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“No butts about it. We could all use a break from this place.”

After escorting everyone out the door, Katherine flipped theOpensign toClosed, sent a text to Grace, then went in search of paper and a pen to leave a note for the dinner crowd. But before she found what she was looking for, she heard the front door open.

“Katie…” came Matthew’s undeniable voice, and she turned to find him standing there in his uniform.

A part of her wanted to run over and hold him. But the other part of her was still agonizing over what happened that morning. “We’re closed for the day.”

“Please don’t treat me like I’m a stranger,” he said. “Besides, I just watched you send everyone home. I was in the cruiser outside with Justin.”

“Oh, well, then we’re closed for the rest of the day,” she said, grabbing a towel and wiping the already clean counter.

“Are you really going to shut me out like that?”

Stepping forward, he reached out for her hand, but she pulled away.

“No, Matthew, we’re in public. Anyone could walk in and see us.” Katherine lowered her head. “And what about Justin?”

“What about him?”

“Well, you just said he was here with you.”

“So?”

“So, he thinks we had sex.”

Matthew might’ve laughed if Katherine hadn’t been so obviously humiliated by the situation. But there was a sweetness to her that he wasn’t accustomed to. So, instead, he smiled at her adorable innocence, then immediately regretted it the moment she frowned at him.

“It’s not funny, Matthew. What’s everyone going to think?”

“Oh, Katie, I know it’s not funny. But you’re not a little girl anymore. I would think by now Justin knows you’re also not a virgin. And I’m sure he understands that women have certain needs.”

“Certain needs?” Katherine’s eyes widened. “What did you tell him after I left?”

“I told him nothing happened. I said you were there as a friend and that you come by to hang out and help with Libby so I can get some decent sleep.”

“You told him I stayed overnight?”

“I didn’t have to. Think about it. You were barefoot in my pajamas making pancakes. I think anyone would assume you stayed over.”

“This is a small town, Matthew. People around here talk. Now everyone’s gonna know about us. I wanted to wait until we were ready.”

Matthew frowned. “Look, we came into this knowing there would be challenges, and now this is one of them.” Then he grabbed her hand, not letting her pull away despite her best efforts to try. “It was a misunderstanding, but it’s fine now. Even the Chief said we could work through it.”

Then Katherine remembered what her dad had said about Matthew.

“Can’t we go back to where we were?”

“How?”

“Easy… we just let it go.”

Katherine’s pain-filled scoff spoke to years of worry and frustration. “Just let go of what everyone else will think?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t you understand that sharing our relationship with others, even on our own terms, was going to be hard enough? Now we have no control over how this gets out.”

“Maybe we never did.”