Grace glanced down the hallway toward the bedrooms. “How is he really doing?”
Before they’d sat down for breakfast, Kyle had gone back to bed and taken another pain pill. The last time Joy had checked on him, he’d finally been asleep. “Not great. He had an argument with Paul yesterday about his career goals. Kyle decided he doesn’t want to go to law school and wants to try to be a writer. He has an interview with the paper on Monday.”
“He does? That’s great!” Hope said, smiling wide. “I have some contacts there. I’ll see if I can put in a good word for him.” Hope was an event planner and sent out press releases for town events regularly. It wasn’t a surprise she had connections there.
“Thanks, Hope,” Joy said, squeezing her friend’s hand. “It’s too bad his father couldn’t have lent that kind of support.”
Grace groaned. “Oh, no. What did Paul say?”
Joy smirked. Of course her friend already new Paul had been a jackass. Why was it they’d always seen what she couldn’t about her soon-to-be ex? “He was pissed Kyle decided not to pursue his law degree and told him being a writer would doom him to a life of poverty.”
“Elitist snob,” Hope said, shaking her head.
“What’s wrong with being a writer?” Grace asked. “I know the paper probably doesn’t pay well, but he can freelance and work for all kinds of publications without ever leaving Premonition Pointe. Or there’s always books and ghostwriting. Or technical writing even.”
Joy smiled at her friends. “You’re right. I said something similar.” She glanced at Hope. “Though I kept the elitist snob part to myself. No need to stoke the tension further.”
Hope snorted. “I guess, but it’s not like Kyle’s dumb. He knows his father is being a dick.”
“Obviously. He was pretty upset when he left his house.” Joy poked her fork at the leftover pancakes on her plate. “I don’t know what happened to Paul. He didn’t used to be that bad. I know he just wants to make sure the kids are set up to succeed, but this is the first time he hasn’t been fully supportive of something one of them wanted to do.”
“Have you talked to him yet?” Grace asked, drumming her fingers on the table.
“Just long enough to tell him about the accident. We didn’t talk about anything else,” Joy answered.
“I think you need to tell him what his attitude is going to do to his relationship with Kyle,” Grace said. “Not for him. For Kyle.”
Joy groaned. “You’re right, but it really sucks that I still need to be the go-between.”
Grace reached over and grabbed Joy’s hand and squeezed as Hope placed hers over both of their hands in support.
“Thank you both for being here today and taking care of me,” Joy said as tears stung the backs of her eyes. “It’s been a rough twenty-four hours.”
“Always,” Grace said, checking her watch. She stood. “I have to get going, but do you want to still get together with Gigi? I’m more than willing to get the coven together to see if we can work out a spell to help track down Harlow. In fact, I can’t think of a better reason to use our powers.”
“Yes. Can you call Gigi on your way to your appointment and see if she’s free?” Joy asked her.
“I’m on it.” She bent down and kissed Joy on the cheek and gave Hope a quick hug from behind. “You two stay out of trouble. I’m going to go make sure my client is dazzled enough to write an offer.” She winked and strode out of the house.
“She’s really come into her own,” Joy said, turning her attention to Hope. “I’ve never seen her look and act so confident.”
“It appears divorce was good for her,” Hope agreed. “You know, I see the same changes in you.” She grinned at Joy. “Or at least I usually do. Today you look a little like a troll who hasn’t slept in two years.”
Joy rolled her eyes. “Oh, shut up. Let’s see how you look after spending half the night in the emergency room.”
Hope chuckled and started clearing the table. Joy rose and swayed on her feet from the lack of sleep.
“Oh, no you don’t,” Hope said, steadying Joy. “You go lay back down and get a nap before you need to be on set, and I’ll take care of this.”
Joy glanced at her clock. She still had a few hours before she needed to be on set, and the pillow was calling her name. “Are you sure?” Joy asked her.
“Positive. You get a catnap, and I’ll take care of everything, including keeping an eye on Kyle in case he wakes up and needs anything.”
“Thanks.” Joy made a stop at the refrigerator for a bottle of water and then grabbed the newspaper one of them had brought in. She glanced at the front page, spotted a black and white photo of Harlow, and let out a gasp as images of the young woman filled her mind.
Harlow was lying on a large king-size bed that was covered in a princess pink comforter and piles of red and pink pillows. The walls were painted the same overwhelming pink color, and in the corner, an oversized white chair faced the window. Joy focused on the view, trying her best to commit the impeccable rose garden to memory.
“No!” Harlow cried out as she thrashed on the bed. It was then that Joy noticed both her hands and feet were tied together.
Fear crawled down Joy’s spine, but she knew instinctively that it wasn’t her own fear. It was Harlow’s.
“Joy?” Hope’s voice sounded far away.
“Huh?” Joy said, hearing the gravel in her voice.
“Come on. Let’s get you up and to your room.”
Joy forced her eyes open and stared up at Hope, who was hovering over her.
“There you are,” her friend said with a reassuring smile.
Joy glanced around and realized she was splayed out on her floor. “Oh, gods. Did I pass out?”
“I think so. You’re probably just overly tired. If you get some sleep—”
“Hope, I had another vision of Harlow.”
“What? While you were passed out?” She frowned, and then her expression cleared for a moment before turning to one of pure rage. “She’s locked in a room with her hands and feet bound?”
Joy nodded, realizing that her friend had just read her mind. She wasn’t surprised. Joy’s emotions were running higher than usual, and Hope’s probably were too since she’d just witnessed her friend pass out. Joy pushed herself up and took Hope’s hand as she got to her feet. “She’s in some posh room. Whoever has her, has money.”
“Do you think it’s someone Carly knows?” Hope asked.
Joy shrugged. “Maybe? I don’t know. But I need to talk to her.” Joy tugged her phone out of her pocket and called her costar. It went straight to voicemail. She tried a couple more times with no luck. “I think she turned her phone off. I need to go over there. This can’t wait.”
Hope chewed on her bottom lip, and Joy was positive her friend was going to try to stop her, but then Hope nodded. “I’ll drive you. But not before we get some sugar in you.”
“Sugar? Why? I just ate.” Joy was already moving down the hall to check on Kyle before they left.