“He just said that, while he didn’t agree with the way Drake handled the situation, he did understand why he flew off the handle after talking to him. Judging by the number of messages I had from Jackson, Faith, and Natalie, I’ve gotta admit that I’m really curious to know what he said because it had to have been pretty convincing for everyone to be so persistent in trying to find us. And that’s not including how many times Drake called me and sent text messages, practically begging me to have you call him. I can only imagine how many messages you have from him,” she said as she handed me my phone.

I powered it up and opened up my text message notification message first. Holy shit, Drake had sent me nearly one hundred messages in two days. I had about a dozen from Jackson and a few from Natalie and Faith each. There were also several from my Dad, which I opened first. He had gotten my message on Friday and just wanted to let me know he was thinking of me. By the time I got to his last message, he was worried because Drake had called him to ask if he knew where I was. It was from last night, and he wanted me to call him ASAP.

I looked up at Aubrey, who was watching me with concern in her pretty blue eyes. “My dad knows something’s up. Drake called him last night.”

“Uh-oh. You better call him first so he knows you’re okay then.”

I nodded in agreement and decided I’d better do it now before I freaked out from reading all of Drake’s messages. I dialed his number and waited for him to answer.

“Alexa, honey, is everything okay?” he asked worriedly.

“Hi, Daddy. I’m okay,” I answered.

“What’s going on? Why doesn’t Drake know where you are?”

“We had a fight, and I’ve been with Aubrey while I tried to figure things out. I’m sorry he bothered you with this,” I apologized.

“That’s what dads are for, to be bothered with things like this. Why didn’t you tell me about the fight? I’ve been worried sick all night, wondering what was going on.”

“I’m really sorry, Dad. I sent you a message right before I turned my phone off. I just needed some time to get my head straight before I figured out what to do.”

“Alexa Marie, you can’t run away like that without me knowing where you are. It just isn’t safe,” he chastised.

“I was with Aubrey the whole time, perfectly safe at a hotel. I didn’t even leave the room once. And I had no idea Drake would call you, making you worry about me. I absolutely would have told you more if I had known he’d do that.”

“Just promise me you won’t ever do something like that again, not without telling me where you are, okay?” he asked.

“I promise, Dad. I should have thought to let you know where Aubrey and I went, and I won’t ever make the same mistake again,” I swore to him.

“Now, what’s going on with you and Drake? Do you need me to come home early? I can try to find someone to come up here and pilot for me,” he offered.

“I really love you for that, Dad, but you don’t need to come back now. I haven’t talked to Drake yet, but I’m going to call him now. I just wanted to talk to you first to make sure you knew I was alright.”

“Okay, honey. I don’t need any details, but I hope everything goes well when you talk. Between you hiding away all weekend and the way he sounded on the phone, I’m guessing the fight was a real doozy.”

“It was, Dad, but Jackson has talked to Drake and told Aubrey that I should give him a chance to explain. That has to be a good sign, right?” I asked hopefully.

He was silent for a moment before answering. “Yes, Alexa. If Jackson is urging you to talk to Drake, then that’s definitely a good sign. Will you send me a text to let me know how things go?”

“Sure. I’m going to call Drake now. Love you.”

“Love you, too. Talk to you later,” he said before disconnecting the call. I looked down at the phone in my hands, scared to open the messages Drake had left me.

“It will be okay, Lex,” Aubrey encouraged me. She came over, sat down next to me, and gripped my free hand.

I started with the first message and slowly worked my way through the list. They began fairly angry, with him asking me where the hell I went and telling me that this wasn’t over yet. Around the time Jackson must have talked to him, the tone change abruptly to asking me to please call him back and apologizing for his behavior. Yesterday’s messages practically begged me to at least let him know that I was safe so he wouldn’t worry. He told me that he was going crazy not knowing where to find me and that he knew he’d hurt me. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I realized that the depth of his pain matched mine.