Sweet Caroline {Ryan Blaney} ✔️

thirty-three

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Alright." Lydia pulled her car into a parking spot outside the small, private airport. "After work, I'll pick Caroline up from the sitter and then we will head right to the track. We'll be there probably around eight-thirty."

Her eyes shifted to Ryan, waiting for a response. Instead, he was staring out the window, fidgeting with a bracelet on his wrist. "I have a bad feeling. Like something really bad is going to happen." He muttered.

"That's probably a little bit of anxiety." Lydia acknowledged. "Take a few deep breaths, Ryan. We'll all be together again before the day is over."

"Right." Ryan nodded, clearly unconvinced. Offering a small smile, he leaned over the center console, his lips finding hers for a moment before he pulled away. "I'll see you tonight." Three words lingered over them, neither willing to say them. No -- they had agreed that they were going to take this slow, make sure they do all of this right. But it didn't change the way they felt about each other.

"Be safe. I'll call you when Caroline and I are on our way." Lydia waved, watching as Ryan pulled the duffel bag from the backseat before shutting the door. She stayed there until Ryan disappeared through the doors of the airport.

Part of Lydia wanted to just go pick Caroline back up from the sitter's house and call into work and just surprise Ryan at the track. But Lydia had a couple of big cases coming up and she knew that she was a little behind work -- she had to go in.

With a small sigh, Lydia pulled her car out of the parking spot and headed off to work.

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"You look like you're glowing." Lydia turned her head, smiling at her co-worker, Samantha as they climbed the steps into their office building after their lunch break.

"Glowing? I mean --" She thought that was a weird compliment but Ryan had been staying at the house and things were good -- so good. "Things have been going well. Caroline and I have reconnected with her father and everything has been great."

Samantha returned the smile. "Happy looks good on you."

"Lydia?" Maureen -- the receptionist -- beckoned for her to come over to the desk. "There's someone in your office. They don't have an appointment but they said they were an old friend. I just wanted to give you a head's up."

Lydia's stomach twisted, she didn't have any old friends, at least none that knew where she was. Every fiber in her body told her she needed to run but she swallowed that gut feeling, opening the door of her office.

"There you are." Lydia's eyes landed on Stacy. "I've been waiting for you, Lydia. Or should I call you Amelia? Did you know that you're technically considered a missing person's case in Carter County?"

Lydia swallowed hard, she was sure that she would never be called Amelia again. She had been so careful, always covering her tracks. Sure, she had legally changed her name so there was a record of that but she had the records sealed over a year ago. And she knew she was still a missing person -- the sheriff had been clear that the only way they'd stop considering her one is if could verify that she's alive and well but that would involve her going back to her hometown -- it wasn't worth it.

"How did you --" Lydia choked out, her mind reeling.

"I know who you are, I've always known who you were. Who do you think saw that Instagram message. How pathetic was that? I hired a private investigator to figure out who you were and then I waited because I knew you'd try to connect with Ryan again eventually and I knew I needed to be prepared." Stacy laughed before her face puckered. "I'm not one for small talk so let's talk about what's going to happen next."