Chapter Six
Sunny
I take a deep breath as I climb out of my car and head toward the entrance of Marv’s Market.
Riley thinks I should take a few days off, but honestly?
I’m fine. I didn’t actually see anything.
I just… heard it. And maybe that’s enough to shake most people, but I’m a glass-half-full kinda girl. Always have been.
Sure, it’s heartbreaking that someone was killed. More so that I can’t even reach out to his family and offer my condolences. Riley told me that his name was Josh. He’d only been working here a couple of months. I remember him. Always polite. Always kind.
Tank said they have their own ways of handling things, and that they want to make it look like the murder happened somewhere else far from Marv’s. I know there’s more going on behind the scenes, but I’ve chosen to trust them.
Naive? Maybe. But that’s just the way I’m wired.
So here I am, heading into work like it’s any other day.
“New kid Josh was killed last night.”
I freeze, mid-step, as Marv’s familiar voice reaches me. He looks at me a bit odd. Almost like he knows I was there when it happened. But, I know that’s not true because he was writing reports in his office at the time.
“They’re saying it was a hit-and-run,” he adds. “Well… a shoot-and-run. Random, maybe. But it’s scary, Sunny. Makes you think. Maybe you should come stay with me and Cheryl for a while.”
Okay. Too much.
I shake my head gently. “I’m not staying with you and your wife, Marv. That’s sweet, but… why would someone shoot Josh? There’s never been violence around here. Not like that.”
“You’re just blind, Sunny,” he says, eyes soft but voice firm. “You can’t see the evil through that overabundance of sweetness you carry around.”
“I see evil just fine,” I tell him quietly. “I just choose not to give it power. Acknowledging it… that’s what makes it real.”
Marv shakes his head, eyes creased with concern.
“That’s not true, Sunny. Ignoring something doesn’t make it disappear.
And acknowledging it?” He steps closer, voice low and honest. “That’s not giving it power.
That’s how you take its power away. Pretending it’s not there? That’s what gives it room to grow.”
I don’t have a good comeback for that. So I just smile… tight and brittle… and step around him into the store.
“I see your point,” I call back over my shoulder. “But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
As I walk down the aisle, I make a mental note to visit Josh’s family in the next few days. I’ll bring a casserole dish, something warm and comforting, so they don’t have to think about cooking, at least for one night.
Maybe Marv’s right. Maybe ignoring evil is how it festers and grows. But I don’t think I can fully accept that someone out there, someone close enough to breathe the same air I do, could murder a young innocent man in the middle of a grocery store and walk away like it was just another Tuesday.
I’m not ready to believe that kind of unnecessary cruelty lives this close to home.
For some unknown reason, I pull out my phone and scroll until I find Jack’s name. Riley put both his and Tank’s numbers in my contacts last night…just in case. She’d saved his as Bones , but when I got home… I changed it.
I don’t really know why he introduced himself to me with his real name, but I’m not mad about it. Maybe he only likes it when his friends call him Bones. But that’s okay. I really like Jack.
Would he think I’m weird if I texted him?
Probably.
I shrug anyway and start typing.
Me: Is it wrong that I don’t want to think about how cruel people can be?
Pocketing my phone, I grab my clipboard and start my rounds. I need to check shelf inventory to see what we need to focus on first.
Fifteen minutes later, my phone beeps.
Heart tripping over itself, I yank it out faster than necessary.
Jack: World’s full of cruel people, doll.
Always has been. Always will be. But I’m glad you don’t see it.
Means you ain’t lived it firsthand. And I’d rather you keep seeing the world soft, even if the rest of us know better.
Don’t want nothin’ to steal that smile off your face again like it did yesterday.
I blink at the screen, something tightening in my chest so hard it almost hurts.
Jack isn’t a man who says things he doesn’t mean. I know that instinctively. Every word he’s sent feels like it’s carved from stone. Heavy. Real. Protective in a way I’ve never felt before.
I swallow the lump rising in my throat and smile. This time, it’s not tight. It’s not brittle.
It’s real.
Me: Thank you, Jack. I needed those words more than you know. I’m grateful you were close by yesterday. Not sure what I would have done.
I watch the three lines bounce as he types back.
Jack: Me too, baby. Now quit standin’ around and get back to work. Got shit to do.
I stare at the screen, heat climbing up my neck.
Rude.
Wait.
Baby?