Dammit, she’d forgotten to put her bag there to hold it for Ethan. David didn’t look at her or say anything, but she hadn’t expected him to.
Back when she’d been a kid, David’s wife had gone missing. For a while, the sheriff’s department had suspected he had something to do with it. They hadn’t found enough to prove it was him though, so he’d walked free. And ever since, people kept their distance. Which was easy, because he kept his distance from them too.
Now he lived alone in the mountains. She was surprised he was here at the meeting at all.
She glanced over her shoulder—and suddenly forgot all about David Collins. Because stepping into the center were Ethan, Ryan, and Connor…and a woman. A familiar woman.
“It’s her…” The words were barely a whisper, but Polly heard.
She turned her head. “Who’s the badass in boots?”
Ethan caught her gaze and winked before he and his team found seats on the other side of the aisle. The woman sat on the end of the row, beside Ethan. She leaned into Ethan, and he smiled at whatever she said. It made Maggie’s stomach roll, and she felt like she was right back in that bar eleven years ago.
“Maggie.”
She jumped and swung her gaze to her best friend.
Polly’s frown deepened. “Do you know her?”
“No.” Her phone vibrated, and she glanced at a text from Ethan.
Ethan: Hey. I have a friend I want you to meet after.
A friend. Of course she was a friend. Maggie shouldn’t feel jealous about that.
She glanced back up to see Ethan looking at her. He smiled before turning back to the front.
Maggie: Can’t wait.
She hit send on the text, but her belly still constricted, completely contradicting the two words she’d just written.
As Ferris spokein front of the town, Ethan’s gaze returned to Maggie. He could only see the side of her profile, but he knew something was wrong. He hadn’t had a chance to call and check in today. Damn, he should have called her.
“Yo, Squid, you listening or what?”
Ethan looked back at Ferris, who was discussing the agenda. “I can multitask.”
Jay scoffed. “You’d be the first man.”
He lifted his phone to type a message.
Ethan: Are you okay?
The three dots from Maggie popped up, then disappeared before the text came through.
Maggie: Yeah, just a rough workday.
What had happened?
He’d spent most of his morning getting Jay up to speed on the missing woman, then they’d spent the afternoon using the drone to search the area where Priya Tan had disappeared for heat patches. They hadn’t found any.
Ferris cleared his throat. “As you all know, Blanche has decided to step down as manager of the community center. She’s done an excellent job over the last thirty years, bringing us weekly bingo and Friday night dancing and monthly markets. But now she’s going to enjoy her retirement.”
There were a few cheers, and the older woman rose and waved to the crowd. She said a few words of thanks before sitting down again.
“Now,” Ferris continued, “I’m excited to announce that our new manager will be a home-grown local—Raven Price.”
The crowd clapped, but there were also a few hushed murmurs coming from behind Ethan.
