Page 15 of The Making of Marnie Jones

A chuckle escaped his soft lips. “Ah, Marnie, master of understatement. Not a breath of wind in the Fraser Valley, and not a cloud to block out the unrelenting sunshine.” His eyebrow twitched. “But you love it.”

“I do.”

He winked and she again catapulted back in time. Not long after she had started coming in here, he’d asked her out on a date and she literally had a panic attack. The first one in months, and she hadn't been able to get away from the confines of the store fast enough. She sat in her car hyperventilating.

Eventually her breathing normalized, and the panic subsided. Then she did one of the hardest things she’d ever done in her life. She walked back into the store and asked to speak to him. They sat at a table and she tried, as best as she could, to explain her terror. Her excuses had been flimsy, but he assured her he’d taken no offense. He reassured her their friendship would continue as it always had and kept his word. They were still cordial, and even friendly.

“What were you thinking about?” A soft entreaty.

How weird this feels. I ought to be comfortable after all these years, but I’m still ready to leap from this chair and run.

Sometimes, like today, Tristan joined her while he took his break, and they chatted. He’d talk about anything and everything, always accepting of her questions. After his first few abortive attempts at getting her to talk about anything other than her work, he relented. He never commented on her apparent lack of a past.

And he was right. Marnie Jones didn't have a past. At least not before showing up in Mission City four years ago.

“Reflecting on my time here in town.”

A brow arched. “You planning to move on?”

His intuition, as always, was strong. Now that Jake McGrath had found her, the feelings of safety—minimal at best—were diminished. Not that she’d ever truly settled in, but what comfort she’d found in her routines was gone. If Jake tracked her down, so could anyone else. Yet still…

“Not today.” She offered what she hoped was a reassuring expression. “Today I get to have iced tea with my favorite barista.”

The look of shock on his face was comical, although he recovered quickly. Did he think she was flirting with him?

Was she?

Of course not.

“Marnie—”

“How’s school?”

“School’s good. I have a test on Tuesday in my calculus class, which I’m not looking forward to. How it’s supposed to help me when I’m a park ranger, I’ll never understand.”

“You love math, Tristan. You love all your classes.”

His head inclined, as if considering her words.

She could hold her ground, though, because she was right. Tristan embraced his studies, and she envied him. She longed to attend classes and soak up the atmosphere of higher education—to learn in an interactive environment.Never going to happen. She didn’t have the nerves to venture into such a public place as the university.

The library was tough enough, and even being here at the coffee shop was a challenge. She felt somewhat safe in Mission City where she knew numerous people. But the sheer size of the campus over in Abbotsford was overwhelming. And that was just for undergrad. To get her Master’s in Library Science, she’d have to venture to Vancouver. No, she stayed in Mission City, and that was an end to that.

“I love my classes, but I’ll be happy when this one is over.” He made a sound of frustration. “This taking a few classes at a time while working so much is taking too long. I’m never going to finish school.”

“Tristan, you’re twenty-three. What’s the hurry?”

He gave her a long look, as if surprised she remembered his age. But it shouldn’t surprise him. She remembered everything about him. Her conversations with him were often the highlight of her week, or sometimes, her month. Just as he counted down the time before he could work in his chosen field and put to good use his environmental-science degree, she counted up the months she lived in Mission City with nothing bad happening.

Her counting had come to an abrupt end.

“Marnie?”

Her gaze flew to meet Tristan’s. “S-sorry.”

His eyes were alight. “You have something on your mind. I’ve never seen you so distracted. It’s cute.”

Cute?

---