Page 62 of When I Picture You

?

1

The way Nash looks at her you can tell he loves her so much

Reply

?

348

18

Ican’t believe we’re doing this,” Lola said.

Renee let her eyes stray from the highway that curved around Lake Michigan, to steal a look at her passenger. Lola was staring out the window, an easy smile on her face as she watched the indigo sky darken.

“People take vacations, Lo. Happens all the time,” Renee said, though she felt like they were getting away with something too. Driving a rental car down US-131 with Lola in the passenger seat shouldn’t have been so thrilling, but knowing that it was just the two of them—no crew, no security detail, and soon, once they got to Deborah’s cabin, barely even cell reception—had her feeling a little giddy.

It hadn’t felt real until she and Lola were at the Van Nuys Airport that morning. When Renee had told Lola she wanted to take her to the cabin up north for a few days, they weren’t yet a full block away from theFit to Livepremiere. She’d expected Lola to balk at the idea, but she’d asked when.

“As soon as we can,” Renee had said.

“Tomorrow?”

“I’ll buy tickets on my phone, right now.”

“No, wait—let me make a call first.”

Lola was dialing before Renee could protest. She was probably calling Gloriana or Cassidy, derailing their secret getaway into a snarl ofpermissions. “Hey, Tati. How are you? … Honestly, not great. I need a favor. Can I use your jet? Normally I use the label’s but I don’t want to ask—ha, I know, you get it … Flying out tomorrow and then back in”—Lola’s eyes cut to Renee—“five days?”

Five days.

Less than twenty-four hours after Lola was hyperventilating in a movie theater bathroom, they landed at Cherry Capital Airport outside Traverse City, Michigan, in Tatiana Jones’s private jet.

Night had fallen by the time they’d collected the groceries Renee had ordered on her phone and turned onto a gravel drive fringed with trees. Winter came quick up north. Though it was early October, the leaves were already yellow, or blanketing the ground. Soon the muted green of pine needles would be the only source of color. Renee’s blood thrummed with anticipation as they pulled up to the house. She killed the engine and flung open her door. Crisp air welcomed them in a chilly embrace. “I want to show you something.”