Page 113 of Everything We Found

“No. But I wasn’t expecting you either.” She went to check the peephole. “It’s Kristen,” she said, not the least bit surprised. Thomas was trying hard to make everything right for her.

She opened the door to find Kristen looking just as nervous as Aimee had.

“Hey,” Kristen said, her gaze jumping behind Nadia. “Oh, you’re here too,” she said of Aimee.

“Did you two plan this?” Nadia looked between them.

Kristen shook her head. “No, I just—I saw your car and I thought…” She trailed off.

Nadia pushed her tongue into her cheek. “Uh-huh.”

“I’ve been calling you.”

“I know,” Nadia said. She’d let most of Kristen’s calls roll to voicemail. “I was going to call you back. I’ve just been…” She gestured vaguely, not sure how to package what she’d been up tothese past few weeks, the shame she’d felt about her friends, the feelings she had for Thomas.

“Taking care of Thomas,” Kristen supplied for her benefit. Her expression softened. “How is he?”

“Getting better,” Nadia said. “It’ll be a while before he’s back to normal, but the doctors say he’s making good progress.”

Kristen nodded, still hovering in the doorway. Nadia stepped aside. “Come in. Please.”

Kristen entered, her eyes fixed on Aimee, who still sat on the couch. “So, you two talked?”

“We’re working on it,” Aimee said.

Kristen’s shoulders slumped with relief. “Good. That’s… good.”

Nadia stood awkwardly beside her as the three of them looked at each other, waiting for the other to say something.

“I’m sorry,” Nadia finally said, addressing them both. “For everything. For lying to you for so long.”

“You did what you thought was right.” Kristen moved to sit on the couch with Aimee. “Nick said he probably would have done the same if it had been me in danger.”

“Seriously?” Nadia couldn’t keep the shock from her voice. The surprises kept coming.

“He said if someone told him keeping quiet was the only way to keep me safe, he’d have taken that secret to his grave.”

“James said something similar when I asked him about it,” Aimee admitted. “He said if he’d known the whole story from the beginning, he might have gone along with it too.”

“That’s… surprisingly understanding. When did you speak with him?” Nadia asked.

“He called Nick before he flew home when I was at their house with Kristen and he asked to talk with me.” She looked at Nadia’s cheek, at the scar that might fade, but would always be there. “When Ian and I saw the news about the ambush atThomas’s house, I couldn’t stop thinking about what could have happened to you.”

Nadia sat across from her friends. “It was bad. But we’re all still here.”

Kristen leaned forward and grabbed her hand. “We’re all still here,” she echoed. “And speaking of still being here…” She looked at Aimee then Nadia. “I want to talk to you about something.”

“What?” Aimee asked.

“I think we should restart our tradition,” Kristen said. “The summer pool parties at our place. The whole gang, like old times.”

Nadia exchanged a surprised glance with Aimee.

“The whole gang?” Aimee asked carefully.

Kristen nodded. “Including Thomas, if you’re okay with it, Aimee. I know you two aren’t on the level, but…” She hesitated then plunged ahead. “Nick would really like to see him again. They were close once.”

Aimee went quiet. “I think… I could handle that. For Nadia’s sake. And Nick’s.”