Instead of saying yes to my ludicrous—but sincere—offer of taking my spare apartment, she ran away from me again.Well I guess technically it’s notagain, because the first time she only ghosted me—never texted or called me back.
But fuck it, whatever. That’s not the point. I’m not taking no for an answer this time.
Suddenly, I’m very glad that it’s one of the rare Sunday afternoons that I’m not catching a flight to Sterling Springs. Normally, if I’m staying in Jackson for the next few days while Gloria’s is closed, I’d be catching up on paperwork here, or depending on the weather, I’d go hiking. Maybe even go fishing with TJ, but we’re doing less of that now that he has Grace by his side, which I can’t blame him, clearly she’s better company than me.
So instead of keeping myself occupied or catching up on work, I’m going to finally go after her because I can’t get her pained expression out of my mind.
I need to know what I did to make her bolt from me. This time I’m going to find out.
I make my way out of the restaurant and head straight for the coffee shop two blocks away. If I’m lucky, she’ll still be there by the time I run there. I don’t know why I run because it’s only two blocks, but I just want to know what I ever did to drive this wedge between us.
As I make it to the front door of Cowgirl Coffee, I double over—propping myself up with my hands on my knees—panting. Holy shit, I need to do more cardio—something besides just lifting with TJ—because that should not have been that hard.
After I catch my breath, I pull on the door and to my surprise, it swings right open, making the bell chime.
Shit. I expected it to be locked since they were closed.
My pulse ratchets right back up. Maybe she is still here and we can actually talk. Or maybe she’ll kick me right out. I didn’t exactly make it that far with my half-assed plan.
“We’re closed.” A female voice calls out from the kitchen.
“Hey,” I call out. “It’s me.”
“Who ismeexactly?”
I’m about to answer when Monica pops her head out. I wave and she steps out from the kitchen, leaning against the door frame.
She folds her arms across her chest and glowers at me like I’m about to get scolded. Great. She’s already talked with Kelsey then.
Fuck it. I’m still going to try and get my answers.
“Oh. Hi, Monica.” I get the words out between nervous breaths.
“Wow. You sound so thrilled to see me. Nice to see you too, Sutton.”
“Sorry. I just… I need to talk to Kelsey. Did she already leave? I was hoping she was still around.”
She shakes her head. “You just missed her.”
Shit. I slump into one of the cafe chairs. I groan and press my face to the cool wooden table. This was a stupid idea. If she left that quick and didn’t even stick around with her friend, she definitely wouldn’t have stuck around to talk to me.
I close my eyes and ponder my dumbassery when the feeling of a hand on my shoulder catches me off guard.
I lift my head and look up to see Monica standing over me, her earlier scowl softening into a weak smile.
“For the record, she might be my ride-or-die, but I’m on your side when it comes to this.” She pats my shoulder a couple times. “I just wish you’d fix whatever you did.”
“That’s just it. I don’t know what I did.” I drop my head back to the table, mumbling against the wood in defeat. “It’s been two years of this.”
“What was it this time? Last time, it was stealing her car.”
I glare back at her. “I didn’t steal it. I just temporarily upgraded it.”
She huffs a laugh. “What about you being gone all the time? She thinks you’re just a part-timer waiting for your next opportunity. Speaking of, don’t you have a plane to catch or something?”
My jaw tenses and I shake my head. “No.”
Other than TJ, no one in town knows why I go back to Sterling Springs so often. Dad and Sly are both proud and I don’t ever want to air their business. “My family needs me. It’s not that simple, believe me.”