I just… stop.
My brain flatlines. My fingers go cold around the phone.
No. No. It’s fine. This is a small town. Dottie posts about everyone. It could be something harmless. Maybe she’s sharing photos from the Coyote Cup kickoff. Maybe it’s a “Welcome to Town, Delaney!” post and everyone is talking about my cornbread.
Yeah. Sure.
I tap the blue link Sloane has sent before I can talk myself out of it.
It opens Facebook.
Coyote Glen Community Spirit (No Drama).
The “No Drama” has never felt more like a lie.
There, at the top of the feed, is my face.
A screenshot from a food blog article I forgot existed, blown up big and glossy. I’m in my old chef whites, hair pulled back, standing in Marcus’s gleaming kitchen, smiling like I haven’t learned better yet.
The headline posted underneath it makes my stomach lurch.
RISING STAR SOUS CHEF AT CENTER OF MICHELIN STAR AFFAIR SCANDAL
My vision tunnels.
No.
No, no, no…
Dottie’s caption sits neatly above the initial article, written right at the start of my career.
Local News Alert
Did you know our very own new ranch chef, Delaney Rivers, has quite the big city past? Looks like she workedunder the famous Michelin star chef Marcus Hale in NYC. How exciting.
My hands start to shake.
“Oh, hell no,” I whisper.
Below that, more screenshots. Someone’s done a deep dive. Articles from food blogs and gossip sites. Paparazzi shots of Marcus outside the restaurant, looking stressed and tragic. Grainy photos of the two of us leaving a staff entrance months before everything blew up.
One headline speculates about whether I “seduced” him for fame. Another asks if I “stalked” him after the breakup.
My breath won’t go all the way down.
I scroll.
I know I shouldn’t, but I scroll.
The comments are already stacked high.
Wow. Didn’t expect THIS in our town.
Is that the same Marcus Hale from the cooking shows??
So she really WAS the other woman??
Yikes. Poor Marcus.
