Wonderstruck

CHAPTER 1 - NOAH #2

One of the other workers delivers my breakfast a few minutes later.

I thank them before digging in, not remembering when I last had a serving of French Toast this delicious.

Addison comes over again as I finish up, bracing a black square bucket on her hip that's half full of dirty dishes.

I raise an eyebrow at her as she stares at me.

"I was sorry to hear about your mom," Addison says carefully after an awkward moment of ogling at me as if she can't believe I'm truly right in front of her.

I can tell she's uncomfortable at how distant we are, not sure how to approach the conversation.

Well, that makes two of us, sweetheart. "I didn't even realize that she was… ."

"Suicidal?" I fill in for her, chuckling humorlessly under my breath. "Me neither, but I can't say it's out of character, given who she was married to."

Addison's dark eyebrows pull in at the middle as she frowns, unsure how to respond. "But even so, I know your mom means a lot to you."

"She does."

"Charlie told me," she informs me. "He was the one who got called onto the scene first. He said he tried everything to resuscitate her but—"

"Yeah," I reply and shift in my seat, the wooden chair putting uncomfortable pressure on my low back.

Jesus H. Christ, get me out of this conversation.

I glance around the diner, searching for something to comment on to move off this topic. I clear my throat when I find nothing worth talking about. "Well, this has been… I'm not sure. But I need to go. Maybe we can catch up another time."

I don't mean to brush her off, but I know it is likely how my brusque tone translates for her.

God, that's the last thing I'd ever want to do, but distance is my friend now.

I have to keep my mind on my reason for being here.

I can't let myself fall back into old habits.

If I did, I'd never leave this diner again—or her.

"Oh," Addison says, the brightness in her eyes dimming slightly.

"I have a meeting with Sullivan to talk about—you know," I inform her, surveying her.

The brightness slowly returns when she realizes that I'm not trying to jump ship on her again. "Are you going to be staying long?"

"I'm not sure. I haven't decided yet." I sigh and rub the back of my neck, meeting her eyes and shrugging a shoulder.

"Okay," she responds, clearly unsure what else to say, her eyes tracking my every movement as I ball up my napkin and drop it on the empty plate. "Can I get you anything else before you go?"

"I'm good, Parks. Thank you, though." I stand up and brush off my jeans, reaching into my back pocket for my wallet. "How much do I owe you?"

Parks is still staring at me with her wide hazel eyes as she waves her hand in a blow-off manner. "It's fine. It's on me today."

"You don't have to do that," I argue.

"We're friends, Noah. And this is my diner. I can do what I want."

"Thank you," I shoot her a grin as I head toward the door. I raise my hand in her direction before I leave. "I'll see you around, yeah?"

Addison presses her lips together, narrowing her eyes and tilting her head at me. "Yeah, I'll see you around. Bye, Noah."

"Sully!" I shout as I throw open the front door to the Sheriff's department. "Get your ass out here."

I hear a scuffle in the other room. Charlie fucking Sullivan walks out holding—and I'm not even making this shit up—a glazed chocolate doughnut and a to-go cup of what I'm assuming was coffee.

The coffee has the Sunny Side Up Diner logo pasted on the side, and I realize he got it from Addison's diner.

I try to school my features as best as possible, remaining impassive.

Still, despite my best efforts, I'm sure my upper lip curls into the signature sneer I reserve just for Charlie Sullivan.

Sullivan raises his eyebrows in surprise and struggles to gulp down his massive bite of doughnut. "Lockwood, you're here."

I hold up the folded business card in my hand. "You rang?"

Sully sets his coffee down on a neighboring desk and gently places his doughnut on top. "Yeah, but I didn't think you'd be here that quickly."

I roll my eyes and take a few steps towards him, noticing the shiny new badge under his nameplate: Sheriff. "Whoa, man, congrats on the promotion. Dear old Dad, finally hand over the reins?"

Charlie grimaces and shakes his head. "Ah, no. He passed away last year heart attack."

I press my lips together and freeze for a brief second before regaining my mojo. "Well, shit, man. I'm sorry to hear that."

"It was pretty sudden, like someone just pointed their finger at him and muttered a curse or something.

One second he was here, and then he was gone.

Kind of like what happened with your mom, I guess," he says sheepishly, looking up at me like he's afraid I'm going to punch him in the throat. "I'm sorry, by the way."

I cross my arms over my chest and hold his gaze. "Thanks, it was a bit of a shock."

"Understandable. I was the one who arrived on the scene first, you know?"

I know, I say to myself, my mind darting back to Addison this morning. "Well, I'm glad you were there."

"Me too," he says, his eyes locked on mine.

"I'm not really sure how to do this." As I stare at my old schoolmate, I stay quiet for another moment. I clear my throat and he glances back at me with an eyebrow raised.

Charlie laughs humorlessly. "It's okay. I'm not looking for a hug or anything."

"Okay, good," I say with a sigh of relief. "Now, can we get to business?"

"By all means, my office is this way."

He leads us back past all the desks belonging to his deputies into an office. His workspace is spotless, of course. I follow him in, and he shuts the door behind me, reaching over to pull the blinds closed.

"First things first, thanks for the note; you know I love a cryptic message," I shoot at him. He opens his mouth to retort, but I hold up a hand, not finished. "Second, would you care to explain to me why I ran into Parks? Here in Willow Heights, of all places?"

Charlie grimaces again and moves around to sit in his chair, taking a moment to answer me. "I was hoping to talk to you before you ran into her."

"So this is a thing then," I speculate. "She's actually still here. After you told me you'd convince her to leave?"

"Noah, listen, it's not that—"

"You gave me your word, Charlie," I growl back at him. "How the fuck are we supposed to do this when she's still here, still at risk? My dad knows about her and isn't afraid to risk her life again to prove a point. Especially with me being back here."

"She wouldn't leave."

"Well, then, you did a shitty job of convincing her."

"It's more complicated than that. Look, I'll be the first to admit I could have done more, but she wouldn't leave. Not after she saw you in New York a few years back. She was set to go, but I dunno, man, that gave her hope or something."

"Is that it? That's the story you're sticking to?"

He hesitates a moment too long. "Yep."

"I can tell you're hiding something, Sullivan. You're a shit liar, and you always have been. What, has she found someone else?"

By his expression, I already know the answer. That's fine. I told her not to wait for me. Honestly, I'd be surprised if she didn't have another man. Parks is a catch. "Who is it?"

"Don't ask me that."

"Okay, you've just narrowed it down to about five people. Go ahead and just rip the bandaid off."

He holds up a single finger. "I want to make it known for the record that I didn't want to tell you this, but you basically forced it out of me." I roll my eyes, and he continues, "It's Eli."

Mother fucker.

I bark out a laugh and grip the back of my neck. "You've got to be fucking kidding me. This guy again?"

"Things are a little more complicated than that."

"This is a small town, Charlie. Of course, things are complicated. Spill it, then we can get to the real reason I'm here," I order. I choose to ignore that we resemble a pair of two old ladies gossiping about the town's juicy business right now.

He sighs loudly, as if this is the last thing he wants to do, but concedes, "They're not dating per se, but just seeing each other. They both have different ideas of how they want their relationship to progress. You know Eli, he's been in love with her since he first saw her."

"I'm aware," I say through gritted teeth.

"But Addie is more just looking for a friends-with-benefits deal, I think.

Something to take the edge off when she has a bad day.

" I grit my teeth at his phrasing, not liking the mental image that gives me.

"I can't imagine she sees herself settling down with him.

She's always had eyes for someone else, you know?

And as history has shown, Eli doesn't live up to that for her. "

I scrub my hand over my face, trying not to dwell too hard on the fact that I want to throw up at this recent development. "Okay."

"That's it? Okay?"

I scowl at my not-so-much friend. "I don't know what else you want me to do. Your bestie and his incessant puppy-love isn't my problem."

"What about Addie?"

"Parks is a grown woman." And a fucking beautiful woman at that. The image of her plump lips falling open when she ran into me this morning pops into my brain, and I shake my head, trying to clear it, focusing on where I am. "She can handle herself."

I've spent way too long daydreaming about Addison Parks, and I know that despite it all, I'll spend much more time continuing to do just that.

Later tonight, when I'm alone, I'll break apart every second of our interaction today, analyzing all aspects of what we said to each other.

But, for now, I shove it to the back of my mind so I can focus on the task at hand.

"So, about this nice card you sent me," I begin.

About a week and a half ago, I received a plain white envelope with my name and address written on it.

I found a Willow Heights City Hall business card when I opened it.

Nothing was written on the card. It was enough to send a message and confirm that my coming back for my mother's funeral was not the only reason I was supposed to be back here.

Sullivan steeples his fingers and looks at me, his green eyes turning severe. I realize I'm now talking to the Sheriff of Willow Heights, the Charlie I grew up with, now pushed to the sidelines. "I think I have him."

"You think? What does that mean?" I ask him, praying to whatever God is up there that I didn't come back to this godforsaken town for a hunch.

"I had someone undercover at the right place at the right time, and I think we have a lead."

"Again, with the 'you think' bit. Charlie, drop the facade and just tell me what the hell you got."

"My guy heard Mayor McCoy talking about delivery to someone named Orville Marks. I haven't heard of anyone in that town, but I'm looking into it. We'll check databases for neighboring towns and go larger if we have to. I think this might be our way in."

I frown. I guess there might be something here. It's not much to go on, but something, at least. "Did he allude to anything illegal? Or literally, anything else that could get us a warrant?"

Charlie looks contrite as he shakes his head. "Unfortunately, no, but I'm hoping that now you're back in town, we'll be able to smoke him out a little. Hopefully, he'll think we're onto him—which we are—and he'll trip himself up."

I fall into the chair in front of his desk. My hand rubs at the back of my neck to soothe the tension. "He'll definitely know we're onto something."

"Why's that?"

"Because I basically said as much," I mutter, looking out the window at a squirrel climbing a tree.

I try to dampen the white-hot fiery anger that boils in my chest whenever my father crosses my mind, but it's no use.

"He might believe that my mother's death gives him a free pass, which, sure.

I'll give him that one. But I told him he'd be in cuffs the next time he'd see me. "

"Well, that might be a little extreme. We still have a long way to go before we get there. We don't have any solid proof yet."

"So, what's the plan then, Chief?" I say, turning back to him.

"Just lie low for now. I have my guys out there with their ears peeled, just in case he slips up again. I want you to re-acclimatize yourself here in town, maybe rattle him up a bit, but don't pursue anything. Then he'll let his guard down, and we'll get him."

"Do you want me to—" I shrug my shoulders, unsure, "Make him think I'm not after him or what? That I've given up?"

Charlie's eyebrows pull in. "No, I don't think that would be the best course of action. You two have always been at each other's throats. If you pulled a full one-eighty on him, he would know something was up. I think you should just go back to how it was before."

"Before?" I scoff. "Sorry, man, with all due respect, but that's a bullshit plan. Not only am I a completely different man than I was then, but now my mother's gone. Before is nonexistent."

"That's all I got right now, Noah. Don't make it obvious that we're trying to nab him, and we'll be fine."

"And not to mention if I go back to 'before' as you say," I twitch my fingers into quotations, still on a roll, "I'm knowingly putting Addison back in danger. Or have you forgotten what happened to her parents when my father thought I was onto him the last time?"

He narrows his eyes at me. "I haven't forgotten."

I lean back into the chair. "My point. I don't want anything to happen to her. She's suffered enough because of me."

"We'll just have to play it a certain way.

Like I told you, Addie is in some sort of weird arrangement with Eli.

Let's just let that come to a head, so you don't have to worry about that.

Just stay away from her. If your father doesn't think she means anything to you anymore, there won't be a problem. "

My chest squeezes tightly. Visuals of wide hazel eyes come to mind, and I frown. "I'm not sure if I can promise that."

"You can't just stay away from her for a little longer? I thought that wouldn't be much to ask of you." I glare at him at his unspoken words, and his eyebrows heighten.

"It's asking a lot for me to pretend that she's not everything to me, Charlie," I growl.

"You're hung up on her still, then?" I remain silent, which is answer enough. "Okay, whatever. Just try," he pleads with me. "I don't want to see Addie hurt any more than you do. She's my best friend."

"Why do I feel like I'm just a pawn in your game here?"

"Because that's what I need you to be right now," Charlie says bluntly, holding my eyes with a heavy stare. "We'll get him, Noah. We will. I promise you that."