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I had always loved her soft hair, how it felt against my bare skin, running my hands into it as I kissed her—damn it,now I was the one who was off balance. Clearing my throat, I forced that line of thought out of my head and reminded myself I had a job to do.
“That’s the plan. So, Matt mentioned that you knew you were being followed, is that right?”
“Violet invited me to her monthly book club, to uh, talk about my books, maybe sign a few. Are you okay with that? I haven’t said yes. I wanted to check with you first.”
Cutting off a frustrated sigh I answered. “Yeah, that’s fine. You don’t have to check with me about anything. You’re entitled to be here living your life just as much as I am. Are you going to answer me?”
Her eyes shifted to the side, and she took a huge sip of her coffee. “Um, about what?”
“We need to talk about the accident.”
“No, we don’t. It was someone named Bethany Rhodes behind me. You know all about it, don’t you? And I’m sure you know what’s in the police report, right? I told Matt everything I saw.”
“Are you sure? Sometimes when people get shaken up, things get forgotten.” I searched her eyes for something—for what, exactly, I’m not sure. “It’s normal, Charlotte. I want to help. If anything is amiss or you’re in trouble somehow, I’m here for you. Did you suspect someone else was following you?”
“Cade, nobody else was there. Okay?”
“Okay, Charlotte.” I studied her face, still convinced she wasn’t telling me everything, but willing to drop the subject until I could find another approach. “I’m glad you’re back. I’ll see you around town.” Getting away from her was imperative. Leftover feelings wrapped inside of a new worry for her safety flooded my mind and clouded my judgement. I needed to be alone to sort through them, to make sure my feelings for her weren’t leading me astray.
“Bye, Cade.” Her voice trailed after me as I booked it to my car. I couldn’t get away fast enough.
Chapter4
Charlotte
What was that?
My hand went to my neck, gathering the chain I always wore and running it through my fingers as he hurried to his police SUV. In a daze I watched him get inside, start it, and drive away. This moment felt almost as bad as when I had watched him leave the attorney’s office after we signed the divorce papers. My stomach lurched and I tossed the rest of my iced coffee and blueberry muffin in the trash can on the corner. My appetite was gone.
I hadn’t lied, but I hadn’t told him the entire truth either. Lies of omission were often just as bad. Guilt ate at me as I got into my car. I was tempted to drive back to the Sweetbriar High School track to run off these rotten feelings. But running out my emotions hadn’t worked this morning, so why would it work now? Damn it, I should have stayed away, found another place to hide out.
Coming back to Sweetbriar was a mistake.
He was smooth. The years had polished him to a shine. Cool, collected, and handsome as all hell, he had asked me questions as I shivered from what I was still trying to convince myself was the cold. But deep down I knew it was him. He affected me just as much as he always had, and it stung that he didn’t feel the same curiosity about me. After the accident, falling into his arms and wanting to stay there was not a fluke born of fear. It was obviously a resurgence of all the feelings I had tried so hard to bury, and now I knew for sure at least a few of them were back.
There was no time for this. I had a book due and a freaking stalker to deal with. There was already too much on my plate; adding leftover Cade feels to it would be ridiculous and dumb and a waste of time because he obviously didn’t care about me anymore.
I mean, he hadn’t cared enough when I left Sweetbriar for NYU to wait for me. I’d asked him for time, and he’d asked me for a divorce.
Brushing away the burgeoning hurt, I turned onto Main Street and aimlessly drove through town, filling myself up with bittersweet memories over each street I turned onto.
Eff this.
Wasting my feelings on a man who didn’t care about me beyond what I could provide for his police report was foolish. Motor moping around town was a waste of precious work time—and gas.
I pulled into the Quickbriar Stop and Go for a fill up and some breakfast. My appetite had returned and I was getting perilously close to unleashing my hangry alternate personality all over the unsuspecting citizens of Sweetbriar.
Plus, I had so much freaking work to do. Sleep was about to become a fond memory. My caffeine intake was about to triple, and I needed to stock up on writing snacks.
On a mission, I parked at the pump, told the attendant to fill ’er up, and marched through the glass double doors. I snagged a little basket and headed for cooler cases in the back—come to mama, Diet Dr. Pepper. I had a freakin’ book to finish. Detective Adaline Paige and her deadline of doom waited for no one.
“Hey, Charlotte!” Startled, I turned back to the front counter, snagging a Snickers and a bag of M&M’s from the rack on the way.
“Hey, Elizabeth! What’s up? How’s your sister?” Elizabeth’s family owned this place. Her sister, Gwen, was my Sweetbriar bestie, from pre-school to present day. We were supposed to have lunch and reconnect, but life stuff—otherwise known as her four kids—kept coming up to get in the way and I hadn’t seen her yet.
She gestured to a customer angrily stomping to the self-serve soda fountain. “I was trying to convince Mrs. Pain-In-My-Ass that I do not have Marlboros in the back,” she quietly hissed as she air-quoted ‘the back.’ “I don’t know what the hell people think we keep back there—Narnia? An elven workshop?” Her eyes rolled in comic annoyance. “My fricking purse is back there hanging on a hook next to the employee schedule on a jacked-up clipboard and a few expired Snapples, jeez. Anyway, Gwen is good, kids are good, the ex-husband is a dick-face loser as per usual. But you’d better text her back soon if you don’t want her all up in your face demanding details about the accident, know what I mean? Word about that has traveled all the way around town. You know how it is around here.”
“Gotcha. I’ll text her later. I don’t suppose you have Tapatío Doritos back there? No one ever stocks those.” I smirked as I gestured to the back room. “I need spicy writing fuel for Adaline’s extra spicy scenes.”
