“She hasn’t decided yet,” Maggie said with a sigh. “And even if she does, it will likely only be for part-time.”
“Ouch.”
“Tell me about it.”
“So, does that mean you’d need an extra hand around here?” I asked, taking a nibble of the cookie. Maggie narrowed her eyes, getting up to get us both bottled water.
“You offering?” she asked, and I giggled, tipping her off at once.
“Korbin convinced me to move back,” I said. “And I don’t want to commute daily to the city.”
“Wait, wait, wait, hold on.” Maggie put up her hands, excitement rising on her face. “Do you mean to tell me that he convinced you to move back with him?”
When I didn’t automatically respond, Maggie clapped her hands with a chuckle, a smile lighting up on her face.
“Hot damn,” she said. “I knew you two were destined to be together. We all did.”
I giggled, feeling the heat rise to my cheeks and neck. “Thanks, Maggie. We’re definitely about to see if this finally works between us.”
“It will,” she said, reaching for another cookie and taking a bite. “We all knew it.” She got up to come across the table and hug me, making the day better almost at once.
“About the job,” I said meekly. “Do you have any openings?”
“Girl, we haven’t even tried to hire anybody since you left,” she said with a head shake. “So if you want the job, it’s yours. Always has been and always will be.”
A breath of relief traveled through me, and I smiled at Maggie, grateful to know her. “Thank you,” I said. “I won’t let you down. I still need to finish my shifts at the clinic in Denver, but then I’ll be back here.”
“That sounds perfect,” Maggie said, eyeing me from across the table. She tilted her head a bit as she watched me, and suddenly I felt like I was under scrutiny, under a microscope.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked, and Maggie frowned thoughtfully.
“Beneath this façade is something else,” she said, waving a hand at me. “Is everything okay? You seem—rattled, I guess?”
I took a deep breath and chuckled, tearing my gaze away from hers to look at the wall. “Everything is fine,” I said, images of my destroyed car and the hand-written note flashing through my brain. “Everything is good.”
“Ha,” said Maggie humorlessly. “I’m not even going to pretend to try to believe that.” She leaned forward across the table and rested her hand on top of mine. “What’s wrong?”
Tears began to pool in the back of my eyes, threatening to spill over, and as I struggled to compose myself, Maggie just waited patiently, her sympathetic eyes ripping deep into my soul.
“Someone vandalized my car this morning,” I said softly. “It was in the parking garage of Korbin’s complex, and someone just—destroyed it.”
“Jesus,” Maggie said, her hand fluttering to her mouth. “Do you know who it was? Or why?”
“There was a note but no name.” I wiped the stray tear from my face and reached for the water bottle, hating myself for breaking down over this. The stress was getting to me, piling up like a vast, never-ending snow blizzard.
“What did the note say?” Maggie asked, and I had to take a drink of water before I could speak.
“You’re dead,” I said. “That’s what the note said.”
A slight gasp escaped from her lips, and Maggie suddenly shook her head, her skin paler. “Damn, girl,” she said, and I nodded.
“Tell me about it.”
“Who would do something like that?”
“I don’t know,” I said with a shrug. “I think it’s an ex of mine—his name’s Jake. I was dating him, kind of, while I was seeing Korbin. He knew the whole time and was fine with it, but he showed up at my apartment drunk the other night.”
“Before Korbin asked you to move home?” Maggie asked, and I nodded.
