“Can we please talk inside, Helen?”I groan, dropping my head back.
“Of course, of course,”she concedes, fumbling with her keys.“What’s going on with you this morning?”
“I’ve had zero sleep,”I explain, shivering as I step inside.“So unless this place is on fire, do not wake me.”
“Seriously?!You’re going to sleep?”
“Yes!”I throw my hands up, nearly losing my balance.“I just need sleep!”I push open the door to my office.
It’s small and cluttered.But it’s mine.
And right now, my tired bones are drawn to the worn sofa as if it were a five-star hotel bed.
I kick off my heels and collapse onto its blissfully soft surface with a groan of relief.
The sharp rap of knuckles rips me from sleep.I sit up, stifling a yawn and stretching my arms.The leather cushions sigh beneath me.
“Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty!”Helen bursts in, but then halts when her eyes land on me.“Uhhh… never mind the beauty part.Mija, you look like you wrestled a bear and lost.”
I manage a weak laugh.“That’s one way to put it.”
“Hey, a real friend tells you when you look like you’ve been dragged backwards through a bush.”Her smile melts, replaced by a look of alarm.“But speaking of bears…” she whispers, her gaze darting to the door before pushing it almost shut.“Bancroft’s lawyer is here to see you.”
“Who?”
“Mr.Warren,” she replies, wringing her hands.
“Warren?”I frown.
“The attorney that old geezer hired to get rid of us.”
“Here?”I shoot upright.“He’s here in person?”
“That’s what I’ve been saying!”Helen throws her hands up.
“Oh no, no, no,” I shake my head, looking around nervously.“No, not today, Helen, I can’t—”
“Excuse me,” a deep voice interrupts.
The door swings open.
Matthew?
My blood runs cold.All I can hear is the loud pounding of my heart.
His broad shoulders fill the doorway.His impeccably tailored suit cuts a powerful figure.Sharp and professional.Nothing like my small frame, still swamped in his rumpled tracksuit.He looks like he belongs in a courtroom, not my coffee shop.I tug at the oversized sleeves, suddenly self-conscious.
“Sorry, but I need to be quick—” He freezes.His intense green eyes widen in shock.
“Oh my God… you’re Harold Bancroft’s lawyer,” I whisper, my cheeks blazing with embarrassment.
My mind reels, trying to reconcile the compassionate man from last night with the adversary standing before me.
“Amy Beckett?”His voice falters.“Maddy’s Place,Amy?”
“O… kay…” Helen looks between us, eyebrows shooting up.“Well, this is weird,” she mutters.“I’ll, uh...get back to our customers.”She slips out of the office.
The click of the door latch is a gunshot in the silence.
