Page 142 of Starcrossed Colorado

We went into the pantry to search the shelves. “Are your parents still threatening to come out to Silver Ridge?” Grace asked.

“After he heard, my dad got halfway to the airport before I talked him out of it. The media has already tracked Dad and Madison down in West Oaks, which did not go well for the reporters.”

“Yikes. I bet not.”

“How areyoudoing, Grace? I don’t think I’ve asked you that yet. I should have.”

The truth about Elias had clearly affected her. Like Ashford and Piper and the others, she’d known him since her childhood. But she’d been especially close to him.

“Me? I’m fine. I have nothing to complain about. I was incredibly lucky.”

I turned to face her. We were standing a foot away from each other in the narrow pantry. “But Elias still hurt you.”

Her eyes shone.

I touched her shoulder, and Grace closed her eyes, a tear slipping down her cheek. I grabbed a napkin and used it to dab her face.

“I cared about him. Trusted him. I feel so guilty about that. There was one night that I was doing the books at Flamethrower, and we almost kissed. It disgusts me.”

“But youdidn’t. You kept saying no. Maybe, down deep, you felt that something was off about him.”

“Maybe. If that was my inner voice talking, I wish it had spoken louder.”

“Stella didn’t like him either. She kept barking at him. But I didn’t put it together. You know what I realized? The first time Elias was around Stella at Ashford’s apartment, she was barking and growling. I just didn’t get it. But if it wasn’t for her, I never would’ve found that photo.”

“There’s one thing I do know for sure. Piper is right. Falling for someone is a huge risk. Even if it’s someone you’ve known most of your life, they might turn around and betray you. Or you might lose them and end up alone.” She blew her nose in the napkin.

It twisted me up inside to hear Ashford’s sister say that. I wanted Grace to find happiness. But was she wrong?

Love was a risk. It could slip away so easily.

Unless you fought for it.

We hugged, not letting go for a long while. “I’m so glad you’re all right, Emma.”

“Thanks. You’ll be all right too.”

She sighed and nodded.

That evening, Maisie, Ashford, and I camped out on a huge air mattress, like we had been doing the past couple of nights. We were downstairs in Judson’s basement game room. Pool table on one side, a huge entertainment center on the other. I was just relieved Stella hadn’t chewed up any wires.

Of course, since arriving at Judson’s, she’d been an angel. She’d reserved her aggressive behavior for Elias. Next time, I was going to pay closer attention to her. Like the way she’d barked at Dr. Carmichael. He hadn’t killed Lori, but he was definitely still a sleaze ball.

What a good girl Stella was. Treats for life.

And everyone else seemed to feel the same way. She’d been getting more adoration and attention the last couple days than I could usually provide in two weeks. Ashford especially had been generous with belly scratches and fetch sessions. Stella seemed to love being near the other animals, too. Though some of them, especially the chickens and Judson’s old farm dog, were not so sure about her.

“I don’t want to get ready for bed,” Maisie said. “Ollie doesn’t have to go to bed yet.”

“I’m sick of hearing about what Ollie does,” Ashford grumbled.

“Get used to it, Dad,” I muttered.

Ashford ran Maisie a bath, while I took a few minutes to myself and pulled out my journal.

I bit on my pen cap, words evading me.

I hadn’t written anything since Elias had attacked me. I’d retold what happened to a bunch of police, to Ashford, and to my parents. But I hadn’t written it down.

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