When the Heart Lies - By Christina North Page 0,57

any problem or, at least, think about it productively.

Jackson raised his binoculars and gave Scar the go-ahead. “Okay, go in now.”

Scar hopped from the truck, grabbed her gear, and headed into the café appearing confident. “Kinsley? Is that you?”

Kinsley turned, surprised and a little confused. “Scar, what are you doing here?” Seeing Scar brought a mixture of happiness and apprehension. Wayde never told her not to talk to anyone, but she had an inkling he wouldn’t like the idea. And now wasn’t the time to risk putting any kinks in her plans.

“I’ve been doing a photo shoot near here.” Scar didn’t wait for an invitation. She sat down across from her and put down her things. “I’m so glad I ran into you. Let me get my coffee, be right back.” Scar went, got her coffee, and scooted back into her seat.

It looked to her like Scar was going to stay a while. “Do you work in this area a lot?”

“No, I got the job through a friend. I’m doing it as a favor. How you been?”

“Okay.” The statement didn’t sound convincing. “I’ve been okay.” Frantic inside, she wanted to jump up, grab hold of Scar, and tell her Wayde was holding her mentally captive and threatening Max. She wanted to say she needed help, and she couldn’t go back, wanted to tell her to call Jackson and have him rescue them. She wanted to say all those things, but she didn’t dare. “How have you been? I’m sorry I didn’t call you. I’ve had a lot on my mind. I still have your number, though.”

“I’m good, too.” Scar looked like she didn’t believe a word she had said. She noticed Jim glancing over and decided the best thing to do was to act like Scar being there was nothing. Smiling, she waved him over. He hustled out from behind the counter smiling wide. “I want you to meet a friend of mine. Jim this is Scar. Scar, Jim. She’s been working in the neighborhood. It’s her first time here, so I thought I’d introduce you to her.”

He nodded and smiled. “Nice to meet you ma’am.”

His sweet manner when meeting Scar gave her the sense it might be okay to sit and talk with her for a while.

Scar raised her cup in recognition. “Nice place you have here. Good coffee.”

Jim smiled proudly. “Yeah well, the place is kind of my baby. I’m proud.”

As she watched the interaction between Scar and Jim, she became more relaxed. Jim wouldn’t go out of his way to cause her any trouble. At least she didn’t think so.

“Well, I’ll let you two chat, I need to get back to my customers. Again, nice meeting you, Scar.”

Scar lifted her arm, coffee cup in hand, giving him a friendly departing gesture and then turned back to Kinsley. The way Scar’s eyes scanned her, Kinsley instinctively looked around and over herself. Possibly, a button was undone, or she soiled herself in some way. There was nothing. She didn’t know what to do to get past the formalities. She wanted to talk to Scar as she’d done before, but she didn’t feel the freedom she felt at Lakeside. There was no reason for her to be uncomfortable talking to her. Scar wasn’t going to run to Wayde and tell him anything.

After a long pause in the conversation, Scar leaned in a little, whispering as if she were talking about an off-color subject. Her eyes widened as she spoke. “So, how are things going with the fuck-tard boyfriend?”

Kinsley laughed. “Please don’t call him my boyfriend. He’s more like my arch nemesis.”

Scar shook her head smiling. “Why do you stay with him? The guy sounds like a rodent. Damn, this is good coffee.”

Why didn’t I have enough sense to turn around the moment I got here and get back on a plane to New York? “It’s complicated.” She looked down at her coffee wondering just how lame the words sounded. “I’ve decided to have Max go back to New York. I’ll probably go shortly after.” She didn’t like the sound of what she was saying. She saw Scar flinch, too.

“Are you going back to your husband?”

She didn’t remember saying anything to Scar about Nick. Jackson must have talked to her. It didn’t bother her, and it was nice to know he talked about her. Especially nice, since she rarely stopped thinking of him and spent far too much time escaping life with ‘castle in the air’ dreams. Dreams of an all-embracing