LITMIR.BIZ

      Chapter 3

      One of the bad things about having an extremely popular blog, Zoe thought, was the need to update it every single day. Though that had become easier since the blog’s advertising revenue had enabled her to quit her day job. She’d divided her site into sections, calling one “Observations,” another one “Fashion Picks,” and a third “Things I Like.”

      According to her stats, most people visited the site for the “Observations” section, where she let herself go, writing about whatever topic interested her at the moment. Since she wrote City Girl anonymously, she never held back, whether writing about matters of the heart or sniping at life’s minor irritations.

      About a month before Shayna disappeared, Zoe had acquired a literary agent who’d been shopping a proposal based on her blog posts for a book deal. So far they’d garnered several rejections, but the agent remained hopeful.

      Zoe already had the outline finished for a second book, in case the first one sold. She was glad she’d gotten that done before Shayna disappeared.

      Now she had a few hours before she had to attend Cristine’s gathering. She wrote a quick blog post, one from the heart, talking about the value of best friends and how one doesn’t always appreciate what one has until it’s gone. After she’d finished and published it, having written it with Shayna in mind, she could only hope her friend would somehow see it and come home.

      Then Zoe closed her laptop and prepared to leave. Mama Bell waited in the living room, dressed and ready.

      As they arrived at the time stated on the flyer, Zoe couldn’t believe the packed parking lot. She circled until she found a space, parked and then hurried around to open the door for Mama Bell, who waved her away.

      “Cristine sure got a good turnout,” she said.

      Mama Bell nodded. “Everyone loves Shayna. Even though most everybody thinks she took off of her own free will, they all want to do what they can to help.”

      Stunned, Zoe nodded. This made no sense. If Shayna was anywhere in town, she’d have put in an appearance before now. Together they went inside. Immediately, Mrs. Bell spotted a group of her church friends. “Excuse me, honey,” she said, patting Zoe’s arm. “You go ahead and mingle. I’m sure a lot of folks will be glad to see you.”

      Though Zoe doubted that, especially since she’d left without a word to anyone, she gave a fond smile and moved away, listening to snatches of conversations as she wove through the throng. The parallel between her disappearance five years ago and Shayna’s now was worrying her. Not because she believed it, but because she didn’t. Everyone in Anniversary appeared to think Shayna had simply taken off. Zoe hoped that was true. The alternative was unbearable.

      A woman came up, tall, wearing skintight jeans and a low-cut T-shirt. Smoothing her sleek cap of shoulder-length hair, she gave a faint smile and wrapped her arms around Zoe. After a second of hesitation, Zoe hugged her back.

      “Zoe! So good to see you. I’m glad you were able to make it back and help bring Shayna home.”

      Zoe nodded, wishing for name tags. “Of course. I’m sorry, you are...?”

      At her words, the woman’s smile widened. “You don’t recognize me, do you?”

      “No.” Zoe frowned. “You do look familiar, but I just can’t place...”

      “Cristine, where are the sign-up sheets?” Brock said, as he came up to them.

      “Cristine?” Stunned, Zoe tried not to show it. “Cristine Haywood?”

      The woman’s smile widened. “That’s me.”

      “Shayna’s best friend,” Brock supplied.

      The sound of his voice sent a pleasurable shiver through Zoe. To hide her reaction, she focused on Cristine, who looked nothing at all like the awkward girl she remembered from years past.

      “I don’t know what to say,” Zoe began. “You look totally different than you did in—”

      “High school.” Dipping her head as though Zoe’s words had embarrassed her, Cristine smiled shyly before turning her attention to Brock. “The sign-up sheets are on the table by the refreshments.”

      He gave a curt nod before turning away. Unable to keep from watching him go, Zoe wondered why she got the feeling he didn’t much like Cristine.

      When she looked up, she noticed Cristine also silently watching him walk away, her expression a mixture of regret and dislike. Apparently the feeling was mutual.

      “He can be such an ass,” Cristine said, catching Zoe eyeing her. “Seriously. If Shayna were here, she’d tell you.”

      “Is he always like that?” Zoe asked, before she thought better of it. The Brock she remembered had been happy-go-lucky rather than irritable.

      “Sometimes.” Cristine shrugged. “He’s pretty moody. I honestly don’t know how Shayna put up with it.”

      Interesting. Zoe filed that bit of information away. She’d ask Shayna about it later, after she was found. Which she would be, Zoe had no doubt. Whether to deal with the pain of realizing her relationship with Brock would never be more than friendship, or something else, eventually Shayna would tire of hiding and return home.

      The only troubling detail with this scenario was the apparent fact that either Brock was not telling the truth, or pretty much every word Shayna had told Zoe in their last few conversations had been a lie.

      So what was going on? Maybe Cristine would know. Zoe just had to figure out how to ask her.

      While she considered this, someone called Cristine away. “We’ll catch up later,” she told Zoe, and hurried off.

      Zoe continued on, still listening rather than interacting with people. She needed to talk to Brock. See if she could get a feel for whether or not he was telling the truth.

      Searching the crowded room, she found him on the other side. Somehow, their gazes locked. Even now, when she wasn’t entirely sure he hadn’t had something to do with Shayna’s disappearance, a shiver of wanting ran through her, all the way from her heart to the soles of her feet.

      Damn.

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