“Is Candace Smith available?” I said, pacing the length of the living room. Charlie was close on my heels, trying to listen.

“No, ma’am. She’s off today,” a young woman said on the other line.

“How convenient.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Is there any way to get in touch with her?”

“I’m sorry. No, she’s not taking any messages at this time.”

I stopped suddenly, and Charlie plowed into my back. “Listen, tell her Lily Waters needs to speak to her ASAP. I’m sure she will take that message.” I rattled off my phone number and hit end before saying goodbye.

“So,” Charlie said, plopping down on the couch.

“So, we wait.” I sat down and rested my head on her shoulder. Just then the phone rang, startling us both. I looked at my screen and showed Charlie. “Guess we don’t have to wait too long.” I hit accept. “Candace.”

“Lily. So good to hear from you.”

It took everything in me to avoid making a gagging sound. “I’m sure you know why I’m calling?”

“No. Did you decide to do the exclusive?”

I hit mute on my phone. “Can I punch her now or later?”

Charlie patted my leg. “Let’s wait till after we hear what she has to say.”

I hit the mute button again. “Is this your end game, Candace?”

“I’m not sure what you are insinuating,” she said, lightly laughing.

Charlie had to know I was about to blow because this woman was pissing me off that much. She grabbed the phone, hit speaker, and cleared her throat. “Candace, this is Lily’s assistant.”

“Or is this her best friend, Charlie?”

“It’s both of us now.” I glowered at Charlie for trying to get involved. “Why did you post that article about my dad and Julian?”

“It’s a newspaper and we share news, Lily.”

“So how long have you been sitting on that story?”

“Sitting on a story?”

I let out a deep sigh. “Listen, I know how much you loved to hate on my dad back in San Francisco. Then after you moved, you started a new hate fest. Julian. Why?”

“Still not up for the exclusive?” she said. “You know that saying, give and take?”

I handed the phone to Charlie. “I’m done.”

At that moment, I knew I needed to figure this out on my own. Which meant a trip to San Francisco. I wanted to go by myself, but I knew Charlie would flip out at that request.

“Well that woman is completely insane,” Charlie said, standing up and walking toward me. “You have a look.”

“Remember how sometimes I just need to have some alone time?”

“Um, yeah. Do you want me to leave or something?”

I placed my hands on her shoulders. “No, I think I want to leave for a few days.”

“But—”

“Just say I needed talk to a friend of Dad’s about something in his will.”

“Lils.”

“Charlie, please let me have this time alone.”

After several times where we repeated each other’s names, she finally gave in. “You better call me the moment you arrive in San Francisco.” Right as I am about to say I will, my phone pinged with a notification. Charlie reached over and picked it up. “Oh fuck.”

“What?” I said, grabbing it out of her hand. Looking down at the screen, it took everything in me to not throw the device out the front window. “I’m done. Just keep where I’m going between us, okay?”

“I’m nervous to leave you alone.”

“C, it’s okay, I promise.” I pulled her in for a hug. “As soon as my plane lands, I’ll call you.”

“You better.”

I went upstairs to throw a few more items in my duffle bag. Right as I stepped out of my room, the doorbell rang. Then I heard Julian’s voice. So much for trying to leave like a ship in the night.

“Where is she?” Julian demanded.

“Calm down, I’m here.”

“Lily, I need to talk to you,” he said out of breath.

“I have a plane to catch, Julian.” That was a boldface lie. “Can we talk later?”

I could tell by the look on his face he was confused. “You’re leaving?”

“For a few days.”

“Where are you going?”

“Why are you out of breath?” Now we were asking a question with a question, so pretty much this conversation was going nowhere.

“I ran here.”

“You live five miles away?”

“Yeah, I know. Can I get some water?” Charlie ran out of sight. “Did you leave the house this morning because of the headlines on MMA Journal?”

“No, should I, though?” I started making my way down the stairs. “Charlie needed to talk, so I came home.”

“Lily, whatever you read in the news today, it’s all lies.”

I patted him on the chest and opened the front door. “I need to go.” He followed me down the porch steps and stayed fast on my heels as I made my way to my car. I threw my duffle bag in first and then slid into the driver seat. “Julian, news tends to lie. Just relax.” Right as he was about to bend down and give me a kiss, I closed my door. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Lily, please don’t leave yet. I really need to talk to you.”

Every part of me wanted to run into his arms and ask him why. Instead, I waved at Charlie who was standing on the sidewalk with a bottle of water in her hand. I blew her a kiss, and she winked at me. She knew I needed to leave, and I knew she would cover for me.

My flight didn’t leave for another two hours, which gave me time to read more stories on my phone. Of course, that was a bad decision. Once other news sources had gotten wind of Julian and my dad’s little secret—everyone was posting an article. I turned off my phone and threw it in my duffle bag.

Over the PA, a woman’s voice said, “Can Lily Waters please come to one of the customer service counters.”

I looked around expecting to see Julian standing off in the distance. The place was packed, but I knew he would stand out in a crowd. He was nowhere in sight, though. I stood up and made my way to the counter where two women with airline uniforms on were talking.

“Hi, my name was just announced over the intercom.”

“You’re Lily Waters?” the one woman with short dark brown hair and way too much makeup on said.

“Yes.” Now I was feeling a little sick. I was both stressed and worried.

“Here.” She handed me the phone and punched a button.

I cleared my throat. “Hello.”

“Lily, thank God you’re still there.”

“Julian, why did you page me at the airport?”

“I need to tell you something.”

“Okay.” I felt confused. This was one of those moments where I wanted my dad. He’d always said the right thing to make me feel better.

“Where are you heading?”

“Away.” I had no plans to tell him.

“Lily, let me come see you so we can talk.”

“I need to go.” As I handed the phone back to the woman, I could hear him yelling. I said thank you and turned to head back to my seat.

The woman was holding the phone still. “Are you sure you’re done? He’s still talking.”

“I’m done.”

Hopefully San Francisco had some answers.