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“I didn’t say anything back then because I didn’t think anyone would listen. Least of all you. You pretty much gave up on me after my accident.”
Ashley’s shoulders drop and she nods. “I had to,” she whispers, shocking me, as tears well in her eyes. “I didn’t know what to say. Or how to act around you. I didn’t want to say the wrong thing.”
Wow, that’s the most vulnerable she’s ever been with me. But her reasoning sucks. Everyone tiptoed around me, except Pippa. If she hadn’t drifted before it happened, she would have known what I wanted. She would have knownme.
“You can have the crib,” I say, instead of getting into a deep and meaningful conversation. “I don’t have any plans for it.”
Ashley’s eyes light up and she actually smiles. “Thank you. I’ll look after it, in case you ever want to use it.”
“Don’t worry about it. You can keep it.”
She thanks me again and then we fall into an uncomfortable silence, both of us knowing this is some kind of truce, but nothing groundbreaking.
“I better go,” she says when the silence gets too much. “But I really appreciate it. I owe you.”
“It’s fine. I promise.”
She leaves and I count down the minutes until Sara arrives, desperately needing to debrief on that weird conversation.She had to pull back from me?What a joke.
Just when I’m expecting Sara to arrive, she calls instead, telling me she’s unwell. My guilt hits instantly… Can Jesse and I really keep doing this? Sure, he’s starting to come here too, but he could be playing for another three years. I can’t do that to Sara, not if I’m driving her to exhaustion.
It turns out to be a quiet day, so I listen to music as I restock the shelves, surprisingly uninterrupted other than a few waves through the window. When it hits four and I still haven’t had a customer, I close up early. My heart’s not in it anymore. Or maybe it never was and I’m only just realizing it. I enjoy two things about the store these days—Sara and making jewelry. Though, I’ve only made a few more pieces to add to the collection. Not enough to warrant putting them up for sale yet.
After tidying up around home and prepping dinner, I realize I still have an hour before Jesse arrives, and decide on a jog, needing to work out the weird energy flowing through me.
But the second I set off, I instantly hate the fact that it’s the afternoon instead of morning. It feels wrong. And sounds different. I’m not greeted by my usual morning bird calls, there are no farmers about when I hit the open road, no machinery. It’s eerily quiet. But it’s better than nothing.
I take my usual route, and as I’m nearing the lookout, like always, I picture myself up there, the wind blowing through my hair, the warm air on my skin, the view. It’s been a while since I watched the sunset in Hepburn. But today’s not the day to start again.
I turn around to go back in the same direction when someone calls my name, and it’s a voice I’ve come to recognize, a voice I haven’t heard for a while.
Bile rises in my throat as I spin on my heel, my eyes locking on Alex, a smile on his face.
“I’ve been looking for you,” he says, walking closer. “You’re a hard woman to find these days.”
I huff out a laugh to hide my panic, and put on a smile of my own. He doesn’t know Tate called me.I don’t think.
“It’s really not that hard,” I say, nonchalantly. “I’m either here, home, or the store.”
“Or San Francisco,” he adds for me. “Or New York.” His brows rise and my skin breaks out in goose bumps.
“Yes, true. I’ve been with Pippa.”
“Pippa or hockey man?” he asks as he reaches me, sending a shiver down my spine as a new energy fills the air.Jesus. Our last conversation wasn’t easy, but it felt more friendly than this. Tate was right to be worried.
“Pippa,” I lie before changing the subject. “You said you were looking for me?”
“I was. I came to warn you about Tate.”
“Tate?” My mind whirs as confusion sets in.Who the hell do I trust?
“He got a little freaked out when he saw photos of you with Jesse, and it got me thinking. Why would he be worried?”
Shit. Shit.Another shiver runs through me as he shortens the space between us. “I have no idea,” I say calmly. “I barely know Tate. Why do you think you need to warn me?”
“Just a hunch. Do you think he’s worried you remembered something?”
Holy shit.He knows. He knows about Tate and Jesse.“Why would that matter to him?”
