she had only just arrived seemed proof that she really was hungry. Stubborn girl.
As soon as they walked into the cafeteria, Olivia knew she had made a mistake.
The cheerful space decorated in brick and exposed walls wasn’t at all like the café where she had witnessed the attack, but it smelled the same, of coffee and pastries and, somehow, chicken soup, and was filled with the low clatter of dishes and conversation.
Olivia froze in the doorway, suddenly shaky as a panic attack nudged at her.
“Are you getting something?” Caitlin asked, looking back at her.
She jerked her mind away, pressing it down. It wasn’t that café in Seattle. This was a cafeteria in a well-secured hospital. Nothing would happen to her or anyone else here.
“Um. Yes. I could use some coffee.” And she would sit inside this cafeteria and drink it, if it was the last thing she did.
“I don’t have any money on me,” Caitlin said.
“I can pay.”
“Thanks.”
Caitlin hurried off to fill a tray while Olivia gave her order to the barista inside the cafeteria. As she stepped away, she had to fight the urge to rush back out the door again.
“What’s wrong?”
She had stopped stock-still inside the cafeteria, her mind awash in memories. The taste of fear was metallic, like blood.
“Nothing,” she lied to her niece. How could she ever admit she was still fighting down panic from something that had happened days ago?
“I’m starving. Right now, I could eat a whole pizza by myself.”
“Get what you want. I don’t know what dinner will be tonight, especially since I don’t know when we’ll be able to make it out of here. We will have to figure out meals moving forward for the next few weeks.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it. When word gets out that Mimi is home from the hospital, we’ll be deluged with neighbors bearing casseroles. You won’t have to cook anything for a while.”
Olivia had missed that about Cape Sanctuary, the kind, generous nature of the people who lived here year-round. After her coffee was ready and Caitlin filled her tray with food, Olivia paid. Then they went into the dining area for a table. The cafeteria was busy with nurses, physicians and family members of those receiving care.
She sat with her back against the wall, where she could see any potential threats. She had a feeling this would be her new normal. Caitlin ate in silence, most likely determined not to bend an inch and engage in anything that might resemble a polite conversation.
A couple of newcomers entered the cafeteria and Olivia tensed, uneasy, braced for danger. The feeling did not abate when she recognized one of the newcomers as fire chief Cooper Vance, wearing a paramedic uniform and looking big and tough.
He was holding a tray that held the special of the day, a smothered chicken burrito. The only empty table was, naturally, next to theirs. His gaze met hers, and with a rueful kind of look, he came closer.
“Hey, Olivia. Hey, Caitlin.”
“Hi, Chief Vance,” her niece answered, but Olivia merely nodded.
“You must be visiting Juliet. How is she?”
“Pretty good,” Caitlin answered. “She’s going home today.”
“Great news.” He looked genuinely pleased.
“That’s the plan, anyway,” Olivia was compelled to say. “I’m sure you know how long and complicated it can be to spring someone from one of these places.”
“Yeah. It’s a process.”
Another firefighter joined them, sliding into the chair across from Cooper.
“I should have ordered the burrito like you did,” the guy complained. “That burger took forever and I’m still not sure it’s cooked through.”
“Take it back,” Cooper advised. “Olivia, this is a new guy in the department. Mike Walker. Today was his first day. He’s transferring from the Bay Area. Mike, this is my friend Olivia Harper and her niece, Caitlin.”
“Pleasure to meet you,” she said. “What brings you to Cape Sanctuary?”
The man smiled at her and she didn’t miss the way his gaze flicked to her ring finger then back to her eyes.
“I needed a change.” He had a deep, pleasing voice, and while his expression was light, almost flirty, she caught shadows of something darker there.
“It’s a nice town,” she answered.
“I’ve only been here a few days but I like what I see so far. I sure can’t complain about the view.”
“Olivia’s mother had a bad fall a few days ago,” Cooper explained. “That’s why they’re here.”
“Oh, too bad,” Mike said with a sympathetic look.
“She broke her hip and some ribs and is recovering from surgery,” Cooper said. “I’m surprised to hear she’s