Page 53 of The Stalker Snafu

I dawdled, hefting my tray of snails I wasn’t quite as proud of anymore and tugging on the hem of my catering shirt before backtracking to the other side of the lawn.

Halfway back to my familiar realm of trash-collecting, my eyes scanned the buffet table that housed more substantial appetizers.

I stopped midstep.

An unmistakable head of dark hair—not a single strand out of place—stood next to the rack of lamb. I stared in frozen shock until the guy turned to say something to an equally familiar head with a short ponytail.

I blinked, then blinked again, and then blinked a third time because obviously my eyes were broken if they thought they were seeing Noah Kincaid at the buffet table.

The same Noah Kincaid—my boyfriend—who was currently across the country in New York.

CHAPTER 20

A Ghost

I could only stand and stare as lead settled in the bottom of my stomach—which was how Teresa found me minutes later, staring at a scene that didn’t make a drop of sense.

“Emma?” She poked my shoulder. “You okay, girl?”

Overcome with the strongest delayed instinct of flight, I grabbed Teresa’s arm and tugged her back toward the house. My tray of snails didn’t stand a chance of being carried one-handed, and it dropped like a stone to the grass before we reached the back door to the kitchen house. The handle didn’t budge. I panicked, tightening my grip on Teresa and diving behind a row of manicured bushes near the back wall.

“What the hell⁠—”

“I think I just saw Noah,” I blurted out, pushing at a rogue piece of bush stabbing my thigh. Teresa did a double take.

“Emma, the open bar is for guests, not caterers,” she scolded, even as she ducked beside me. “Noah’s in New York.”

I shook my head and nibbled on the end of my finger. “I swear I just saw him.”

She frowned and swatted my arm. “Stop chewing on yourself. Are you sure you aren’t seeing things because you wish he were here? I promise I won’t think you’re crazy if you’re hallucinating again.”

“I’m positive.” I pulled my hand down, swallowing around the lump forming in my throat. It was a tight fit crouching behind the bushes, and I shifted my weight. “I saw his friend Julian, too. The vet student. They’re both here.”

Her face fell, and she risked a peek over the top of the bushes. “Okay, try not to freak out. We’ll figure this out.”

“What’s there to figure out? He’s not in New York like he said he’d be,” I said, feeling my heart rate freak out even more. “He’s a liar.”

Teresa clamped a hand on my knee and squeezed it. “We don’t know that. Maybe he was supposed to go to New York, but his trip got canceled? And then he… went to a party instead of telling you. Never mind, that doesn’t make much sense.”

“Wait.” I grabbed my phone out of my pocket. “We can make sure.”

Teresa scooted closer as I texted the first thing I could think of to Noah.

Emma

I miss you.

After I mashed send, we peeked over the top of the bushes, and I nodded Teresa in Noah’s direction. He still stood by the buffet table with Julian, but an older gentleman spoke with them, too.

The new arrival had dark hair peppered with grey, and his prominent nose competed with a scar along his jaw to dominate the rest of his face. They were deep in conversation when Noah pulled out his phone, and Julian made a show of trying to peek before Noah waved him off like an errant bug. Noah’s eyes flitted over the screen before he put the phone back in his pocket.

My heart sank.

“Oh.” Teresa flinched back from the bushes, wincing, before joining me again. “Ouch. Did he just screen your text? Cabrón.”

I silently applauded her name-calling. I couldn’t find any words to understand why my world was falling apart, but then Noah said something to the others before breaking off for the bar. He pulled his phone back out, and a moment later mine buzzed in my hand.

Noah