“It isn’t anything to worry about,” he adds quickly, and I’m still thankful for the reassurance. “I promise, it’s good. Just something I’ve been thinking about since you left on Sunday.” He smiles.
“You’re not even going to give me a hint?” I ask him, and he laughs. and I cross my arms, trying to hide my smile. “I’m serious.”
“So am I.” He leans in again, giving me a quick kiss before he turns to head out the door.
“You’re mean. Who dumpsthaton someone and then leaves?”
“Bye, baby,” he says, turning around to give me a wink before he’s out the front door. I watch him hop into the truck and throw on a pair of sunglasses with a wide grin on his face as Anderson pulls out of the parking lot.
I shake my head, smiling to myself as I watch the truck disappear from view, and I’m left wondering if maybe it’s not too soon.
Maybe Jack is thinking the same thing as me.
We’ve known this was the real-thing for a while now, probably since before we even started letting ourselves act on the feelings we were developing for one another.
My gaze returns to the parking lot, mostly empty in the early afternoon—my Tuesday shifts always experiencing this same lull—and I’m ripped from my thoughts when the front door to the shop chimes, and I see familiar tattoos and dark hair adorned with a patterned headband.
Emerson waltzes in, bringing my attention back to my surroundings, thoughts of Jack and moving in together floating to the back of my mind for now. “Hey, hot stuff.” She rounds the counter and asks me about the morning, but I don’t really register her question. Not when I see a familiar car, one I haven’t seen in months, back out of one of the back parking spots.
I noticed it pull in this morning, but I don’t remember seeing anyone get out. The only reason I gave it any thought was because of the plates.
They’re Minnesota plates.
I’m trying to make out the plates when I hear my name. “Rumi?”
“Yeah?” I say, but my eyes are still on the car as it exits the parking lot, but it’s too far away now. I squint, trying to see who’s in the driver’s side, my heart beating faster and faster every second that passes, but I can’t see who they are. “What did you say?”
Emerson follows my gaze, and we both watch the car disappear in the opposite direction I watched Jack head just minutes ago, and I take in a shaky exhale.
It can’t be him.
It’s been weeks since the court issued Trevor a paternity test, and if he doesn’t respond by the end of August, the court will most likely default judgement and legally declare him the father. From there, the plan is to go ahead with the child support order, since my circumstances allow for us to go forward without a hearing.
What would he be doing here?
And how would he have found me?
“Who was that?” Emerson asks, and I feel her eyes on me as I begin to busy myself with cleaning the already spotless counters before taking off my apron and folding it over my arm.
“No one,” I answer, shaking my head. “I thought I saw someone I knew, but I don’t think it was them.”
Emerson knows a lot about my past—Jack giving her some details but allowing me to tell her the rest on my own time—but I don’t want to worry her over nothing, not when I’m positive this was just my head playing tricks on me.
Almostpositive.
CHAPTER 39
RUMI
By the timeI get home, the afternoon has faded into the early evening, and I’m fully convinced that I was overreacting to seeing the black car in the parking lot. After leaving Hey Honey’s, reassuring Emerson that I was fine, I went for a walk, needing to clear my head, before circling back home, knowing Evee was taken care of with Ava.
With the situation forgotten, I walk through my front door to find Ava on the other side, Evee in one arm and her diaper bag in the other. I’m surprised to see her, having gotten a text from her that she was going to drop Evee off at Jack’s mom’s house for me—Tuesday evenings having turned into Angela’s night with Evee since she watched her the weekend I took care of Jack when he was sick.
Ava’s auburn hair is curled in loose waves, and her freckled cheeks are dusted with bronzer and a light pink blush. She’s dressed in a tight black dress that accentuates her slim build and long legs.
She’s dressed for a date.
I cock my head and give her a smirk. “Where are you off to?”
