maple syrup
small-town chatter
Normal life. The kind I miss constantly.
Maddie sits in a corner booth already typing aggressively on two phones at once.
“You’re late.”
“It’s nine-fifty-eight.”
“You emotionally delayed me.”
I slide into the booth across from her. “That’s not a real sentence.”
“It is in PR.”
Before I can answer, the café door opens again. Sadie walks in holding Jillie’s hand.
Every conversation in the café quiets slightly.
Not because of me.
Because small towns always know when something dramatic enters a room.
Sadie spots me immediately, and for one dangerous second, everything else fades.
She looks exhausted today.
Beautiful too, unfortunately.
Dark hair pulled into a messy knot.
Oversized cream sweater beneath her coat.
Protective tension written across every line of her body.
Jillie brightens instantly when she sees me.
“Colby!”
Every head in the café swivels harder. Great.
Jillie races toward the booth before Sadie can stop her. She nearly crashes into my legs.
“You’re famous-er today,” she informs me.
“Apparently.”
“Mommy said paparazzi are vultures.”
Maddie coughs violently into her coffee.
