Page 9 of Nave
Then he mouthed the words I felt down to my soul.
What. The. Fuck?
CHAPTER FOUR
Lolly
I guess it was really lucky that the man I was looking for wasn’t a John, Jake, or Michael.
Because Navesink Bank ended up being a lot larger than I’d been anticipating.
When he’d spoken of it in our brief conversations, he made it sound quaint, small, familiar. The kind of town where everybody knew everybody.
It had been a shock to learn that it was a town of nearly seventy thousand people. Not a big city by any stretch, but certainly not a small town either.
My stomach was in knots as I slipped the large sunglasses on my face, stuck a baseball cap with a wide brim on my head, and climbed out of the car with Edith nestled discreetly in a purse bag that I hoped no one would notice.
Generally, I didn’t like when people brought dogs into non-dog-friendly establishments. But I had nowhere to leave Edith, and it was too hot to leave her in the car. It was a necessary evil.
Besides, I would be quick.
I was just grabbing a coffee. Then asking if anyone knew where I could find Nave.
Even just thinking his name made my belly twist.
Maybe it was foolish of me, but he’d been the hero I fantasized about for the past few weeks. Without the hope of him helping me, I wasn’t sure I could have gotten the courage to put my plans into motion. Then to follow through with them.
So even if the reality didn’t live up to that hype I’d created, I would be thankful for his existence. Without it, well, I didn’t even want to think about what would be happening. Especially now.
Everything had changed.
From now until forever.
And the only thing that mattered was staying free.
With or without Nave’s help.
Taking a deep breath, I forced my thoughts aside as I pulled open the door to Deja Brew—a cute little coffee shop in a small strip mall just outside the main area of town. It was surprisingly heavy on cameras for such a small place, so I found myself ducking my head as I moved inside.
“Hey! Give me one sec,” a voice called from the back as I made my way to the counter.
“Take your time,” I called back, taking a chance to look up at the menu, searching for the cheapest options.
“Alright,” a woman said, coming up from the back, her black apron splattered with flour. Tall and pretty, she had her light green hair pulled up in a top knot, and her tank top let her tattooed arms be on full display. “What can I get ya?”
“Can I get a small oolong tea and the small chocolate croissant, please?”
“Absolutely. Is it as muggy out there as I imagine it is?” she asked as she moved to start making my drink.
“Probably worse.”
“Ugh. It was pretty bad when I came in here at, like, five. I stood in the walk-in for a few minutes to cool off. I’ve had the air set to ‘meat locker’ all day since I’ve had to have the ovens on.”
A large tea dropped down in front of me, making my brows knit.
“It’s literally just water. The tea is the tea, no matter what size you order,” she explained.
“Thank you.” I shot her a warm smile. I could use any small wins I could get. My morale was hanging on by a thread.
