This is hell. Nausea rises in my throat. I think I’m going to be sick, and I drop to my knees and curl into the smallest ball possible, trying to fade into nothing.
I’m still hiding a good while later when the cashier comes to talk to me.
“What’s wrong? Should I call the cops?” She’s not that old, only the crease between her brows and some gray hairs at her temples indicating she isn’t my age. “I hope this isn’t some prank you’re playing in my shop.”
“Not a prank,” I assure her. “The man outside who was yelling me name—is he gone?”
“Your name? Amber?”
I nod, sweat rolling down my back.
“He’s gone.” She shakes her head as she returns to her place behind the counter, and I’m sure she still thinks it’s a stupid prank.
I don’t care. I thank her and step out, feeling cold in spite of the sunny day.
Ev is waiting for me at a diner she discovered tucked into a tiny alley. She waves at me and I go to join her at the back. Sliding into my vinyl seat, I do my best to smile and forget what happened.
Still don’t understand how Nick found me. What he wants from me.
I shiver and grab the plastic menu to cover it. “What are you having?”
“The burgers are divine.” She’s checking her phone, distracted. “And the onion rings.”
“Perfect. I’ll have the same.” I throw the menu back on the table, the thought of food making me queasy. “So how have you been?”
Ev isn’t fooled one bit by my performance, though. The moment she looks up from her phone, her smile drops.
“What happened now? Did you run into Jesse again?”
I think of the white roses waiting in a vase, so delicate and beautiful. “No.” I sigh, fold my hands on the table in front of me. I’m still rattled, and at least this is something I’d talk to Ev about—in contrast to Jesse and the roses. “I ran into Nick Harris.”
Ev gasps and reaches for me, covers my hands with hers. Now she knows everything about those dark years of my life and doesn’t have to ask who Nick Harris is.
“When? What happened?”
“That’s the thing. I didn’t just run into him.” My hands shake underneath hers. “He followed me. Ran after me, shouting my name.” I swallow hard. “I hid inside a store until he left. Why would he do that?”
“I don’t know, girl. Makes no sense to me.”
Me neither. “He was outside my building, waiting for me to come out. He knows where I live, Ev.”
“Crap. Should we tell the police?” She bites her lower lip, deep in thought. “Hey, wasn’t he at the wedding reception?”
“You saw him, too? I thought I was going crazy.” Shit.
“I will ask Audrey. I see her often, because we have moved close to her.”
“Okay.” My heart is beating uncomfortably fast.
“Maybe he just wants to talk to you,” Ev says, pulling her hands away when a waitress approaches.
“What would he have to say to me?”
She shrugs, then rattles off our order and leans back. “I don’t know. But what would he do if he caught you in the middle of the street?”
Honestly, no clue. I just can’t let him catch me. As it’s become my habit in the last two weeks, I rub the band at my wrist. It smells of leather and faintly, of Jesse.
“What are you doing?” Ev snickers. “Are you sniffing your bracelet?”