Page 31 of Burning Hearts
She nodded and was on her way.
“Night, Cade.”
“Night, Ellis.”
We peeled off in different directions—him through the side door, me along the quiet edge of the Commons.
Twenty feet later, my phone buzzed.
Ellis:Good dinner. Thanks for keeping it level and rescuing me from townspeople’s questions.
I stopped under a lamppost and typed the thing that was honest and safe.
Me:Didn’t rescue. Kept you steady. 7:30.
Three dots, then a pause, then:
Ellis:Steady works. Don’t make me wait.
My shoulder tingled and warmed.
Me:I won’t.
A beat passed as I waited.
Ellis:Night, neighbor.
Me:Night.
I pocketed my phone and looked up toward the sixth floor of The Langford Hotel.
One of those windows was his, the next one over was mine. Walls thin enough to hear a laugh.
I told myself two things and filed them where I keep the rules that mattered: I am straight. I am also not a liar.
At the corner, Miss Pearl had stepped out to refresh the sidewalk board—Meatloaf Plate. Cast Iron always posts the night special out on the curb.
Without looking up at me she said, “Sleep, darlin’. You’ve got morning to mind.”
“Copy.”
“And Cade?” she said.
“Hmm?”
“Eyes forward, sugar,” she added, the smile in her voice doing the wink for her. “Pretty neighbors make for clumsy footing.”
I cleared my throat. “Working on it.”
“Work faster,” she said, still not looking at me. “Beautiful weather makes people forget themselves.”
The board wobbled as she wrote on it.
I walked to the hotel with empty hands and a time I wasn’t going to miss stamped loudly in my head: 7:30.
CHAPTER SEVEN
ELLIS
