“Why do you know this?” Quinn asked.
I glanced at her. “I know a lot about nothing of real importance.”
“That’s not true,” Calvin said. “You’re brilliant and it gets you in trouble.”
I put my hands up in surrender. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Yet,” Calvin replied in a deep tone.
“Oh, come on, Cal. I was only relating one stupid thing to another. I don’t think Barnum is haunting my shop—I’m not about to try my skills at ghost hunting.”
“I didn’t say anything of the sort,” Calvin answered. “It’s not a dead person fucking with you, baby. It’s someone very much alive, and I want you to be careful. Anything else happens, you call me right away.”
The waitress returned and put down plates heaped with food.
Get stuffed, all right.
An acceptable silence fell over us as we ate.
I pushed the thoughts of the notes to the back of my mind. Letting myself ruminate over them was only going to lead to trouble. And I wasn’t going to get involved.
No sleuthing.
No sleuthing.
No sleuthing.
Calvin reached under the tabletop, set his hand on my thigh, and gave it a light squeeze. “You okay?” he murmured around bites of pancakes.
I nodded quickly, looking up. “Yup. Fine.”
“You’re not eating.”
“Sorry. I’m shitty at multitasking. I can’t eat and think.” I picked up my fork and dug into the now semicold omelet.
“What’re you—”
He was interrupted by a loud crash from the kitchen. His hand on my thigh tightened painfully as he jumped in his seat.
“Calvin?” I immediately put a hand on his shoulder.
He jumped again at my touch and let out a panicked, held breath. Calvin looked between me and Quinn before quickly getting up from the booth. “Excuse me,” he whispered.
“Calvin? Wait!” I watched him make for the restrooms.
“Go check on him,” Quinn said quickly. “Please.”
I nodded, already getting to my feet and running after him before he had a chance to lock the door behind him. “Cal,” I said, pushing the door open against his forceful hold. “Let me in.”
“I’m fine,” he said, sounding ragged.
“No, let me in,” I ordered, shoving hard and squirming in through the opening before letting the door slam shut.
The lighting was harsh and made me wince. Calvin was a little blurry, a little too bright, and appeared to be almost in tears. He backed up against the opposite wall, covering his face and taking deep breaths. His shoulders slumped. That was my cue.
I moved forward and pulled him against me as he started sobbing. Calvin wrapped his arms tight around me, burying his face against my neck and shoulder. Calvin was a big man. If it wasn’t for his recent shoulder injury, he could easily lift me. So when he put all of his muscle weight against me, it was difficult to keep us both standing.
His grip on me was so hard, it nearly hurt.
