“Is it true?” Nora asks. “About the investigation?”
“State police think Sawyer arrested Lance because we’re involved. They think maybe I made the whole thing up.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it? Sawyer comes in here all the time. Everyone saw us together.” I push my glasses up my nose again.
My phone buzzes. Text from Madison.
Madison: Hey I heard about Sawyer. You okay?
I delete it without responding. How on earth did Madison hear about it?
Nora comes over to my station. “You know what I think?”
“What?”
“I think Lance’s family has money and they’re using it to make trouble. And I think you and Sawyer are getting railroaded.”
“Doesn’t matter what we think. It matters what the investigators think.”
The door opens again. This time it’s Sawyer, and my stomach does a weird flip. I suddenly can't remember how to breathe normally. He’s in uniform, which means he’s working, which means he still has his job. For now.
“Hey,” he says, walking to my station.
“Hi.” I’m aware of Nora listening to every word. I point to his cup. “Coffee?”
“Yeah.” He leans against the counter. “How’s your day?”
“Fine.” I look at my shoes. “Yours?”
“Could be better.”
I'm surprised he's even in here talking to me. With all the gossip going around town, he knows what people are saying. Even Madison heard about it, and she doesn't even live in Pine Hollows. My chest starts to feel tight, like there’s a weight on it I can’t move.
“Alice?”
“Sorry. What?”
“I asked if you wanted to grab lunch later.”
Every instinct tells me to say yes, but then I think about Mayor Walsh’s comments. The whole town talking. Mrs. Peterson avoiding eye contact. The way Sawyer's career is hanging by a thread because of me.
“I should probably just eat the lunch I packed.”
Sawyer’s face doesn’t change, but something shifts in his dark brown eyes. “Yeah of course. Maybe next time.”
“Yeah.”
He leaves, and I watch him walk to his patrol car. Through the window, I can see him sitting there for a minute before he drives away.
“You’re an idiot,” Nora says.
“Excuse me?”
“That man came in here to check on you, and you brushed him off.”
“I’m trying to be smart about this. The less we’re seen together, the better it looks.”
