“Don’t remind me,” he grumbles, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.
“I promise we will go to Bracken Creek, find out what she has to say, and come right back. No side quests.”
“We can share our location with you if you’re really paranoid,” Hannah suggests, trying to ease their minds.
“I don’t like this,” Ryan repeats, scowling.
“You don’t have to like it.” I clasp his jaw in both hands and kiss him on the lips. “But you need to accept it because we’re going.”
On Saturday morning, Hannah and I pull to a stop in front of the diner where Jade suggested we meet. This is the only time that worked for all of us. Shutting off the engine, she turns to me.
“Are you ready?” she asks, securing her curly hair in a messy knot on top of her head.
“As I’ll ever be.” I puff out a breath. Reaching for the door handle, I open it and step out onto the sidewalk.
“You’ve got this.” She gives my arm a reassuring squeeze.
Once inside, I look around the mostly empty restaurant and spot a petite blonde sitting alone in the corner booth facing the door. She’s young—very young. I’m not one to judge because Ryan has a decade on me, but she can’t be a day over twenty-one. What is Braden thinking?
She glances up when she hears the bell above the door and raises her hand in greeting.
“Here goes nothing,” I mumble under my breath.
“Do you want me to come with you or wait at a different table?” Hannah asks.
“Come. Please.” As the week passed, I questioned my decision to meet, and don’t want to do it alone.
We walk towards her, and she stands. “Hi. I’m Jade.” She extends her hand to shake, then thinks better of it and drops it to her side. “I recognize you from your social media,” she says quickly. “I’m sorry, after I talked to your friend, I did some more internet sleuthing and started putting some pieces together. This is awkward.”
“For both of us.” I slide onto a bench seat, and Hannah slides in beside me.
“What friend?” she whispers. I shake my head quickly. Hopefully, she forgets that part. I don’t want to lie to her, but I also don’t want to betray Meg’s trust.
An older waitress with striking silver hair comes to the table as soon as we are all seated. She pulls a pen and notepad fromher apron pocket and asks, “What can I get you? Do you need to see a menu?”
“I’ll have a coffee,” Hannah says, then looks to Jade and me. We both nod, and she says, “Make that three. Does anyone want anything to eat?”
“No, thanks.” The thought of food right now makes my stomach turn. Coffee is going to be pushing it.
“I’m good, thank you.” Jade shakes her head quickly.
“Sure thing. I’ll be back in a jiffy with the coffees.” Tucking her pad away, she turns on her heel and hurries away.
“I’m Hannah.” She smiles disarmingly at the young woman across from us, then nudges my foot.
“And yes, I’m Beck. But you know that,” I mutter. “I’m glad you could meet us today.”
Jade bites her bottom lip and glances down at the table before meeting my eyes.
“Me too.” She quirks the corner of her mouth. Taking a deep breath, she begins. “First, I would like to apologize.”
“I don’t know that you need to. I suspect you got caught up in something out of your control.”
“Maybe, but I also feel like I may have been complicit.”
“When did you meet Braden?” I ask, picking anxiously at my cuticle.
“I met him about a year ago. Here, actually,” she says, looking around the room. “I was working part-time while going to school, and he used to drop in a couple of times a week with his friends for lunch. He was cute and funny, and I liked the attention.”
