Page 40

This place is our usual spot, so we don’t even have to glance down at the menu in front of us to rattle off our orders. Calvin orders a rack of ribs and a loaded baked potato, like always. And I get a burger. Once she’s gone again, I turn my focus back to Calvin.

“So, this girl is working out, then?”

“Lennon?” he asks as he reaches for his bottle of beer. “Yeah. She’s doing an amazing job. Girl can bake like nobody’s business, she’s smart as a whip and the customers love her.”

I nod, grabbing my water glass and taking a sip. “Well, good. I’m glad to see you getting some time to relax, old man.”

“Yeah,” he laughs. “Me too. Listen… speaking of Lennon, there was something I wanted to talk to you about.”

That piques my interest.

“Oh?” I ask, arching a brow. He nods.

“Yeah, uh… two nights ago, I called Lennon pretty late to ask her about something and turns out, she needed a place to stay. I don’t know a lot of the details but from the sounds of it, she and her boyfriend broke up. It didn’t sound… amicable.”

My brow arches and I lean back in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Anyway, I was hoping you could look into things for me? Maybe just keep an eye on her? Make sure she’s okay?”

“You think she’s in danger?” I ask, searching his face and his hesitant look makes my stomach flip.

I don’t fucking like that.

But I refuse to look deeper into that feeling.

“I don’t know. I just want to be sure and know that I have someone looking out for her.”

I shake my head. “Don’t give me that shit, Cal. You know more than you’re saying. Tell me what’s going on if you really want me to keep an eye on her.”

“Listen,” he sighs, running a hand over top of his thinning dark hair. “I’ve watched that girl for six months go from a happy, bubbly, warm person to a shell of herself. She drags her body around like it weighs ten thousand goddamn pounds, she’s always got circles under her eyes now and she doesn’t laugh like she used to.”

The picture he’s painting for me is torture.

Part of me wants to throw my chair back and march over to the bakery right now. I’d bang on her door until she’s opened it and told me what the fuck is really going on with her.

Fuck.

This shit was supposed to ease my curiosity.

Not… whatever the fuck this is.

“I don’t know what was going on in her relationship but I do know the night she left, he chased her out of the apartment and into the parking lot. I know she showed up on my door with one suitcase and a Jeep to her name and I know he’s still calling her… almost obsessively.”

I drop my arms and lean forward, bracing them on the table. “And how the hell do you know that?”

“Because when I was showing her the apartment, her phone was buzzing almost constantly. I don’t even think she noticed anymore. It was like she was zoning it out or something.”

Something tightened behind my ribs and I gritted my teeth.

I don’t fucking like this.

“So, you think he’s a threat?”

He sighs, looking down at the table as he shakes his head. “I don’t know, for sure. I just know… something doesn’t feel right.”

Fuck.

I’ve heard this story too many damn times.