I shrug, watching her face. “He might have mentioned you.”
“Thought so.” She kicks at a clump of snow with her boot. “What did he say? The whole ‘if you hurt her, they’ll never find your body’ speech?”
“Something like that.”
She groans, covering her face with her hands. “I’m sorry,Jericho. It’s very embarrassing that they gave you a grilling for no reason.”
“Don’t,” I say, pulling her hands away from her face. “It’s good that you have people who care that much.”
Her eyes meet mine, searching. “I guess.”
We walk in silence for a moment, our boots crunching through the snow. It’s a good way to fill the silence while I’m trying to process what just happened in that diner.
36
Nora
By the time Jericho and I step outside, the air makes me feel like I’m stepping out onto a new world altogether—crisp and biting, making me pull my jacket tighter around myself. The quiet is a stark contrast to the diner’s earlier chaos. The morning’s sudden interrogation had been complete pandemonium, and I catch a glimpse of how Jericho is moving, as if he’s still trying to process everything that just went down in there.
I can’t blame him; the wild whirlwind of my family alone would drive anyone up the wall. But then Jake showed up, turning everything on its head with his surprise visit. I didn’t know he was going to be back in town. That was a lot for any one person to handle—and not just because of Jake.
Seeing him with Olivia and Brodie—a whole little family together—was something else entirely. He’d sent me pictures, sure, but meeting his wife and kid in person felt different; it stirred something unexpected within me. Watching Jericho interact with Brodie tugged at my heartstrings in ways Ihadn’t anticipated, planting seeds of longing that made me question if it was too soon for such feelings to surface.
Olivia’s straightforward warmth acted as a perfect antidote to Jake’s more complicated nature. She allows him to just be himself, and it’s clear he’s happier than I’ve ever seen him before. And Brodie—he’s absolutely precious, radiating a sleepy adorableness that wins over everyone in the room.
The chaos of our meeting—the way laughter piled on top of noise—was just what we’re used to. As soon as the diner gets busy, hell breaks loose, and today felt like that on steroids. It’s why Moons’ Diner is the heart of everything here—nothing stays quiet or secret for long—and that’s always been expected and familiar… except maybe for Jericho. He looks more than just overwhelmed. There’s a wariness about him as if he’s bracing for something ominous lurking around the corner. My family’s teasing felt like a rite of passage into my world, but I didn’t think he’d take it so seriously.
I can tell it got under his skin, and I wonder what he really discussed with Jake. As we walk together, I try to gauge where his head’s at, aware that all this—the friends, the noise—is incongruous to the careful solitude he thrives in. I probably should have eased him into it more gently, but that’s not how things work around here.
He hasn’t said much since we left. His silence rings louder than any clamor inside Moons’. Knowing Jericho well enough now lets me sense that Jake’s easy immersion only adds layers to his confusion about where he stands among us—wondering if there’s always going to be part of my past that makes him feel like an outsider here too. But that’s not how I see it—I want so badly for him to believe that there’s space for him without hesitation.
His stride remains sure despite uncertainty clouding his piercing eyes. It takes a moment before my hand finds his. Squeezing it gently feels instinctual as if I’m silently offering reassurance where words might fail usboth right now. He walks beside me lost in thought while I wait patiently for him to return to me at his own pace.
We turn down Main Street toward the corner market. Jericho says he needs to grab a few things—a piece of glass he ordered for the three-season porch at the back of his house he’s restoring. Which is a bit odd if I’m honest; the amount of snow at the back nearly covers the windows itself, so I’m unsure how he’s planning to do that without freezing to death. But I agree to tag along.
“The weather is so nice,” he says when we head into the store, and I just laugh because the weather is disgusting.
Neither of us acknowledge it out loud, but we both know we’re avoiding the inevitable goodbye. Maybe this is why we choose the long way of walking to the store instead of driving.
Halfway back to the car, we pause at the edge of a crosswalk as a car pulls out of the alley across the street.
My blood goes cold. Dick. Of course it’s him. And I hate my reaction to him—when did I become so afraid of him just showing his mug?
Jericho sees him a second after I do. He doesn’t say a word. Doesn’t move. Just watches. He looks like a snake ready to strike—I don’t think he’s blinked once.
Dick unfastens his seatbelt and pulls the door open, but then he makes the mistake of looking up. I see the exact moment he sees us—and does the only thing a coward would do. He drops his gaze, closes the door, and starts the engine like he suddenly has something important to do on the other side of the planet. After a quick glance in our direction, he takes off, spraying snow from under his tires. Like the lastfuck youto us.
I feel Jericho relax beside me. He doesn’t say anything, but I know him by now. Dick’s presence physically does something to him.
His jaw is still hard, and I can hear the sound of him grinding his teeth behind the sudden quiet of the street.
“You okay?” I ask.
He finally speaks, voice low and flat. “Never again, Nora.”
“What?” I ask, genuinely not understanding him.
He slowly turns his head toward me. “Never be in the same room with him again.”
