Maggie checked her watch. “Shoot.”
“Go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Her best friend gave her a big hug before hurrying out of the café.
Polly took the empty mugs to the dishwasher. God, she was drained today. Why, she had no idea. Maybe everythinghappening in this town was finally catching up with her. But then, she wasn’t even the one doing a lot of the digging, that was Joel and his team. Not only were they trying to figure out the person hurting women in Deep River, they were having to sidestep Ward while doing it.
She’d just turned on the dishwasher when the door opened with a ding.
Great. It was always right when she was closing that the last customer came in.
She turned to the counter and opened her mouth to tell them she was closed—only to stop at the sight of Jonah. “What are you doing here?”
He shoved his hands into his pockets, shrugging. “I was hoping we could talk.”
“No.” And there were so many reasons for that no, the main one being she did not want to be alone with him right now.
She marched toward the door.
“Polly, please! Your mother’s barely talking to me. This rift between the two of you is killing her and affecting our marriage.”
She tugged the door open. “Your marriage is between you and her.”
“But it isn’t.” He stopped in front of her. “You’re her daughter. You’re the closest person to her. She loves you and she cares about your opinion.”
“That is incorrect on so many levels, Jonah. Just the fact that I’ve asked her to have a break from you until the investigation is over, and she couldn’t do that, proves that you’re wrong.”
Frustration tugged at his features. “Look, I know that your mother’s been hurt by a lot of men?—”
“Not just hurt, she’s had her heart broken. Again and again and again. And it’s always because she convinces herself that she loves these men, when in reality, she doesn’t even know them.I’ve asked her to give it time. She doesn’t. And it never works, because they don’t love her. There was nevertimeto love her.”
“And you think I’m the same?”
“Honestly, I don’t know what to think anymore.”
“You really think I could kill those women?”
“I don’t know, Jonah, because I don’t know you well enough. What Idoknow is that I saw you hugging Teagan Kimm outside your church, and on the day you got out on bail, someone took her. I also know that you were found holding a murder weapon.”
He frowned. “You saw me hugging Teagan?”
“I did.”
“She attended AA meetings and asked me to sponsor her. It created a deep connection between us, but I couldn’t share that and break her trust.”
Polly frowned. “You went to AA meetings with her?”
“Yes.” He swallowed hard. “She was the reason for my late evenings, but she didn’t want anyone to know—it’s why I didn’t tell your mother. She trusted me as a friend and I didn’t want to break that trust.”
It would explain the AA pamphlet in his closet. And the hug.
“Just…think about what I’ve told you,” he said gently. “I’m not the bad guy you think I am. And Idolove your mother.”
Polly was still frowning, even after he’d left.
He’d sounded sincere. Was it true? And why did she suddenly want to trust him?
With a sigh, she closed the door and headed to the back to grab the mop and bucket from the cellar. She did the quickest job of cleaning the floor that she’d ever done in her life. But her conversation with Jonah kept rolling around in her head.
