the Sharp brothers. If I recall correctly, he was dating Melanie Simms,” Erica explained.

Shonda blinked, trying to summon the face to match the name. “Melanie Simms? You mean the girl who died in the car accident up by Makeout Point? But wasn’t she there with Tommy Travers?”

“Yep. Can you imagine discovering your one true love was cheating on you, because she died in a wreck with another guy?” Erica asked with an eye flare and grimace. “Zack told me that, after finding out, Mason developed a devil-may-care attitude. The only thing he doesn’t play at is business. Supposedly, he is phenomenal at marketing.”

The air whooshed from Shonda’s lungs. The sinking feeling she’d been ignoring all morning returned with a vengeance.

Mason would never love her. He wouldn’t let himself be vulnerable to hurt again. The certainty attached to her conclusion was inescapable.

Erica reached out and gripped her hand, anchoring her. No words were necessary. They never were. Their friendship had always operated on an unspoken frequency, similar to twins. They knew when to give space, when to circle the wagons, and when to simply sit in silence, absorbing situational shock.

“Are you planning to stay with me?” Shonda asked after clearing the lump from her throat.

Erica turned to the window, displaying a flicker of vulnerability before she could mask it.