Page 30 of Capturing Hearts

Violet stops him before he asks more, tugging on his arm. “I can’t wait to see the gift, Carter! It was nice to meet you, Annie. Merry Christmas!”

“Oh, right! You are going to love it, baby.” Successfully distracted, he calls to me as his arm goes around her on their way out. “Merry Christmas!”

I unconsciously pick up a white bar towel, tugging at the tiny knots of fabric as I watch them leave out the front door. But I’m not seeing them. I’m staring at the place on the floor where I knelt before the man I love, holding closed his wound and hoping he wouldn’t die in my arms.

“Annie, what about closing a half hour early?”

I blink. Look to my left. Manny is standing there next to me. “What?”

“What about closing a half hour early? It’s just Barb here now, and she can stay while we clean up, like she always does anyway.”

“Say that like you love it!” Barb demands in a comically loud voice from where she sits. He grins at her.

Pulled back into present day, I nod. “Sure. Uh, yeah. That’s fine.”

“You okay?” he asks, seeing my distraction.

I drop the towel and turn to the register, mumbling. “Yeah. Just tired.” He accepts this and goes to clean the booths as I ring up the last tab, hitting the keys on the old-school register with my mind on San Quentin Prison, only twenty-two miles away over the Golden Gate Bridge. Forcing back a shudder, I turn and walk to Barb suddenly anxious to get home to the man I married. “C’mon, Jacob, it’s time to go see Daddy.”

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