“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“I’m not hurt, but I’m in trouble.”
“Whatever it is, we’ll fix it. What happened?”
“I got arrested, Georgie. I’m calling you from NYPD’s fifth precinct.” She paused, then added, “I was arrested for vandalism.”
Georgie couldn’t stop her gasp of surprise. “Okay. It’s okay. That’s not too serious.”
“It’s a felony. It was nearly one hundred thousand dollars in art.”
Georgie’s heart sank. It was serious, very serious, and she had more questions than she could count, but Adalia didn’t need a lecture, or at least she didn’t need one yet. She needed her big sister. “So this is your phone call?”
“Yeah.” Her voice broke. “I’m supposed to be arraigned first thing in the morning. Then I’ll find out how much bail will be.”
“What do you need, Addy? Money for bail? An attorney? Just tell me, and it’s yours.”
“I need you, Georgie.” She broke down into sobs.
Georgie was already out of bed and dashing to the dresser. “I’m coming, Addy. What time’s the arraignment?”
There was so much to do for the parties on Saturday, and she worried that Dottie would be like a runaway locomotive in her absence, but surely River would help supervise her.
“It’s early. Eight o’clock,” Adalia said through her sniffles. “You’ll never make it in time.”
“Then I’ll be there when you get home.”
“Thank you,” Adalia said, breaking down again. “But when you go back to Asheville, can I come with you? I can’t stay here anymore. My life here is over.”
“Of course,” Georgie said without hesitation. “And don’t worry about bail. I’ll get the first flight out of Asheville. I think there’s a direct flight that leaves around six, so I can be in the city by ten or so.”
“Thank you, Georgie.”
“Time’s up,” a woman said in the background, her tone harsh.
“I have to go,” Adalia said. “But please don’t tell Lee or Dad. Please.”
They were going to lose it when they found out. Because while Georgie and Adalia could keep it from them for a time, they would eventually find out. It was hard to keep a secret when it was a matter of public record. But Georgie planned to buy her sister as much time as she could. “Of course. It’s our secret.”
“I love you, Georgie.”
“I love you too.” Then there was a click on the line. Adalia was gone.
She stood in place, her mind racing at the thought of everything she needed to do.
“I need a ticket,” she muttered to herself. But a quick look online revealed it was too late to purchase one electronically. She’d have to go to the airport, but first she needed to talk to River. The easy thing to do would be to call him, but the thought made her throat clog. Maybe she’d stop by his loft on the way to the airport.
She sat on the edge of the bed. It was now one twenty. She had hours to go before anything could happen. There was no way she’d be able to sleep, so she packed an overnight bag, her mind racing all the while. If she left later this morning, she could possibly still get back to Asheville in time for the events on Saturday evening, but she had no idea how long it would take to clear up Adalia’s mess.
What if they didn’t let her out on bail?
Of course they’d let her out. It wasn’t like she’d murdered anyone. No, she’d just murdered art.
What in the world had Adalia been thinking? Her baby sister could be flighty, but other than smoking pot in high school and college, she’d never done anything illegal. Georgie couldn’t imagine what had driven her to destroy art. Adalia was a creator. She preserved art. Revered and respected it. Not destroyed it.
Her stomach was in knots and her anxiety was through the roof. She felt lost and helpless, desperate for someone to help her, to hold her hand through this. No, not just someone. Him.
She told herself it was wrong to disturb him in the middle of the night. Still, she didn’t want to be alone, and she and River had agreed to be friends. They’d even shaken on it. Wasn’t this what friends were for? Being there in good times and bad?
She threw on a pair of yoga pants and a T-shirt, then tossed her cosmetics bag and an extra business skirt and blouse into her already packed carry-on. Bag in hand, she headed out of the hotel room before she could change her mind.
She nearly turned around multiple times during the drive. This was crazy. It was two a.m. She couldn’t just show up on River’s doorstep, but all the logic in the world couldn’t quell the overwhelming need she felt to be with him. She couldn’t stop thinking about the way he’d held her at the cemetery—how his comfort and his strength had seeped into her. How she craved more of it.
Did that make her weak? Or needy? But she told herself that if she were back in Boston, she’d call Meredith, albeit not until morning, but still…
When she pulled up to his building, she drove around looking for a parking space. But just as she started contemplating whether the lack of a spot was a sign, one opened up a few feet ahead. The timing gave her chills, and Georgie wondered if she’d spent too much time with Dottie. Steeling her resolve, she parked and grabbed her bag out of the back seat so she could change before heading to the airport in a few hours. As she walked to his front door, she realized it was presumptuous to assume she could just stay there, but she knocked anyway. She heard yipping first, then the sound of the lock clicking over.
Play this cool. Don’t fall apart.
When he opened the door, bleary-eyed and with tousled hair, her resolve to not fall apart evaporated, and she threw herself at him.
He instantly enveloped her in his arms, holding her tight. “Georgie. What’s wrong?”
Tears stung her eyes. Relieved tears. It felt so right to be in his arms, like she’d been created to fit River Reeves’s body.
“Georgie?”
She heard the panic in his voice and felt foolish. She knew she should pull away from him, yet she wasn’t ready to let him go yet. “It’s Adalia.” Then she realized that he was probably assuming the worst. “She’s not hurt. But it’s pretty bad.”
He loosened his hold and looked down at her, waiting for her to explain.
“She was arrested for vandalizing a hundred thousand dollars’ worth of art. Because of the high value, it’s a felony.”
Shock covered his face, and she briefly wondered what he thought of her and her family now. If word got out, it would tarnish the Buchanan family reputation.
Oh God. Would it hurt the brewery too?
He looked past her and saw her bag. Releasing her, he fetched it, then brought it inside and shut the door, engaging the deadbolt.
For some reason, knowing she was locked inside with River made her feel more comforted, as though nothing could happen to her here. It was a ridiculous, fanciful thought—Georgie didn’t do fanciful, yet there it was anyway, and since she was letting herself be a stereotypical clingy woman, she might as well go for broke.
Was this how it had started with her mom? One concession at a time?
“Let me make you a cup of tea,” River said, wrapping his arm around her back and leading her to the sofa.