AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hi, Charles.” I smile at the grumpiest employee in the grocery store. “Yes. One script.”
He types on the computer in front of him, then spins around to fish through the prescriptions waiting for pickup.
“So crazy to hear about the lady they found in the woods,” I say, trying to make conversation with him.
Through the gossip mill, I overheard a diner in the restaurant say Charles’s wife recently divorced him, took their child, and left town. He’d been surly before his ex-wife turned his life upside down, but at least he smiled once in a while. Now, I don’t think his facial muscles rememberhowto smile.
Doesn’t stop me from gifting him one. If mine is the only smile he sees, then at least he’s seen one today.
Bag in hand, he turns around and rings up my order, stony expression firmly in place. “Maybe she provoked her attacker.”
I’m sorry. What?
Dazed, I sign for my prescription and swipe my card on the reader. When he hands it over, I meet his gaze. “No oneasksto be killed and thrown in the woods.”
Blinking a few times, his expression softens. “I didn’t mean that.” He runs a hand through his shaggy hair. “It’s been a long day.” He waves a hand toward the store. “Half the town has lost their damn minds. And all I hear about is this woman, whoever she is, and everyone’s opinion on what happened.”
I drop my prescription in the cart. “Hopefully they’ll catch the person soon. Then everything will go back to normal.”
He points to my prescription—my birth control—and says, “Be careful.” He straightens a display of cold medicine near the register. “There’s a killer on the loose.”
What the hell?
From head to toe, every muscle in my body locks up. My face distorts as my lips purse and my forehead wrinkles. I get it; some people are socially awkward. They mean well but say the strangest things with good intentions. This may be one of those moments, but I have no clue if it is.
Unsure how to respond, I steer the cart away from the pharmacy and start walking. “Have a better day,” I throw over my shoulder as I breeze past a display.
Finding Skylar in produce, I opt to not share my weirder-than-normal interaction at the pharmacy.Maybe I should start ordering my pills through the mail. Whatever. It’s done now.
We move through the aisles, filling our carts with less than everyone else in the store. Because this isn’t the apocalypse and more groceries will be delivered.
As we approach the checkout, an uneasy feeling washes over me. I glance over one shoulder and spot a woman in green scrubs. She smiles and I return the gesture. Looking over the other shoulder, I catch a man blatantly staring at my butt. When I tug my hoodie lower, dark eyes lift and meet mine. His tongue darts out and licks his lips. I face forward and shuffle with the line, the knot in my stomach more pronounced.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Work to shove down the nausea bubbling beneath my diaphragm. One breath later, scribbled words on a curled napkin flash behind my closed lids.
Every morning, you flash him your cleavage and tease him with your words. And when he pisses you off, you make plans with other men. You drink and dance and fuck like a whore. One day, you’ll be my whore.
A hand on my arm makes me jump, and I open my eyes. Skylar studies my face, concern etched in her brows as she mouths, “What’s wrong?”
I shake my head and move my groceries from the cart to the belt. The cashier rings up my items and I smile as he tries to make polite conversation. As we wheel our carts back to the corral and remove our bags, I peek over my shoulder into the store, my nervous belly churning and twisting.
No one pays us any attention. No one approaches us.
It’s nothing, Kirsten. Just your mind fucking with you.
We step outside, the cooler air dancing over my exposed skin and soothing my anxiety.
“What happened?”
I glance at Skylar briefly and keep walking, not saying a word.
“Did you have another flashback of your dad?”
No one except Oliver knows about the note from work the other day. And all Oliver knows is someone left one. It was folded in half, with my name written on the outside. Thank goodness he didn’t snoop. Had he read it, I’d literally be escorted everywhere.
If I was smart, I’d share the note with Travis. Though I don’t think the person who wrote it is the same person who killed the young woman, it’s definitely someone who needs help.
When this dies down, when they catch the person responsible for the woman in the woods, I’ll share the note with him. The last thing Travis needs is a heavier workload.
