Page 136 of From Nowhere

“I already picked up groceries. We can head straight home.” I hold the door open for her.

“Let’s go to Maren’s house. When will she be home?”

“We need to get the perishable items home. Maybe another night. How was therapy? Oh!” I stop. “I was going to talk to Victoria about VR.”

“I talked to her.” Lola climbs onto her bike and takes off without me.

“What did she say?” I follow her.

“She said she’d look into it, but I could try it if I have a VR, which I don’t.”

“I bet Amazon could have one here by tomorrow,” I say.

“She said I could be triggered by a game with cars crashing. I told her I knew the difference between real life and a game. She said that could be a reason VR might not work for me. But I think we should try it anyway because it sounds fun. Dakota will freak out because he’s been wanting a VR headset. Do you think he could come over and play it with me?”

“We’ll see.”

I follow Lola into the house with the two bags of groceries. Tia is chopping lettuce and tomatoes for a salad, and Amos is grilling on the deck.

Tia stills her hand on the knife and eyes me. “Any updates on Maren?” she asks after Lola’s on the deck with Amos.

“She’s in surgery again. There were complications.”

Tia frowns. “That’s too bad.”

“Yeah,” I mumble, putting away the groceries.

“I think you should tell Lola.”

I close the fridge. “Why?”

Tia shrugs, keeping her focus on the cutting board. “I’ve been thinking about it. And what if it could change everything?”

“What do you mean?”

“It could force her to let you get on a plane and fly to Canada. I don’t know what the outcome will be for your friend, but wouldn’t it be nice ifsomethinggood could come from this?”

“I don’t know.”

Tia scrapes the pile of cut tomatoes into the salad bowl. “She’s going to find out. That’s just a fact. Either she’s going to hear the tragic news that Maren has died, or she’s going to hear that she was in an accident, but she’s going to live. Let her go through this. Let Lola feel the emotions while there’s still hope. She didn’t get hope when Brynn died.”

She’s not Lola’s therapist, but I can’t say that I disagree with her either.

After dinner, I join Lola in the backyard, where she’s playing both sides of the cornhole board.

“I have something important to tell you.” I pick up the red bags while she retrieves the blue ones.

“What?” She tosses one of the bags, and it slides into the hole.

“Maren’s in the hospital. In Canada.”

Lola spins to face me. “What happened? Is she sick?”

“She had to make an emergency landing in her plane, and she was injured.”

“Is she okay?”

“She’s in surgery right now. I’ll know more later.”

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