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My phone buzzed, and I reached into my purse. Maybe it was Kaylee replying to my message about what she wanted for lunch.

But the text wasn’t from her.

Arrow:Morning. Feeling better?

“It’s him.” I looked up at Marvin.

He smirked. “Tell the boss I said hi.”

“Boss? What do you mean?”

“He owns this building. When he took over and noticed we hadn’t gotten a raise in two years, he gave us an enormous increase.”

I couldn’t believe it. Why didn’t Arrow say anything about this to me?

I gaped at Marvin. “When did he buy the complex?”

“About two months ago. The owners were retiring and didn’t want the extra stress. It’s a prime location.”

I made Marvin swear not to show that video to anyone and drove to the store, which was three blocks away. Grabbing a shopping cart, I tried to focus on what I needed to buy instead of Arrow’s text, which I hadn’t replied to. I needed some time to process what had happened yesterday.

Had I asked him for a piggyback ride? Where had that idea even come from? My face heated as the image blazed through my mind. I laughed and cursed at myself.

How else did I embarrass myself?How could I face him after that?

Why hadn’t he run far away from me?

None of the previous men I’d dated would ever have agreed to a piggyback ride. Why did Arrow agree? Had I promised something to him?

I’d held hands with some of my previous partners, but none of them had the same power. Everything with Arrow was more intense, had more meaning. When he held my hand, it was a gentle act of possession, an obsession—something deep that I didn’t understand yet.

I felt a sense of belonging to him. Like I’d finally discovered a secret place all to myself.Perhaps I was overanalyzing and reading too much into it, but that was how I felt.

After my mother died, Dad and I often went camping by the lake. It was the only activity I enjoyed. I’d always find a nook where I could sit and fish that wasn’t on the pier. That private spot was my sanctuary.I felt safe sharing my secrets with the water, the trees, the bugs, and the fish.I used to imagine sitting by the lake, immersing myself in nature and the silence. As I did so, my troubles floated out of me and into the lake, feeding the fish, bugs, and plants. Then I would imagine them smiling as they transformed what was ugly into something useful. My troubles became food for them. How silly was that?

In some odd way, holding his hand brought me back to that sanctuary.

For a moment I emptied my mind, and the reality of why I was in Providence surfaced. Where was Aimee? Who had her? Were they feeding her? Was she sleeping in a safe place? Anxiety made me tense. The issue bounced around my head, increasing the pressure in my temple. What could I do to find her quicker? I was doing my best.

As far as I knew, the private investigator Matt Stone, whom Aimee’s parents had hired, hadn’t found anything worthwhile either.

Sensing the surge of stress, I forced myself to calm.

Breathe. Relax. You can only get things done with a clear head.

A crashing noise yanked me back to reality. Shit, I’d just crashed into another shopping cart.

Earth to Vivian!

“Sorry,” I apologized to the woman with a full cart of groceries.

My mind was all over the place today.

Just get your groceries. Everything else can wait.

I checked my phone and Kaylee had replied that she’d like pizza, wings, and fries for lunch. She’d also like more snacks to take along to her afterschool program at Whiz Kidz, andph?,the Vietnamese beef or chicken noodle soup she loved so much. I hadn’t made it in a while. I usually just ordered at the Vietnamese restaurant. It was easier to go out since it was just the two of us.But I supposed I could stop by the Asian market to get the ingredients to make it for her.

I pushed the shopping cart to the produce section and grabbed a bag of green grapes.