“What about more eggs? You liked the eggs.”
Lola blinked up at me, and the hint of her smile made my breath stick in my throat like glue. My heart started thumping—another one of those panic attacks, but good.
“I did like the eggs,” she said. “Opening my door those Sunday mornings was the highlight of my week. I wish…” She trailed off with a reluctant shake of her head.
“You wish we’d had more weeks like that?” I did. If I’d kept my promise and slowed us down, would we still be talking?
“Yeah.” A tinge of pink flushed her cheeks.
“What would you have baked next?”
“I was horribly stuck on what to pick, but I think I wasalmostsettled on a brown butter cheesecake.”
“One step closer to finally mastering caramel, huh?”
“Maybe.” She laughed. “Let’s not gettoooptimistic. I truly am hopeless with caramel.”
“I’m sorry I missed out on tasting your cheesecake. What tipped you over the edge into day drinking?” I waved a hand at the glass. “Land yourself with a patient even more difficult than me?”
Lola almost managed a lopsided smile. “I, um…” She sagged against the bar. “I got some…news…” An uneasy glance shifted to me from the corner of her eye. I’d seen that look before. “I knew it was coming, but I still wasn’t ready.”
Him. She was talking abouthim. I knew it, but I skirted around the edges to make it easier for her.
“Your family okay?” I asked. “Don’t tell me Bruce and Barb encountered a crocodile on their adventures up north?”
Smirking, Lola ran her fingertip around the rim of the glass. “Funnily enough, they did stumble on a crocodile in Cairns. But even a croc wouldn’t be game to mess up Bruce and Barb’s three-quarter life crisis. It was, um…” She sighed. “Remember the day out in the storm?”
I edged closer, lowering my voice. This wasn’t something for anyone else in town to hear. “Is that bastard giving you trouble?” I’d take care of him. Somehow.
“He’s…he’s looking…for me.” She gulped. “I was careful this time, but he got my number.”
“He’s been messaging you?”
“I blocked him. I even got another number. But Dad called and said Mum had done something stupid. She talked to Chris. He dazzled her and convinced her to give him my new number. She told him everything we’d talked about. I was careful about what I said to Mum, but… God, Aiden. Chris is so smart. He’s got money. It’s not a question ofifhe’ll find me, butwhen. I just…” She sighed. “I just don’t understandwhy.”
“Why he’s looking for you?”
Her head bobbed up and down. “He hated everything about me. He was never short of other options. Why won’t he move on to one of them and leave me alone?”
“Power. Control.” Cautious, as gentle as I could be, I rested my palm in the curve of her spine. “Are you safe, Lola?”
“I’ve never been safe, but I’m stronger here than I was with him. I’ll do all the usual things. I’ll change my number again. Check my locks. Fix the broken latch on the back door. I’ll even hike up my big girl pants and stop by the police station to talk to them. I just wish I could’ve had more time living my life and not worrying about the minute it’s all going to be snatched away, you know?”
I’d had moments with her like that. “I do.” The only difference was I’d chosen when to strike the match and blow up what Lola and I might have had.
“Hey!”
Brooke’s furious bark rang out across the bar. If there was one set of eyes not already staring at me after telling off the bartender, they were on me now. Guilty, I dropped my hand from Lola’s back and stuffed it in my pocket.
Brooke’s hair sailed behind her like a war banner as she charged over. “You better not be messing with my girl, you big oaf.”
“I’m not causing any trouble, Brooke,” I promised.
Harry’s head shot up. “Brooke?” He blinked, his eyes wild and darting everywhere. A goofy grin spread over his flushed cheeks when he saw the medical receptionist. He almost fell on his butt as he staggered off the stool.
Brooke’s eyes rounded. “What the hell happened to him?”
Harry propped his elbow on the bar. He was probably aiming to look cool, but he slumped over the wood more like a limp fish. “You happened to me, Sunshine Princess.” His dopey smile only got dopier.
