“Hey,” she said. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” I replied, and my chest tightened anyway.
Jenna lowered her voice slightly, not enough to be secret but enough to feel personal. “Your boyfriend was in earlier.”
The word boyfriend hit like a slap.
“My what?”
“Boyfriend,” she repeated, eyebrows lifting. “Tall guy. Dark hair. Really polite. Asked where you’d be today.”
“I don’t have a boyfriend,” I said, each word clipped.
Jenna’s cheeks flushed. “Oh. Sorry, he just seemed concerned.”
“Concerned,” I echoed, and it came out sharp.
Jenna lifted her hands. “Not like, bad. Just like he was checking in.”
“When,” I asked, my pulse instantly racing.
“Half an hour ago,” she said. “Maybe a bit more. He sat right there by the window.” She pointed. “Watched the street. Then left.”
“Did he say his name?” I asked.
Jenna shook her head. “No. Just smiled. Paid cash. Left a bigger tip than necessary.”
My stomach turned over, cold.
“Did he ask anyone else about me?” I said.
Jenna’s eyes widened. “Tessa…”
“Did he,” I pressed.
Jenna nodded slowly. “He asked Kyle at the hardware store if he’d seen you. Kyle said you’d be at the clinic. That’s how I knew. I thought… I thought he was with you.”
River’s Edge did what it always did. It filled in blanks. Itassumed. It connected dots. It offered information like it was kindness.
My phone buzzed in my pocket before I could say anything else. I didn’t need to look to know.
Colin: Hope the first day’s going well. Enjoy the coffee. I started a tab for you.
My skin prickled. I glanced up, scanning the café windows, the street outside, the reflections. People moved. A truck rolled by. A woman carried a bag of flour. Nothing obvious. Nothing provable.
Jenna watched my face. “Is everything okay?”
I slid the phone back into my pocket and forced my mouth into something resembling calm. “Yeah.”
Jenna didn’t believe me. She leaned forward, voice lower now. “Do you want me to call anyone? Wyatt?”
“No,” I said too quickly.
Jenna’s brows pinched. “Tessa, if someone’s bothering you.”
“It’s nothing,” I lied.
I picked up my coffee. My fingers shook just enough that the liquid rippled.
