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Mary felt sorelieved and grateful that he understood and wasn’t upset. She knew what it felt like to be rejected and didn’t want it to come across that way, but dating wasn’t something in the cards for her. No, the entire idea of even putting herself out there again felt strange…
Friendship is different,her subconscious mind nudged gently.
The back door to the bakery opened and Eva stood there for a moment – before speaking.
“Okay, kiddo…” Eva said softly, “Inside. Now. You can eat in my office where you’ll be undisturbed.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Your ex-husband just walked in the front door, and I don’t think either of us want him circling the building when he sees you aren’t working in front. C’mon. Whatever is going on… I don’t want it here at work, so yeah – we are going to hide you, my friend.”
Mary didn’t have to be told twice.
She grabbed her lunch bag, sandwich, and phone, cramming them between her hands sloppily as she practically flew up the back steps into the kitchen. Eva took her by the arm, dragging her away from the frame of the doorway where she might be seen, and unlocked her office door.
“I’m trusting you,” Eva said softly, looking at her. “Don’t dig around in my office.”
“You’ve got my back – and I’ve got yours,” Mary promised gratefully.
“Enjoy your lunch and relax,” Eva whispered. “Someday, when you are ready, we’ll talk more… but you are safe.”
“Thank you.”
Hearing that was more than anything Mary could have ever imagined, and the fact that her boss was helping her without knowing the full story, meant the world to her.
Yeah, she wasn’t quite sure how to shake off Joe or tell him to go away, because he was never taking ‘No’ for an answer… despite her best efforts to avoid him.
CHAPTER5
GHOST
Jax wasbeyond excited for this escape.
He was flying out of Kabul with Houdini and was a bundle of anticipation. He’d never been to Texas before. It had been a year since he saw his friends Firefly and Valkyrie, plus he was going to be meeting a few pilots that were in Ghazni long before he had ever arrived. This was the vacation he never pictured… and getting to stay somewhere new for free, meeting up with friends, having a chance to meet Mary?
Simply the best!
Her last email was brief – but so long as they were friends, maybe they could check out a pizza place that was opening soon, if it fell within the date range that he was going to be there.
Jax had actually looked up several places to look around, because he had no intention of spending his vacation sitting on his rear in the middle of nowhere. There was a comic book shop in Tyler that had collectibles, a bookstore that looked promising, he jotted down a few pizza places, just in case…
“I can’t wait to get there,” Jax beamed happily, buckling his lap belt on the plane and looking at Houdini, who looked almost beside himself. “You aren’t nervous, are you?”
“What? Me? No… not at all.”
“What’s up then? You’re awfully quiet.”
“I just have a lot on my mind and a slight headache.”
“Gotcha. Yeah, I plan on getting some shuteye on the plane since we aren’t the ones having to fly it – and then checking out some souvenirs when we get to a stop. You know they have honeycomb candy bars in London?”
“Honeycomb?”
“Yes! And apparently in Texas they have something called ‘Armadillo Droppings’…”
“That sounds disgusting.”
“It’s dark pecan pralines with chocolate poured all over them.”
