Page 27 of You Found Me
“Definerude. If you mean constantly repeating rules like ‘Stay out of the front yard and off social media,’ and ‘Don’t tell anyone where you are,’ and ‘Stick to the pool area,’ then yes, he’s rude.”
“I mean actually rude, not explaining how you can stay safe in a way you don’t like.”
“No,” she was forced to admit. “He doesn’t talk much at all, actually. When he does, he says all the polite things. ‘Good morning, did you sleep well? No, you can’t go for a drive.’ You know they have my keys locked up in the guard house? As if I couldn’t call an Uber.”
“No, you really can’t. Della…,” Piper said with a sharp, almost panicked tone.
Della held up a hand in surrender. “I’m not going to actually do it. I should, but I won’t. I told you I’d stay, so here I am. Staying. Do you have any idea how hard this is for me? I’m going to lose my mind if this goes on much longer. I miss going out. I miss having things to do. I misspeople.”
Piper’s expression shifted into something almost sympathetic. “You could work on the new song if you’re that bored. All my equipment is still there.”
“Been there. Done that.” Della peered into the second bedroom. It looked untouched and empty. “It’s a great song. It’ll be a huge hit at the VIP concert.”
A text buzzed across the screen. Della tilted her head to read it.
Marshall: Eats and drinks shld b 2 u in 30
“That’s only two weeks away. Has Ward cleared that?” Piper eyed her with suspicion. “What was that?”
“Nothing.” Della sent a quick thumbs-up emoji and continued down the hall. She had to get off the phone without sounding like she wanted to get off the phone or Piper would scurry over on principle. “I don’t care if he’s cleared it or not. I promised I’d be there.”
“It’s not about keeping a promise, Della. Not this time.”
“Yes, it is.” Della stopped mid-hallway. “The fans are expecting me to be there. It’s the last one this year, and you’ve been talking about it onWednesday Morning Coffee Chatsfor a month. I can’t let them down.”
Piper hesitated. “They’d understand. We can tell them you’re sick or something.”
“I promised,” Della repeated. “The fans are just as important to me as they are to you, and there’s no way a stalker, or Warden Ward, or anybody else is going to stop me from keeping my word to them.”
“Nobody expects you to put your life at risk for a concert. Especially not me,” Piper snapped in her don’t-argue-with-me tone that always made Della want to do exactly that. “And if the fans knew what was going on, they’d agree with me.”
“Well, they don’t know, do they? So I’d just look like a selfish bitch.” Della reined in her temper and did her best to smooth her tone. She didn’t want a fight, she just wanted off the phone. “I’ve spent a lot of my life looking like that and acting like that. I let you all down more times than I can count, and I’m done with it. All of it. I don’t need my babysitter’s permission, and I’m not asking for it. I’m going.” She realized she’d jutted her chin outlike a stubborn child and pulled it back down. “Don’t you need to finish packing?”
Piper glanced at something off to the side and swore. “We leave in an hour.”
“You better get going then,” Della said. Hopefully, she didn’t sound so excited that it made Piper suspicious.
“We aren’t done talking about this.” Her sister tossed two more things into the suitcase without folding them. “I’ll have Romi check with Ward about the concert. Maybe they can do something about the security.”
“Fine.”
“I love you,” Piper said. A T-shirt dangled from one hand as she gave Della her full attention. The look on her face was a mix of I-know-something-is-going-on and I-don’t-have-time-to-deal-with-this. She’d seen that look plenty of times before, though usually it was from Lizzie. “Please don’t do anything stupid. Please?”
“Love you too. Have fun. Send pictures.” Della gave her sister an air kiss and ended the call.
“Definestupid,” she said to herself as she crossed the empty living room.
She found Greg and a breakfast smoothie waiting for her in the kitchen. He wore a dark T-shirt and blue jeans, which seemed way too hot for a pool day. “You could let loose a little, you know. Maybe get a dip in the pool? We have a whole security team here to back you up.”
“I’m working,” Greg said with a small shake of his head. “What’s stupid?”
“Being stuck in this house for weeks on end.” She took a sip. “Mmm, you made it good today. Is he gone?”
“He left at dawn. Said he’d be back in twenty-four hours.” Greg drained the last of his own smoothie and carried the glass to the dishwasher.
“Good.” She checked the time on her phone. “The caterer should be here any minute. Can you make sure they get past the gate?”
“I already cleared it.” He cast a sideways glance at her. “You sure we should be doing this?”