Chapter Twenty-Eight
For three days Ash gave himself whiplash, jerking his head every time the Living Room door jangled with a new customer. It was never Hazel. Each day she didn’t show chipped away at his commitment not to reach out to her.
But he knew her well enough to stay the course. Hazel might not believe in afters, but she did believe in fresh starts.
This time, the source of his whiplash was Cami’s entrance. The café was closing at three p.m. for New Year’s Eve, and no customers were coming in, but still, he snapped around with the same wild hope. Cami frowned sympathetically. “Still no sign of her?”
“Who?” piped up Jade, a new employee he’d been training.
Cami raised a teasing eyebrow, which Jade didn’t miss.
“Someone who’s had you checking over your shoulder every two minutes since I got here?” Jade guessed.
Ash shook his head at Cami and dug two sets of keys out of his pocket, slid them across the counter. “Thanks for letting me borrow your truck,” he said, then pointed upstairs, indicating the loft space. “And for the last two years.”
“You can always come back if you need to,” she said.
“Thanks.” He followed both of them to the door, where he pinned an envelope to the community board, just in case.
Outside, Jade invited him once more to a New Year’s Eve party, but he wasn’t in the mood for a party. He’d fantasized all day about tracking down Hazel’s address, showing up at her place tonight, laying his heart out for her. A grand gesture. The old Ash, breaking through the surface.
But the only gesture left for him was the most modest. Trusting and waiting. He still believed she’d come, when she was ready. And he wasn’t going anywhere.