“Hi,” a customer called softly.“Do you have a copy ofNo Redemption Road?”
“Of course,” I said, standing quickly and guiding them toward the display table near the back.By the time I returned to the counter, Reggie had climbed down from the ladder… and was leaning over my laptop.
He looked up, wide-eyed and grinning.“Cass!You didn’t tell me you’re a writer!”
My heart stuttered, panic flaring hot until I realized nothing incriminating had been opened, just vague offer details.Relief rushed through me, chased immediately by a sharp pang of discomfort.
“It’s… nothing big,” I said, forcing casualness into my tone.“Just freelance contracts.”
“Freelance?”He raised a brow, already intrigued.“So do we have any ofyourbooks in the store?”
I laughed, a soft, nervous sound.“I can't say.”
That was apparently the wrong answer, because Reggie grinned like I’d just issued a challenge.He darted around the nearest shelf, grabbing random titles and holding them up one by one.
“Hot or cold?”he demanded, waggling the first book.
“Cold,” I said, rolling my eyes.
He grabbed another.“This one?”
“Colder.”
It became a game, his laugh bright and infectious, the tension I’d been carrying loosening a little with each ridiculous guess.It felt light and fun and so different than anything I had been feeling lately...well, for far too long if I was being honest.
And then the door opened.
I didn’t even need to look to know something was wrong.The air shifted, sharp and cold.
Abby walked in.
Her shoulders were stiff, her expression tight, and something in her eyes made my stomach twist.“What’s going on here?”Her tone was clipped, colder than I’d ever heard it.
Reggie froze mid-reach for another book, confused.“We’re… just having some fun?”
Abby’s gaze flicked between us before she moved to stand between him and me, her posture protective in a way that didn’t make sense until the weight of it sank in.
My chest went hollow.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said softly, the realization slamming into me.
Abby didn’t answer, but the look in her eyes, wary, searching, suspicious, said everything.
A bitter laugh escaped before I could swallow it down.“So this is how it’s going to be, huh?Rumour mill spins at the salon, and suddenly, you don’t even know me anymore.I can't laugh with your husband without being accused of something.”
“Cass, that’s not...”
I cut her off, voice trembling despite my best efforts to hold it steady.“Three years, Abby.I’ve worked here for three years.Never once has it been an issue for me and Reggie to be friendly, and now suddenly…” I gestured vaguely between us.“Now suddenly you think...”My throat closed, the words choking off.I’d survived strangers whispering in the streets, Victoria’s venom, and Andrew’s obsession.But Abby?Abby looking at me like I was capable of betraying her?
Reggie stepped forward, his confusion shifting into something closer to anger.“Wait, what?Abby, is that what this is?You think something’s going on between us?”
She didn’t answer.She didn’t need to.
Her silence was enough.
I shut my laptop hard, the sound making both of them flinch.I shoved it into my bag, my hands shaking, my vision blurring with the tears I refused to let fall.“If this is how it’s going to be, then fine.My notice is up.I’m done.”
“Cass...”
