She sucked in her bottom lip as she typed something. “I’m sorry.” She glanced back up at me. “But I didn’t realize how much time had passed already.”
My heart sank. “Do you have to leave?” We hadn’t even begun to speak about the documentary yet, somehow. I was truly hoping I could hire her in to help me with the project.
She looked at her phone. “Well, not exactly. Would you be opposed to my boyfriend joining us? I was supposed to meet him here after our meeting and…he’s already on his way, apparently.”
I sighed with relief. “Oh, that would probably be fine…”
I hesitated, thinking better of it. I wanted to keep the documentary about the Shadow Stalker on the down-low, for now. I wasn’t sure how the locals would take the information. The wound was still fresh, the man only recently arrested for the crimes he’d gone years getting away with.
“If you don’t mind me asking, who’s your boyfriend?” It was probably a good idea to know who was about to crash our meeting before I decided to let the town know my business.
A slow, sweet smile spread across her face. Her cheeks heated as she said his name, like he was the most delightful thing in the world.
“August Ramsey.”
Panic shot straight through my heart. I gaped at her, trying to convince myself that I hadn’t heard her right.
Ramsey.
No.
The name brought flashes from the past, springing up from memories I’d long shoved down and repressed. My breath hitched.
“Skye?”
Emersyn’s voice sounded far away through the blood rushing in my ears.
I forced myself to focus. “I’m—I’m sorry,” I said, breathless and shaken. “Did you say August Ramsey was your boyfriend?”
Emersyn looked extremely concerned and confused. She fiddled with her cat-eyed glasses. “Yeah, do you…do you know him?”
My eyes shot down to her phone and back to her. “August Ramsey is coming here? Right now?”
Emersyn reached over across the table, like she was going to grab my hands, but I pulled away.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
I jumped up from the table. The panic was tangible now, digging its cold claws into my heart.
Agreeing to come back to Ember Hollow, to making this documentary, was almost a guarantee that I would see him again. But I hadn’t been prepared for that today. Not right now.
August wasn’t the Ramsey brother I had fallen in love with, but he was the closest thing to him.His twin.
I backed away from Emersyn’s table. “I just remembered I’m late for…something,” I stammered, taking steps backward as I spoke. “We will have to—talk soon, okay?”
I didn’t wait for her reply before I spun around, clutching my bag to my hammering heart, and all but sprinted toward the door.
No matter what, I was not prepared to see Fox Ramsey’s gray eyes…even if they were reflected in his twin brother’s.
Like the coward I’d always been, I ran away.
2
Fox
Istoodatthegraveof my baby sister, head hung low as I stared at the dying grass beneath my feet. It had been almost a decade since she’d been taken from this world—taken from me. I balled my fists, hidden inside the pockets of my jacket. The ache of grief in my chest was as raw and fresh as all those years ago. The pain was a constant thing that would never heal entirely.
The chilled air made my tight throat burn as I sucked in a deep breath. Thea’s face flashed through my mind; the picture of her wide, mischievous grin almost made me smile. Almost.
