Page 45 of Callahan

Anything to keep me from fixating on the fact that Adam hadn’t stopped in to see me today.

I mean, what else did he have to do?

I immediately chastised myself as I trudged up the stairs.

That’s pretty arrogant of you to think he couldn’t find something better to do in Haven Springs then stop in to see you.

I walked in and tossed my keys in the bowl on the small table by the door, then threw the lock behind me.

Sunday was my apartment cleaning day, so in preparation, I slipped my shoes off and bent down to pick them up to place them on the mat by the door that I didn’t utilize enough.

That’s when I saw the envelope in the middle of the floor.

It was a plain, white #10 envelope with my first name on the front written in all caps printed in block lettering.

My first thought was maybe Adam had slipped a goodbye letter under my door, which immediately pissed me off.

He didn’t even have the decency to tell me in person that he was leaving town?

But that didn’t make sense. Word of his fight outside the bakery had spread like wildfire around town. It was all anyone had been able to talk about for the last two days when they came into the bakery. They kept trying to pump me for information, but I repeated the same thing each time: the only thing I knew was that the police were investigating who could have done such a thing, and Adam was recovering at Brian’s house.

That morning, as I rang Mrs. Cahill’s order up, she whispered, “I heard that Adam, that Marine fella that’s in town visiting the O’Briens, has been hired by the Haven Springs police department.”

“Really? I haven’t heard that one.”

“Mabel Leonard’s daughter works at the hospital, and she told her mom that her coworker, Alice Bellinger, heard Adam tell Chief O’Shaughnessy in the emergency room that he’d take the job.”

“Hmm.” I felt my brows furrow. “I’m not sure I believe that. I know he said he’s anxious to get home to see his family.”

Plus, neither Brian nor Adam had said anything about it yesterday.

“Your total is nine seventeen.”

She tapped her credit card against the reader. “It’s all over town.”

Gee, then it must be true.

“Well, that would be great if that’s really the case. I know the department needs the help.”

“Plus, I hear he’s really handsome. The single girls will love having a new bachelor in Haven Springs. He’ll have his pick of women.”

I’d forced a smile, because I knew she hadn’t considered me one of the “single girls” he could have his pick of. And suddenly I hated every unattached female in our little town.

“I don’t know, Mrs. Cahill. That’s not working out so well for Brian.”

“Well, hopefully, with Adam on the force, that will free him up to date, too. Maybe we can get both of them to join the church’s singles’ group.”

I handed her the bag of baked goods she’d picked out. “It sounds like you’ve got it all figured out.”

“Fingers crossed!”

Yeah, fingers crossed.

Now, I stared at the block handwriting on the envelope to determine if I recognized it, but it wasn’t familiar.

Turning it over, I ran my nail along the flap to open it.

Inside was a single folded yellow sheet of paper. I pulled it out, and after scanning the words on the page, dropped the letter, and sprinted to Conor’s room.

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