Her call ends. Chase stares at the screen in silence before the slyest smile unfurls.
“Did you guys hear that? She said ‘chemistry.’”
Noah unmutes and he’s howling laughing, “She also said she was flirting with death.”
Before I can say or do anything, the bell in the front room chimes, drawing my eyes. I speak over them.
“Hey, I have a customer. I have to go,” I say when I unmute, speaking over Noah’s laughter.
They both nod as I end the call and slide my phone into the front pocket of my apron. I’m still grinning to myself as I breeze through the swinging door that separates the front and back.
“Hi. Welcome,” I greet, before halting in my place and looking around. “Huh,” I say to myself as my brows draw together because there’s nobody here.
I stand there for a second, feeling confused, because I definitely heard the bell before walking to the front of the store. Maybe someone just peeked their head in?
But as I look out the window, I don’t see anyone. There are plenty of people walking around, just nobody out front of the store.
My brows rise as I shrug before I turn around to go back to doing nothing.
The moment I do, my eyes catch on something sitting on top of the glass case.
It doesn’t register at first as I make my way to it, but the closer I get, the more my smile grows.
“Oh my god,” I breathe out, hurrying the last few steps before my hand smooths over the glossy cover of tomorrow’s issue ofVision and Vibe. “No way ...” I look over my shoulder, talking to myself. “They must’ve had it couriered.”
I smile, remembering how I told the editor what flower shop I worked at during our initial conversations.
This is so cool. I sweep open the cover before scanning the table of contents for my page number, taking a second to stare at the title of my article because it feels so surreal. I bite my lip before my fingers begin paging through.
The smile on my face almost hurts. I can’t believe something I wrote has been published for the world to read. How is this my life, because it feels too good to be true.
A breathy laugh leaves me, euphoria sweeping through my veins as I swipe the page a few more times to get to page 129. But as I turn to it, a loose page lifts from the others, crinkling against my finger and making me stop.
What looks like an old newspaper article is tucked between the busy pages surrounding it. “What ...” I say under my breath before sliding it out and reading the headline.
Dark Days in Darkwater
I scan it, confused, half reading the first line:
A dark cloud hangs over this small community after five teens are found dead in what officials believe started as a lovers’ quarrel and ended in a massacre.
My brows draw together as I turn it over, looking for some kind of explanation, before I flip through the magazine again, curious if there’s more. But I find nothing.
“Weird,” I say to myself, rereading the headline. I feel like I’ve heard of this ... or maybe the name of the town.Where have I heard this?
Before the thought can take root, my phone rings, making my shoulders jump. “Jesus.”
“Hi,” I say, sunshiny, when I see my mom’s name and set the article aside. “Guess what I’m looking at?”
“I don’t know, but I just got my orders from the general, so I’m ready for tomorrow. Your sister says this is a foolproof plan for the article to become a virus.”
I chuckle, accidentally sweeping what I was looking at onto the floor.
“Viral,” I correct her, then hear a ding at the door. It’s my coworker back from lunch. “We’re not hacking into the government.”
Lee looks at me quizzically, but I shake my head, pointing to the back before I take the magazine and my mother to the workroom. I only get two steps before I remember I left the paper on the floor, but Lee’s already put it in the trash for me.
“Thanks,” I mouth as I disappear.
