Page 14 of The Making of Marnie Jones

“Sorry.” She hunched her shoulders. “I keep forgetting.” The color rose in her cheeks, and her breath shallowed.

A quick glance over to the RCMP officer told Jake he wasn’t the only one who’d noticed.

Pritchard turned his full attention to her. “Are you okay? I mean, you’re flushed, and I thought I heard raised voices.”

Great, just what I need.He rubbed his forehead. “Nothing to be concerned about—” He was quickly cut off.

“I appreciate your concern, Colton, but we’re finished here.” She turned to Jake. “There’s nothing left to say. Good day to both of you.” Again she turned, this time to walk back toward the library.

He started to follow her, but Pritchard stopped him with a hand in the air. As much as he wanted to ignore the man, he knew better than to take out his frustration on a police officer. Instead, he pulled out his sunglasses and put them on. He was about to move away when the cop spoke.

“We’re protective of our own, McGrath.” His tone was almost that of a warning, but not quite. “Seth is a good friend to both Marnie and me—so I know who you are. Clearly you said something that upset her and, in turn, it’s clear she wants an end to this…whatever this is. Go back to wherever it is you’ve come from and leave the woman in peace.”

“It’s a free country.” Jake puffed out his chest. “I can go where I please.”

“You can.”

Pritchard might appear amiable, but Jake knew better.

“Except, when you repeatedly approach a woman who doesn’t want the attention, to the point of causing distress, it’s stalking.”

Ouch.That barb hit a little too close to home. Was that what he was doing? Was he stalking Marnie Jones? How many times and how many different ways did she have to show him the door before he left her alone?

Olivia.

“I respect law enforcement and the tough job you have.” Since this wouldn’t end well for him, he cut his losses. “I won’t add to your burden of responsibilities. I’ll be on my way.”

Pritchard gave him a cutting scowl then stepped aside to let him pass.

Although he didn’t look back, Jake knew the man was watching him. Watching him as he got into his rental car and drove away.

Chapter six

“Boringbook?”

Marnie grabbed her chest, as if she could somehow contain the panic welling in her. The deep voice startled her from a profound reverie, and for just an instant, she assumed it was a voice from her distant past.

It wasn’t, of course. She mustered up a smile.Keep breathing evenly. “Hello, Tristan.”

She hadn’t fooled him, and his brow furrowed in concern. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I thought you saw me coming over. I mean, you were looking right at me.”

Had she been? She’d no memory of that. No memory of anything for the past few minutes. Or even longer, to be honest. Here, in Starbucks, she could feel almost safe. This was the only place she spent any time in outside of her home. Well, here and the library.

The young man held two glasses of iced tea.

Since hers was empty, and because manners dictated as much, she pointed to the chair next to her. “Please, join me.”

His face broke into an earnest grin. He handed her the iced tea, undoubtedly made the way she liked it, then dropped into the other oversized stuffed chair and ran a hand through his overlong blond hair. He let out a long breath.

“That bad? Don’t you have a short shift today?” She was so scatterbrained since Jake McGrath had shown up, possibly she’d confused Tristan’s schedule.

“No, you’ve got it right. But Blake called in sick this morning, so they rousted me out of bed at some unearthly hour to come in here and open because, heaven forbid Mission City residents be unable to get their coffee on a Sunday morning.” He winked, his light-brown eyes sparkling with humor.

Despite herself, his humor amused Marnie. “TheirStarbuckscoffee, you mean. Timmie’s is open all night, so it’s not like they’re caffeine-deprived.”

Tristan took a long drink, caught some condensation from the side of the glass and wiped it across his sweaty forehead.

Since the air conditioning in the store hummed inside the store, he must’ve been cleaning up the tables outside. “Still hot out there?”

---