Page 3 of Loving You

When he only stared at me like he was worried I was about to dip out on my bar tab, my stomach rolled. But then he loosed a sigh and shook his head, and I could see that I’d won.

Whether he believed me or not, he wasn’t planning to press the issue. Not at the moment, anyway.

But if I knew Sammy, I’d probably get a call from Rachel about this tonight. The man had a thing about keeping stuff from his wife—such a novel idea, I know—and since Rachel had already witnessed other things that made her suspicious of me recently, I knew I’d have to face this story soon.

And when I did… well, I couldn’t think about that now. That was a problem forfuture me.

“Fine,” he gritted out. “I guess just stick with the plan, then.”

I frowned. “The plan?”

He rolled his eyes with a short laugh. “Don’t go into the coffee shop.”

I laughed with him even though that icy feeling at the back of my neck still clawed at me. “You got it. Thanks for the help. I appreciate it.”

Desperate to get away—get anywhere but here—I turned to go. Then I stopped and spun back around, nearly running into him again. “Shit, sorry. One more thing.”

“What?”

“Eric.”

“What about him?” Sammy asked, then his head turned toward the coffee shop, and he grimaced. “Oh, right. You were supposed to meet him.”

“New plan: I’ll text him and tell him I’m gonna be ten minutes late,” I said, pulling out my phone, then wincing when I saw the time. “I’m kinda already ten minutes late, but whatever. He’ll be fine. Can you go in there and sit with him and just like… I don’t know, talk shit and stall or something? Then text me when Cliff leaves, and I’ll come back.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly uncomfortable with this new strategy. “Talk shit and stall?”

“Yes. He’s your brother. Just sit down and act natural. Be your jokey little Sammy self and chat about whatever it is you Walker boys chat about. Beer, women, whatever. Well, stick with beer. It’s Eric, after all. I’m not sure if he knows about women since he can’t organize them into spreadsheets like he does with the Walker brews.”

Then again… I wouldn’t put it past him.

Sammy rewarded me with a tight grin, then shook it off. “How ’bout I go in there and tell him you can’t meet him there and to meet you somewhere else?”

I flared my eyes at him. “Because, Sammy, it would be really fucking weird for you to go in there and mysteriously tell the guy I’m supposed to have abusinessmeetingwith that I need to meet him somewhere else. So unprofessional.”

“Oh, okay, so it’s not weird and unprofessional for you to have me go in there and pretend I’m just shooting the shit with my brother while simultaneously spying on your potentially dangerous mystery stalker?”

Ew, shit.Was this what it was like to have a brother? Because as a woman with four sisters, I had to say it was fucking annoying.

Thankfully, he must have realized he was fighting a losing battle because he blew out a long puff of air through his nostrils and rolled his shoulders. “Okay, April. You win. But I’m telling Rachel, then you’re gonna tell her whatever the hell is going on so we can have your back on… whatever the hell this is. Got it?”

I glared at him, not bothering with a response as we parted ways at the mouth of the alley. He went to the coffee shop like I’d asked, and I clipped down the sidewalk in the opposite direction, desperate to get away from Main Street before Cliff came walking outside.

How fucking ridiculous. I’d been on my way to that coffee shop, all smiley and carefree, thinking about making Eric squirm with my high heels, only to nearly come face-to-face withhim.

My gut clenched as a wave of sickness came over me again. I’d thought I was free of this feeling. I’d thought I could safely move on. Even though he’d been the reason I’d moved into the attic at the B&B, I’d somehow convinced myself I was safe when he hadn’t come around again since then.

But no.

Clearly, I was dead wrong. And now I had a sinking suspicion I’d never really be free. No matter how much I’d grown and changed and healed… ifhewas free, I wasn’t.

2

ERIC

My phone chimed with an alert that someone was entering the driveway. I tapped to watch the video of a car pulling up to the house, irritation twisting through me when I saw who it belonged to.

April Carrigan.

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