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I found a seat outside and realized that in addition to the shop’s name, the mug had an inscription.Coffee doesn’t ask silly questions. Coffee understands. I looked over at the next table and smiled at the saying on the nearest customer’s mug:May your coffee be stronger than your toddler. Her companion’s read:Love is in the air, and it smells like coffee.
Just like the people inside the shop, this couple was talking with each other. “What do you think happened to Lee?” one of them asked the other. Not a phone was in sight.
A guy with a funny-looking helmet rode by slowly on a low-slung recumbent tricycle. He waved as if he knew me.
I waved back.
Suspended above him on the trike was a sign:Tonight’s Boathouse Special: Pot Roast.
Two tables over, a guy yelled, “Hi, Ned.”
Trike guy waved back.
Already, I liked this place a lot better than having another just-like-any-other-town national chain coffee shop. Unique could be its own charm. Yep, small-town life was different thannot back home.
After another delicious sip, I opened my handbag and retrieved my escape checklist, along with a pen. Scratching off the item labeledopen new bank accountgave me a satisfied feeling of accomplishment. It was as if I’d just completed something important, like running a 5K—not that I’d ever known what that felt like, but this had to be similar, just without the sweat and heavy breathing and sore muscles.
Next on my list was the item I’d inserted last night,pick up car. After another slow sip, I drew an arrow and moved it down, putting it below the important one.
Move CLP payment to bank account
Priorities were important: money first, car second.
I savored another sip of my cappuccino as I opened my laptop. I started my VPN software for protection before logging into the shop’s Wi-Fi. The guy at the neighboring table called the woman with himMary, and it instantly brought back a different name. Mary-Jo Starney.
Our senior year, Boone had loudly declared in the middle of the cafeteria that he was taking Mary-Jo to the winter formal, and that he wouldn’t consider taking me if I was the only girl in school. That had been the week after he’d broken his promise to limit his college search to local schools.
Mary-Jo had rubbed it in for days—in the hallway, in classes, in the cafeteria, everywhere she could—that she was going to the formal with Boone, the star of our football team.
Before getting serious about moving the money, I gave into my curiosity and put Mary-Jo’s name into the search engine. I hoped maybe I’d find a picture of her with a kid on her hip and sagging tits. In my dream, she’d be married to a guy who worked for the highway department, collecting road-kill off the streets.
After five minutes, I was ready to give up. There were too many Mary-Jo matches, and I didn’t even know if she was still in the state.
I sipped my coffee and closed the search. I was bigger than that, wasn’t I?
“Hey, Massachusetts. We meet again.” The voice startled me.
I closed the laptop’s lid and raised my hand to block the sun. It was the cop from last night that Callie had called Dev.
“Hi.” I smiled, but I didn’t offer to have him join me. Keeping cops at a distance was still the plan. What if Kevin had reported me missing as a way to find me?
“We prefer not to have people park overnight in the business district.”
“Thanks.” I added a smile. It didn’t pay to be anything less than friendly with law enforcement.
He backed away. “Stop by the station if you want to discuss the problem, Miss…” Like last night, he let the obvious question hang in the air, hoping I’d pick it up. When I didn’t, he added. “Or you could give me your number, and I’ll make up a name. Maybe Cinderella.”
I giggled. “Does that line usually work for you?”
“Not yet… I’ll see ya around, Massachusetts.” With a lift of his cup, he turned and left.
Then, a cute guy walked this way down the sidewalk. Was Laurie right that this was my chance to meet a Lance?
I smiled at him.
He returned the smile.
With Kevin, I would have had to hide my glance. In spite of the risk, I’d watched for a potential Lance when I could. It was a coping mechanism that kept me hopeful for the future.
