“How familiar are you with the grocery store?” Amie asked.
Raina looked puzzled by the non sequitur. “What?”
“The grocery store. The one where Savannah had her regular flower order delivered from. Do you go there often?”
“Yeah.” Raina seemed concerned, which made sense. Amie knew she probably looked and sounded unusually eager for a conversation about a grocery store. “I do all my food shopping there.”
“That’s strange,” Amie murmured.
Raina chuckled lightly. “Why?”
It was clear to Amie that Raina had lied to her, even if Raina herself didn’t know. Amie had become so accustomed to her time loop habits at the grocery store that she’d nearly forgotten what had happened the first loop day she’d accompanied David there.
It had been a couple days after she’d finally told her neighbor about the time loop. She’d gone to visit him early, catching him right as he was leaving his apartment. He’d told her on a previous day that he’d nearly gotten escorted out by the store’s security for arguing with Savannah, so Amie wanted to see if her presence could possibly prevent that from happening.
They heard Savannah start to yell as they reached the cereal aisle. David had needed a basket for his groceries, so she went to fetch it to keep him away from Savannah.
Then she’d run into Raina. Raina said she had the morning off. Raina needed help searching for granola. And peanut butter—crunchy, not smooth. Then she’d knocked over a display of pinto beans, and Amie helped her clean it up.
By the time Amie was finished assisting Raina, David and Savannah were at each other’s throats, Savannah’s original grievance long forgotten as she screamed at David to stay out of her business. Amie managed to drag David away before security arrived.
After that day, she quickly learned how to keep David away from Savannah. She could never convince him to go to the store at a different time (mentioning Savannah only made him more determined), but she knew how the timing worked. She knew to get abasket as they arrived. She knew to collect the groceries Raina needed as they shopped, so she could swiftly give them to her and return to David before he could make his way to the flower counter. She managed to change the story of what happened that day, because in the time loop, anything that changed was because of Amie.
Raina was at the bookshop Monday morning. So why was she at the grocery store all those other days during the time loop?
Because of Amie. Because Raina knew David was going to the grocery store that Monday, as he did every Monday. She’d see him walking past the bookshop. And when Amie was with him, she’d see Amie, too.
“You didn’t want me to stop David and Savannah from arguing,” Amie said, her words slow and careful. She gazed at the bright lights of the carnival rides in the distance as she worked through her thoughts. “You knew I could. You’d seen me do it before. You wanted them to fight. To be seen fighting. You—”Oh my god, David was right. Someone was trying to frame him.
“I what?” Raina asked. Her eyes were searching Amie’s face. She still looked concerned, but something in her expression had shifted. She was no longer concerned for Amie. She was concernedbecauseof Amie.
“You … should probably get back to your friends.” Amie suddenly felt like she very much needed to leave. “David’s waiting for me …”
“Sure, of course.” Raina balled up the white paper bag, tossing it into a nearby trash can before digging into her purse. “Are you still going to meet Grayson?”
“No,” Amie said, trying to appear calm. “I mean, yeah. I should talk to him. But don’t let me take up any more of your time. It was nice seeing you!”
“You too!” Raina gave her a hug, and Amie felt a wave of relief wash over her. Now she just had to find David—
At first she thought the breeze had penetrated her cardigan again. Her relief rapidly ebbed as she registered the cool metalpressed against the small of her back. Raina pulled one arm away, leaving the other wrapped around Amie’s waist.
“Or we could spend some more time together,” Raina suggested. She seemed nervous, and without any other context, Amie could have been convinced that the other woman was flirting with her. But by now she was almost positive Raina had murdered Savannah, which was supported by the knife she seemed to be threatening Amie with, so Amie assumed Raina had more pressing matters on her mind than trying to ask her out on a date.
Amie stammered out something that was just as unintelligible to her as it was to Raina.
“I’m gonna take that as a yes,” Raina said, pulling Amie into the throng of people passing by. She lowered her voice, speaking into Amie’s ear. “The alternative option is that I stab you here and leave you bleeding on the ground. Which youmightsurvive, but it’d be painful. I think we can figure out an easier way to deal with this. Would you prefer that?”
Amie nodded, trying to keep up with Raina’s quickening pace. She was worried one trip, one jostle, any sudden movement might provoke Raina to opt in for the alternative option.
“Where are we going?” Amie asked as she was led around a corner.
“I need to think,” Raina replied. “Just keep moving while I think.”
Trying not to move her head, Amie glanced around, hoping to catch sight of David. They were already moving away from the food area, so unless David had taken a detour to get his face painted, she knew her chances of running into him were lessening with every step.
“Amie?”
“Shit,” Raina muttered. “Act normal. Be quick.”
