Unseen Messages(185)

A strange woman stared back.

Her mouth fell open, her gaze dropped to my naked chest (skinny but toned) to my low hanging towel (I couldn’t get used to clothes, no matter how much I needed to wear them) then back to my eyes (that were now scanning her in the same way).

Curvy redhead with freckles (like Conner), dark green eyes, and lips painted a cherry red. “Um...did I get the wrong apartment?”

“I don’t know. Who are you looking for?”

Coco suddenly spun out of the bathroom, completely starkers with bubbles sliding down her tiny body. “Catch me!”

Estelle chased after her, her purple sundress sopping wet and clinging to her underweight curves. After so long with bare essentials, she couldn’t get used to underwire and underwear, either. We preferred going commando these days.

Wild feral islanders that we were.

Her eyes were alive, her face twisted into a laugh. “Come back here, you terror!”

Her smile was for me, but her gaze went to the stranger at the door.

She slammed to a stop; a hand slapped over her soaking heart. “Oh, my God.”

“Oh!” The redhead drifted forward, completely ignoring me. “Stel...” Her eyes brimmed, overflowing as she reached for my wife. “Oh, my...”

“Madi!” Estelle trembled then threw her arms around the girl I’d heard so much about. “Madi...it’s truly you.”

Together, they slid to the floor in a pile of dresses and lip-gloss, kissing, hugging, welcoming each other back into their lives, all while Coco zipped around in butt naked glory.





Chapter Seventy-Six


...............................................

E S T E L L E

......

THAT VOICE.

That lilt.

Oh, my God, I’ve missed her.

After so long, I finally had my best friend in my arms. As we sat hugging on the tiled entryway, I expected a sarcastic quip, a punch to my arm, an insider joke. Something familiar within our dynamics of friendship.

However, she shocked me stupid when she burst into ugly sobs, burrowing her face into my neck.

Galloway froze, his delicious body shining with rogue droplets from his long hair. He cleared his throat. “I, eh... I’ll leave you guys to it.”

Vaguely, I was aware of him scooping up our naked daughter and disappearing into the single bedroom off the lounge, closing the door quietly behind him.

My heart went with my family, but my attention focused on crying Madeleine. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m here.”

“I thought—I thought you were dead!” Her wails tangled with my hair, knotting with every sob. “I—I—” She couldn’t finish, clutching me harder. “When they called me and said you’d chartered a helicopter that crashed...I thought they had the wrong person. What were you thinking? Why would you do something like that! You left me!”

A smile broke my face.

A laugh followed not long after. “You mean to tell me...that after all this time claiming you don’t cry at TV shows or shed a tear in books, you’re crying because I’ve come back from the grave?”

She pulled away. Her eyes puffed red and tears glittered on her cheeks. “When you say it that way, no, I’m not happy you’re alive.”

I nodded coyly, smiling so hard my cheeks hurt. “Oh, really? So the tears...that was staged, huh?”

“I didn’t miss you.”

“Yeah, you did.”

“Did not.”

“Did too.”

“It was just a publicity stunt.” Her nose tipped up with airs and graces. “I know you. You’d rather go native and hide away for years rather than go on stage and sing. I’m your manager. You don’t run away from your manager!”

“I can if she’s a tyrant.”

Her cheeks reddened. “I was not a tyrant.”

Giggles percolated in my chest. “Do this, Estelle. Do that. We have to go shopping. We have to travel around the world together. Oh, oops, I just made you an internet star, now you must always obey me.”

She swatted me, unable to hide her smile anymore. “You liked it.”

“No way.”

“Go on...admit it. You missed me.”

“Did not.”

“Did too.”

“Nope.”

We glared at each other, slipping straight back into awesome pointless bickering. Our fake glares switched to watery welcome and we fell back into a hug.

“God, I’m so glad you’re back.” She kissed my cheek. “Just next time you need your space, tell me and I’ll leave. Like instantly. Not like before. I won’t hound you. I promise. Just...don’t try to kill yourself again, okay?”

I stroked her curly red hair. I’d always been slightly jealous of her amazing colour. Where mine had been boring blonde (not stark white from the sun), I’d felt monochromatic compared to her. Especially seeing as I favoured a wardrobe of greys and pastels, and she preferred vibrant almost garish designs.

Pulling away, I pointed at her blotchy nose. “You have snot mingling with your tears. It’s kind of gross.”

She pouted. “Well, you have no boobs anymore. So I think I win.”

I glanced down, hastily rearranging the gaping neckline of my dress. “Just because you have double D’s doesn’t make you queen.”