When she finally made it to the suite, it was empty. She must have just missed Mac on her way down. Rainy stood at the vast window in the suite’s living room, staring down at the dusty city she’d long come to hate. Her mother’s words the first day they arrived—Everything is going to be okay now—echoed uncomfortably in her memory. The most honest lie she’d ever been told. Nothing had ever been okay again. She’d learned to maneuver around the not-okay-ness until she met Grant. He made it all better than okay.

She replayed the voice mail he’d left earlier. When she put her phone away, the longing for her mother hit her so deeply she hugged her arms around herself and held her eyes closed against the threatening sting of tears. Rainy made a split-second decision. She was here, so why not? Warming to the idea even as she threw a dress over her bathing suit, pushing away thoughts of him and focusing solely on her mother. The way things currently felt in the group, she wouldn’t be missed, and she’d be back before dinner, their last dinner before their flights home in the morning. Her seat on the plane was next to Braithe. She could talk to her then. Sort things out. She grabbed her bag and headed out the door.

It was no less crowded on the street outside their hotel. People swarmed around each other in a frenzied, colorful tempest. Everything smelled of gasoline and food, and Rainy’s dinner rolled in her stomach like it didn’t want to be there anymore.

She didn’t want to be here anymore. But where was here? Vegas? With these strangers? In her new, partnered-up life that was built on a lie? She sat down on a wall, a short distance away from the crowds, and called an Uber, then she tried Grant again. If he answered, she’d tell him everything, because in the moment she couldn’t bear the weight. When it just rang, she thought about calling Stephen’s phone to see if he was with Grant, but then he might ask her about Braithe, and Rainy didn’t want to have to lie to Grant’s best friend. She sent him a text, knowing he’d see it later and respond.

Miss you. We really need to talk.

She hit Send and was about to put her phone away when she saw the dots appear on her screen: Grant was texting her back. The relief was a solid thing, like a chunk of concrete. It was moments like these when she realized how deep she’d fallen down the relationship hole. She waited for his words to appear, wondering why he didn’t just call, but as suddenly as they appeared they disappeared. Her phone notified her that Riva had arrived in a Jeep.