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Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. What the hell do I do?
I’m barreling down this road without lights. I can’t lose her, and I will do whatever the hell it takes to keep her where she belongs.
In my arms. As my wife.
Forty-Three
MARCI
I deliverTodd’s coffee with a smile, but I can’t focus on small talk today. It’s a blustery day with gray skies and the chill of fall, which means the customers in the Heartstopper want to discuss the weather. And there are more of them than usual.
More Heatstrokers and new faces from the surrounding towns. I love talking to people, hearing their stories, but I can’t focus.
My brother’s in jail. My brother pulled a gun on me last night.
And I’m in love with Jesse. Or infatuated with him.
The thought makes a fine sheen of sweat break out on my brow, because as much as I’m afraid, I willneverforget what it felt like last night when I thought he was dying. Shot. Because of me.
“Are you good, Marci?”
Riley stops beside me, touching her fingers to my arm. She’s tied her golden locks high on her head so that they fountain down, and she looks delicate, almost fragile.
“You seem scattered. Are you sure you want to be here after last night?”
News about the incident has traveled far and wide, like a flash of lightning or like the townsfolk absorbed it via osmosis.
“I’m…”
“Not fine,” Riley finishes, and gives me that broad grin. She’s got a tiny gap between her two front teeth and it makes her look like one of those freckled, catwalk models. “Come on. Sit down and have a cup of coffee. Take a load off. I’ve got things under control.”
“I don’t want you overwhelmed. We’re finally filling up again.”
She brushes a hand over her cute Heartstopper apron with its red frill.
“I’ve got it. You can count on me.”
And then she pats the stool on her way past.
I prepare a coffee for myself then plop down and take a few sips. Thankfully, Todd must sense I don’t want to talk, and the rest of the regulars are too invested in their own gossip to worry about me too much.
The coffee is good, but it doesn’t solve my problems.
Jesse is amazing. Flawless. Unreal.
He’s annoying and sexy.
What’s going to happen when he eventually breaks my heart? The last time, I had to collect the pieces of myself together again and focus on my family. But what I thought was love with Davis was a cheap illusion. This is the real thing, and it is fucking scary.
“Mrs. Taylor?”
I turn around and find a short man wearing jeans and a shirt, an unlit cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth.
“There’s no smoking in here,” I say, pointing toward the sign. “Can I help you?”
“No problem,” he says, plucking the cigarette out of his mouth and tucking it into the pocket of his shirt. “My name is Drake Star fromThe Yonder Report. Do you have a minute to talk to me about your husband? There’s been a lot of talk about what happened yesterday. I understand he’s already been contacted by reporters from our paper, but we thought it would be nice to get your perspective.”
Ido notwant to talk to reporters. They’re as bad as cops most of the time.Apart from Jesse.And the other cops who do the right thing in this town.
