Her mouth was full of toothpaste when Kendall appeared in the doorway. “All done. But leave your suitcase, okay? I’ll keep it in my car. You’ve still got the toiletries to pack. Are you going to put on makeup?”
Still vigorously scrubbing her teeth, Saffron eyed her makeup bag and shook her head. “No time.”
“Then leave it all to me.” Kendall pulled a granola bar from her purse. “Eat this on the way, okay? I don’t want you passing out from lack of food. They don’t taste great—I think they’re too healthy for that—but they always make me feel less nauseated.” She laughed, patting the tiny baby bump on her lower abdomen.
Saffron spat out the toothpaste, rinsed her mouth, and hugged her sister. “Thank you.”
“Don’t worry about anything. I’ll make sure I get it all packed.”
“It should mostly be in the suitcase already,” Saffron said, stuffing her phone into her purse. “And I told them I was checking out today, but be sure to turn in your key card.”
“I will.” They hugged again.
“Okay, I’m off.” Saffron hurried past her and opened the door. At the last minute, she remembered to shove her feet into the sandals she’d thrown from her suitcase.
“Good luck!” Kendall called.
Saffron sprinted to the elevator, mentally screaming at the couple who held the door for their two children coming at a snail’s pace toward them from down the hall. Of all the days for children to be slow. The parents nodded at her, and she smiled, all the while thinking, Hurry, hurry, hurry.
Wait, the stairs. She didn’t have her suitcase with her, so the stairs were a better option. She left the elevator at a run. Despite her annoyance, she was practically cruising on air. She was going to see Vaughn! What would he say? What if she’d hurt him too badly for him to forgive her blindness?
No, she wouldn’t dwell on that. She’d make it up to him somehow.
She munched Kendall’s granola bar on the freeway. Her sister had been right that it wasn’t very good, but she swallowed the dry bits down with a bottle of water she had left over from their trip to Vegas. The cars around her seemed to amble slowly, getting repeatedly in her way. So much for the idea of Californians being speed demons.
Would she make it in time?
Finally, she spied the exit for Winchester. She steered off the freeway and followed the directions her phone called out in a mechanical voice. Twice she made the wrong turn, which she blamed on Google. They were going to hear feedback from her, that was for sure.
When the Datatoon building appeared, she almost missed the turn. She drove up to the main entrance and parked in a visitor stall at two minutes before ten. There were a dozen other cars, but she couldn’t begin to guess if one might be a rental belonging to Vaughn.
She waited two minutes before driving around to the back of the two-story building, which took longer than expected because it was deceptively larger than it appeared from the front. She parked and watched a few employees enter the building, using a key card to get in. Vaughn wouldn’t have one of those, so back around to the front it was. He must have arrived before she had, which seemed likely since he’d want to make a good impression. Should she go inside and ask? Maybe leave a message for him? She wouldn’t want to endanger his job prospects by interrupting.
She was halfway to the door when she glanced down and saw that her sandals, one pink and one yellow, weren’t matching. Even worse, she was still in her pink polka-dotted pajama shorts. At least her maroon D-backs tee was clean. But had she brushed her hair? She hurried back to the car to rake her fingers through her hair and wipe off any smudged mascara.
Her phone rang, jolting her from her efforts. Halla. She grabbed it. “Oh, Halla! I’m a mess. You should see me.”
“It’s going to be okay. Did you find him yet?”
“I got here too late. Wait. How did you know?”
“Kendall and I bonded that day we went to the beach. She’s as good as one of us now. And since you didn’t bother to call me, I had to get the scoop from her.”
“I’ve been a little occupied.” She’d meant to call Halla last night, but after researching Datatoon, she’d been too tired to rehash what had happened between her and Tyson.
“That’s okay. What do you mean, you’re a mess?”
“I was in such a hurry to get out here that I’m all mismatching, and I didn’t comb my hair.”
Halla laughed. “Yes, but you did brush your teeth.”
“Can’t believe she told you that.”
“She did. And apparently Vaughn has magical kissing abilities you didn’t tell me about—and I know you’ve kissed him plenty before.”
“It was him all along,” Saffron said. “And I have to make it up to him. But I don’t know if he rented a car, took a bus—do they even have buses in Winchester?—or if a friend dropped him off. Maybe he rescheduled. He could be back in Arizona for all I know.”
“Well, you can either wait out there for a few hours and see if he shows up, or go inside and ask for him.” Halla paused before adding, “Or you could ask your incredibly talented blogger friend who just happened to receive a text from him a few minutes ago.”
“What? Really? You did?”
“Yeah. After Kendall told me where you’d gone, I texted him and asked when he was coming to get his car. He said he was heading into a job interview, so he hadn’t finalized his plans, but he’d let me know for sure after he talked to the friend he was staying with.”
Saffron’s gaze rose to the building, a rush of anticipation setting her heart pounding. Vaughn was in there somewhere. “I don’t want to interrupt his interview,” she said. “But what if the friend works here? What if they leave out the back door?”
“You’ll have to go in. Don’t worry about what you look like. I’ve seen you in the mornings, and you’re beautiful. Besides, he loves you no matter what. Now go get him! And this time call me after it’s over. Don’t make me get things second-hand.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
Halla’s peptalk giving her courage, Saffron threw her phone into the passenger seat and went back to setting order to her hair. She’d slept on it wrong, and there was a weird cowlick on one side, but a little water tamed it down a bit. Well, if you closed your eyes halfway and looked at it sideways. At least the mascara came off with a little bit of the petroleum jelly she kept in her purse for impromptu hiking trips with Vaughn. She found a lip gloss as well and pinched some color back into her cheeks—not that she’d need color if she was going inside dressed like this. Her face would likely be red with embarrassment.
And the shoes. Did she go barefooted or with the mismatching sandals? She finally opted for bare feet. Saying she ran off without shoes was better than admitting she was so distracted that she couldn’t match her own shoes.
Or maybe there were some in her trunk. She got out to look and found a pair of old blue tennis shoes she’d tossed inside over a month ago because the sole of one had torn almost completely off. But they matched! She put them on and flapped up to the building, the loose sole catching with every step.
“May I help you?” A receptionist asked, looking up from her computer screen. She was one of those women who were handsome and on the muscular side rather than slender and beautiful. Her long dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she wore no makeup on her square face. Her T-shirt had Datatoon stamped across the front. If they were that casual here, maybe Saffron wouldn’t end up too embarrassed.
Saffron tried not to flap too loudly as she moved up to the desk. “I’m looking for a friend of mine, and he’s here for an interview, so I don’t want to interrupt, but I wanted to wait here for him. Maybe you could let him know after the interview?”
“Oh, you must mean Vaughn.” The woman’s smile widened. “He’s here. But it’s hardly an interview. We all know Vaughn and would take him back in a heartbeat. He’s basically here to see our new computer upgrades. We’re hoping to convince him to abandon academia.”
/> “I don’t think that’ll be too hard. It’s his cousin’s river rafting business that keeps taking him back to Arizona, not teaching.”
“I know, right? I never figured him as a teacher.”
“He’s actually really great, but his first love will always be animation.”
The receptionist picked up a phone. “What did you say your name was? I’ll let him know he has a visitor.”
“Oh, no!” Saffron hurried to say. “I can wait. As long as he comes out this way.”
“If they’re playing the new game, that could be forever.”
“Um . . . I kind of want to surprise him.” Because he might not want to see her otherwise. “Please could I just wait?”
The woman’s face turned thoughtful. “I think I’m getting it now. From what he’s said, I gather it’s not teaching or the rivers keeping him in Arizona, but a woman. Are you her?”
Saffron knew her face was turning red. “Uh, yeah. I don’t know. I mean, I might have been for a few months, but we had a . . . thing yesterday, and I made a stupid choice.”
“Was there lots of yelling?”
The eager question invited confidence. “Not really. But there was this kiss . . .” Saffron paused and leaned on the counter. “A really amazing kiss and . . . please, I need to talk to him. I can sit here all day, as long as he comes out this way.”
“Are you kidding? You can’t wait to see him when you’ve shared an amazing kiss.” The woman’s eyes sparkled. “This is the most exciting thing that’s happened here since Sandra in accounting was proposed to through an animation hidden in one of our games. As if she would have ever found the animated ring they put inside an ancient jewelry box. Dumb programmers. She’s never played a game in her life. If I hadn’t given her the heads up, those too wouldn’t be married now.” She pulled the phone to her ear, her fingers dancing over the buttons. “Let me ask what they’re doing. Because like I said, if they’re testing the new game, it’s better that we interrupt.”
“No, really I—”
She held up a finger, signaling Saffron to wait. “Hey, you guys busy? You have Vaughn there, right? Yeah, I thought as much. Look could you send . . . oh, never mind, I’ll bring her down. You don’t need to know who. Just be ready for a visitor.”
She set the phone down and came out from behind the desk. Her eyes traveled down Saffron’s clothes. “Cute shorts. I keep telling them we should be allowed to wear shorts on casual Fridays, but no, they say jeans and T-shirts are casual enough for office staff. Not really fair when the designers and programmers can wear jeans anytime.” She rolled her eyes. “Come on.”
Saffron tried to walk naturally, but the flapping of the shoe was obvious. “Sorry,” she said. “Looks like my shoe has a problem.”
The receptionist gave a nod. “Tough day, huh? I’m Belladonna, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you,” Saffron said mechanically. At least the unusual name wouldn’t be hard to remember. “I’m Saffron.”
The corridor seemed to stretch out forever, and by the time they paused at a door, Saffron’s insides were in an epic battle. Anticipation was beating out nervousness, but not by much. Belladonna opened the door with a flourish and propelled Saffron inside a dimly-lit room where four men and a woman sat with eyes glued to two different monitors. Saffron didn’t recognize the men sitting in front of the nearest monitor, but one of the men staring at the second was Vaughn. No one looked in her direction or appeared to notice her entrance.
“Better act quick,” the first man said, his laugh more a cackle than anything else. “Or I’m going to smash you.”
“Oh, yeah? Well watch this bit of—” Whatever Vaughn was going to say was lost as he glanced up and saw Saffron. Immediately, he stood, his game forgotten. “Saffron? What are you doing here?”
“I’m-I’m-I’m . . .” Saffron’s voice wobbled embarrassingly. Here she was about ready to cry in a roomful of strangers.
Vaughn sprinted across the room, his arms going around her. “What happened?” His voice was tense and a little angry. “Did he hurt you?” His eyes held hers as he touched her face, as if searching for damage.
“No.” She shook her head. “It’s not that. It’s . . .”
All eyes in the room were fixed on them. Someone mumbled something about his avatar burning in a pit of fire, but Vaughn didn’t seem to care.
“Saffron?” He gently tucked a messy lock of hair behind her ear, his eyes straying down her body, still searching for signs of distress.
“I love you,” she said in a near whisper, bringing his attention back to her face.
His anger vanished. “You . . . what?”
With more strength, she added, “I love you with all that I am, Vaughn Abrams. I love you with everything inside me. No reservations.” Would he recognize the words he’d said to her yesterday? “This thing between us? There’s nothing stronger.”
Passion flared in his eyes. He kissed her then—to the whooping of the Datatoon employees. He kissed her eyes, her cheeks, her ears, and her mouth in succession before starting over again, creating a firestorm that threatened to consume her.
“Uh, let’s give these two a little privacy, huh?” Belladonna’s voice came from far away.
Saffron was vaguely aware of people filtering past them, a few making catcalls while others grumbled good-naturedly. Vaughn didn’t seem to notice. He ran his hands through her hair and down her back, all the while kissing her until she didn’t know which way was up. She was flying, tumbling through endless space where all that mattered was the touch of his lips against her skin.
“I’m sorry,” she muttered.
He put a finger over her mouth. “It doesn’t matter. Today, we start over.” She couldn’t help nipping his finger with her teeth. He groaned and bent his head to hers, urgently seeking her mouth.
“One more thing,” she said between his kisses. “Do you think you could take me parasailing today?”
Vaughn threw back his head and laughed. “I think you’ll need better shoes than the ones you broke on the river last month. And I’m positive pajamas shorts aren’t the best thing to wear under your wetsuit.”
She bit her lip. “You noticed, huh?”
“I noticed. Especially the shorts. So did every man in here, and every last one of them wanted to be in my place.” Vaughn pulled her to him, nearly pushing the breath from her lungs as he sought her lips again. “Parasailing, sure. Whatever you want.”
“I want you,” she said. “Only you.”
He kissed her again. “It’s about time.”
Epilogue
Saffron stood on the porch at Lily’s House as Vaughn and Lily’s husband, Mario, brought in Kendall’s belongings. At five months along, Kendall was showing enough to be obviously pregnant but not big enough to be uncomfortable. When Joel had continued his irresponsible ways, she had decided to take Lily up on her offer of coming to Lily’s House.
She would be helping out by driving the girls and making dinner, though Saffron knew for a fact that Kendall could barely make ramen noodles. It didn’t matter—Lily would teach her.
“I’m so thrilled you’re going to be close,” Saffron said, hugging her. Saffron had talked to her on the phone almost every day since her visit to Temecula, but they had only been together once in the past six weeks.
“I know. Me too!” Kendall looked past Saffron to where their mother stood awkwardly next to Lily. “Thanks for coming with me, Mom.”
“Well, I couldn’t very well let you pull that trailer all the way here alone, now could I?” Their mother’s voice held a hint of sharpness, but her face was relaxed. With her hair in an elegant twist and her blue pantsuit unwrinkled, she looked too perfect for having driven in a car for five hours. To Saffron, she added. “I plan to stay a few days to make sure Kendall’s settled. I’d like to have dinner with you, if you can spare the time.”
Before Saffron could answer, Lily said to Kendall, “How about we leave these two to talk whi
le I show you up to your room? Don’t worry. I made sure it wasn’t one of the rooms with the bunkbeds. I don’t want you climbing around.”
Kendall laughed. “Sure, I’d love to see it.” She started to leave but stopped short and pulled an envelope from her purse. She handed it to Saffron. “Oh, I almost forgot. Tyson stopped by last week and asked me to give you this.”
Saffron ripped open the envelope, already knowing what to expect. Sure enough, it was a wedding announcement for Tyson and Jana. He’d included a picture as well, and their happiness radiated from the page.
“So he finally proposed. Good.” She knew he’d made up with Jana from a few texts they’d exchanged, but seeing this made it more real. She didn’t have to worry about him anymore.
“I know, right?” Kendall said. She winked at Saffron and left with Lily, looking back once to mouth, “Be nice to Mom.”
Saffron turned to her mother. After long seconds of awkward silence, Saffron said, “I see you’re wearing the earrings I made. So how long did you know where I was?”
Her mother’s mouth twisted into something between a smile and a grimace. “Two months before you showed up in Temecula. Kendall left her Facebook up one day on our computer, and I saw you two were in contact, so I hired a private investigator to research where you were. He found the public records of your name change, but it listed this address”—she lifted a hand to indicate Lily’s House—“and you weren’t living here anymore. He gave me the URL to your online store.”
Saffron’s stomach ached, but she wasn’t sure exactly why.
“I just wanted to know you were okay.” Her mother paused, sighing heavily. “I hope that’s all right. I-I didn’t feel I could ask. I ordered the earrings because I wanted to have a part of you.”
Could her mother’s need be like the little jewelry box with the pictures Saffron kept of her son? She didn’t think it was exactly the same, but having that piece of her child helped her understand her mother’s motivation. Maybe there was a chance for them. In time. They’d never be best friends—and that was okay. Saffron had her sisters, Lily, and Vaughn’s mother, whose love and acceptance had already made her feel a part of his family.
Broken Lies Page 26