But the night he found her in the parking garage, breathing wasn’t the only thing that became a fight. She packed her life in the dark and drove until her hands stopped shaking.
She wasn’t running toward Chad. She knew better. He wouldn’t follow through on any of his vague promises, but Silverbranch offered what she needed. Distance.
She told herself it would be safe.
A sanctuary. A reset.
She pulled her scarf higher,the wind slicing across her face as she turned the lock.
The streets were quiet, wrapped in that heavy tranquility that only existed in small towns after dark.
She told herself she preferred it.
The calm. The predictability.
But tonight, the silence pressed too tightly.
Her keys jingled as she walked toward the lot, breath curling into the cold air in quick, uneven bursts.
She’d stayed late to clean up after a busy shift. Normally, she didn’t mind, but something was off. An itch beneath her skin. A wrongness she couldn’t name.
She glanced back toward the rear entrance of Dot’s.
A faint flicker of movement. Faint, but mistakable.
Her pace faltered halfway across the lot. One step. Then another. Slower now, like her body sensed the truth before her mind caught up.
A rose waited on the windshield—centered. Crimson. Placed with intention.
Arden stopped cold.
Her breath caught.
A knot twisted in her stomach.
She didn’t need to read the signature…JT.
She fought to breathe.
Couldn’t think.
How had he found her here?
She’d been careful: changed her number, deleted her socials, avoided old friends who might give her away.
Her fingers shook as she reached for the lock. Too slow. Too uncertain.
A rustle behind her.
Her head snapped up. Eyes swept the shadows. Streetlights flickered across pavement. Nothing moved.
But the feeling remained. A presence—watching, waiting.
She yanked the rose from the windshield and let it fall.
The note fluttered down behind it.
She didn’t read it.Not tonight.
