Café, across the street, but at nine A.M., the only people in there would be the retired Rotarians having their morning coffee and Sara, who ran the counter.
Not good.
“What are you doing here, Kurt?”
“I’ve missed you, baby.”
“I’m not your baby.”
“Oh, come on,” he said, wrapping his hand gently around her elbow. “You used to like it when I called you that.”
“No, I didn’t.” She pulled out of his grasp and pressed him back a step. “I thought the terms of your probation restricted travel outside of Ontario.”
“Probation’s over, baby—got my wings back.”
“How is that even possible? You were sentenced to five years in jail and two of probation.”
“They let me out early. Model prisoner and all that, so my time’s been served, probation’s done, and I can get back to my life now.”
Ellie fought the scream building in her throat. Why hadn’t anyone told her he was out? Oh, she knew perfectly well why; technically, she wasn’t his victim. If he’d raped her or tried to kill her, they might have advised her so she could be at his hearings, but as far as the court was concerned, there was no proof Kurt had actually done anything to physically harm her.
Forcing her voice to remain even, she looked him square in the eye. “Your life is back in Toronto, so you wasted a lot of time and money coming out here.”
When she tried to move past him, he moved with her.
“You’re my life, baby.”
“Move.”
He didn’t. “I’ve changed, Ellie. You have to believe me.”
“So have I. Now get out of my way.”
“Or what?” There it was: the low, quiet way he spoke that, on the surface, didn’t sound threatening, but it still chilled Ellie to the bone. “You gonna call the cops? Maybe your dad? How’d that work out for you last time?”
There was nothing she could do to stop her face from turning red, but she could control what she said and how she said it, so, like him, she kept her voice low and quiet.
“In case you missed the memo, Kurt, let me spell it out for you. We’re done. Over. Finished.”
“No, we’re not. We belong together.”
“Uh, no, we don’t.” And then, as though to prove her own theory wrong on what she could and couldn’t control, she added, “I’m with somebody else now.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Yes, I am,” she seethed. “You have no idea what my life’s like anymore. I’m completely different.”
Two buildings up, the door to the post office opened and out stepped Mrs. G, one hand wrapped around her cane, the other wrapped around her home-care worker’s elbow. They turned in the opposite direction, but not before the old girl waved her cane in a brief hello.
“Poor old Edith’s getting slower by the day, isn’t she?” Kurt’s words hung between them as their meaning slowly sank in. “It’s a shame she doesn’t have someone with her all the time; someone as frail as her could easily fall down the stairs. Or worse.”
“If you even think about going near her…”
“Relax,” he murmured, reaching out to finger the ends of her hair. “I’m only here for you, baby. The whole time I was locked up, you never came to see me once, so you forced me to come and see you.”
“And now you’ve seen me, so you can go.”
“Come on, Ellie. We were good together.”
Ugh. Back before everything blew apart, she’d fallen time and again for that wounded look of his, but not now. Never again.
“I already told you I’m with someone else, so you need to get over any idea you might have of us getting back together. Not gonna happen.”
“What’s his name?”
“None of your business. Now, if you don’t mind, I have to open up.” This time she got around him and unlocked the door. “And just so we’re clear, I reserve the right to refuse service, so if you take one step inside my store, I will have you arrested.”
“No need to get hostile.” Kurt’s smile widened. “Just tell me one thing. If you’ve got someone new, where is he? The only time you ever go out is when you meet those other babes for drinks on Tuesday nights. Let’s see: there’s the worrier from the bookstore who’s married to that builder, the hot redhead who’s shacked up with that idiot doctor, and the one from the flower shop over there. What’s her name again? Oh, right, Maya. Works alone, lives alone.”
An icy chill raced up Ellie’s spine and settled at the base of her skull,