Page 27

“Hey, can you handle the shop for a bit? I’ll be in the back,” I said.
She nodded, still wearing a knowing smile.
“Take your time. I’ll hold down the fort,” Candy assured me.
With my coffee in hand, I headed to my makeshift office—a small, cramped room tucked at the back of the store.
It was really just a glorified broom closet, but I’d turned it into my own little hideaway.
Once inside, I shut the door and took a long, steadying sip of coffee, letting the warmth ground me.
Despite the comforting surroundings, I couldn’t ignore the anxiety gnawing at me.
I hadn’t told Candy about Marcus’s appearance last night.
I didn’t want the pity, and the truth was, I wasn’t sure I could handle anyone’s concern about something I’d spent years trying to put behind me.
But here I was, drawn back to it like some dark, twisted magnet.
Setting my coffee down, I reached for my laptop, pulling up the security feed from last night.
Oakridge Bay was a small town, and my instincts were sharp enough to know when something felt off.
There, on the grainy footage, was Marcus, leaning too close to the register, his smile as slick as ever, a bouquet in hand.
My stomach clenched as I watched, unable to look away from his face, that all-too-familiar expression of possessiveness and smugness.
It had been five years. But for Marcus, it might as well have been yesterday.
I zoomed in, my finger lingering over the screen as I scrolled through the footage again.
My heart rate spiked when I spotted him—the customer who’d walked in right after.
I remembered the relief I’d felt then, an outsider breaking up the suffocating tension Marcus had created.
Now, I wasn’t so sure.
He’d been browsing the racks, acting casual, but I zoomed in closer, a familiar gnawing suspicion worming its way in.
He’d pulled out his phone while standing near the counter, holding it to his ear as he browsed.
The image was slightly grainy, but I knew I could get a better look.
I’d been paranoid about investing in good security equipment when I opened this place, memories of Marcus too fresh in my mind to ignore.
And now, it seemed, that paranoia was paying off.
I zoomed in until I could make out the faintest outline of his lips moving.
Most of his conversation was inaudible, just the muffled static of a distant voice on the other end.
But then, my heart skipped a beat. I couldn’t make out much of what he was saying, but I caught a single word. Cole.
My stomach twisted. This man—whoever he was—had been talking about Cole. About me.
I leaned back, processing the unsettling discovery. It made no sense.Could he really have been working for Cole?
The thought made my blood run cold. Maybe I was overreacting, but every instinct screamed that something was wrong.