Her brows furrowed. “No, sugar, I haven’t. I wouldn’t be able to miss that red hair of hers. Is everything okay?” She handed my card back, along with the box of pastries.
“I think so. She wasn’t in the room this morning. I thought she’d be down here.”
She shook her head. “Sorry, I haven’t seen her.”
“Thanks anyway.” Pastries in hand, I started toward the elevator and rode back up to the room. Once inside, I set the box down and dialed her number. It rang and rang, but she never picked up.
Me: Where are you?
I thought she’d text or call back by the time I ate breakfast, but she didn’t. What the fuck was going on? Picking up the phone, I dialed her number again. After several rings, it went straight to her voicemail. “Aylee, it’s me. Where are you? Call me back. I have a lot planned for us today and I can’t wait to get started.”
After an hour of waiting, I couldn’t do it anymore. There was only one person she was close to in Vegas. I didn’t care if it was stalkerish, I had to know where she was. After almost losing her once, I didn’t want to imagine anything happening to her. I dialed Diane’s number and she picked up on the second ring.
“Hello, Jason.”
“Good morning, Diane. Have you seen or talked to Aylee this morning?”
“No, why? I wasn’t planning on seeing her until the surprise party tonight. Is everything okay?”
Running a hand through my hair, I sighed. “I don’t know. She’s not here and she’s not answering her phone.”
“Hmm, that’s strange. How did things go last night?” she asked curiously.
“Great, or at least, I thought they did. What all did you two talk about yesterday?”
“Lots of things. She’s worried about you not wanting to be with her because of the distance thing. I told her to be patient with you. I figured you’d tell her how you felt last night.”
“I was saving it for after the party. You know what I have planned.”
“I do, but she doesn’t. I wasn’t about to tell her.”
“Fuck me. I should’ve known it was a mistake to wait.”
She snorted. “I swear men have the worst possible timing. Aylee is an impatient woman. Making her wait to hear how you feel probably wasn’t the smartest move. Are her things still there?”
I charged toward the other bedroom and slammed open the door. “Goddammit, she’s fucking gone. None of her stuff is here.”
“This isn’t good,” she added.
“No shit. I need to find her.”
“Do you need her address? She gave it to me yesterday.”
Rushing to my room, I threw my suitcase onto the bed, cramming my clothes into it. When I grabbed my laptop, I knew exactly what to do. “No, I know just how to find her.”
One call and one text. I’d been gone for almost a full day and Jason had only called me one fucking time. I almost broke down and called him back after listening to his message, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Not after I left him in the middle of the night. I thought it’d be easier not having to deal with the awkward goodbye. By now, he most likely realized I’d left to spare us both the heartache. It was obvious he didn’t mind. Luckily, I had my uncle and Regis to keep me occupied.
“Come here, Regis Finn!” I called. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed the giant blanket until the moment I pulled into the driveway and he ran over the hill to greet me with his tongue lolling out to the side. He was a tri-colored, Cavalier King Charles Cocker Spaniel. Adrian had given him to me as a Christmas present one year and ever since then he had been our dog.
“What all did Adrian say when he dropped off Regis?” I asked.
My uncle put his arm around me and kissed my head. “He thought you’d want the little rascal back. From what I hear, he loves New York. Have you talked to him?”