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“And lucky me, I just happened to run into a girl I used to date.”
She huffs and turns her back to him again.
His focus returns to me. “So is Nina still working at the grocery store?”
“Yeah. She’s the best cashier there. Way faster than anyone else.”
I glance at her and see her mouthing‘I hate you’to me. But I know she doesn’t. And I know she doesn’t mind having Josh there, as evidenced by the fact she hasn’t moved farther over in the booth, despite his arm brushing against her back whenever he moves it.
“So you really came here for the burgers?” I ask. “You must really like them.”
“I do, but that’s not the only reason. I’m also here on business.”
“This is way outside your jurisdiction.”
“This is a side job. I’m doing some investigation for a friend.”
I tense up, assuming this has to do with my dad.
“Don’t worry,” he says. “It’s nothing about you. And yes, I know who you are. I didn’t at first but the more we talked, the more you looked familiar. I recognize you from the pictures.”
There were photos of my dad with my mom and me all over the news when the scandal broke. It was horrible. I got recognized wherever I went. People were constantly giving me nasty looks or making mean comments. That was another reason I wanted to escape to a small town, but moving here didn’t help.
“There wasn’t anything you could do,” Josh says. “I hope you know that.”
I shrug. “I guess.”
“Guys like that will do anything to get what they want, even if it means hurting those they love. They’re expert liars. Sometimes they can even lie their way through a lie detector test.”
“I’d rather not talk about it.”
“I understand.”
“So you said you’re here on business?”
He chuckles. “It’s nothing serious. Gladys Mayfield thinks someone broke into her house today and stole one of her pies, along with some cold fried chicken.”
Gladys Mayfield is an elderly woman who works the morning shift at the bakery, running the register. She always thinks someone’s trying to steal from her.
“I think she just forgot that she ate it,” he says, “but I told her I’d come check it out. Look for any signs of unlawful entry. It’ll make her feel better and I’ll probably get a pie out it.”
“How does Gladys know you?”
“When I was dating this girl,” he glances at Nina, “we used to go to the bakery in the morning and get pastries. Nina insisted on getting donuts, which she thought was hilarious because of the whole donut-cop thing. While we were there, I’d always get a pie to take home for later. Gladys would ring us up at the register and,” he grins, “she kinda had a thing for me.”
“You cheated on Nina with Gladys?” I pretend to be shocked. “No wonder Nina broke up with you.”
“I hadn’t thought about that, but that’s probably the reason. Although Gladys and I never shared anything more than a handshake. But I could see how Nina might’ve thought otherwise.”
I laugh. I like this guy. He’s funny. I wonder why Nina dumped him.
Lacey, the waitress, stops by. “Two bacon double cheeseburgers.” She sets one in front of me and the other in front of Nina. “And for you?” she asks Josh.
“I need a minute.” He grabs a menu. “For now I’ll take a beer.”
Lacey leaves. Nina finally faces forward, but instead of eating, she checks her phone.
Mine dings and I see a text from Nina.Get rid of him!
