Page 13 of Come Back to Me

She gives me a small but adorable smile and things seem to ease up a bit. I must admit she’s damn cute when she’s embarrassed.

We spend the next hour people-watching and asking each other basic questions. I catch a few dirty looks thrown our way from Joel Reid, and I’m pretty sure Annie notices it as well. I’m not letting him ruin my chance to get to know her better, though.

I learn that her favorite color is purple and tell her mine is blue. She shares that her family is from Columbus, and she only has one sister, Kelly, who is married with three kids all under the age of six. Kelly is a stay-at-home mom. I share that I have four siblings, one being my twin brother, Ben, and we have three younger sisters.

“Was Ben with you at the bar when I first saw you on Cinco de Mayo?” she asks.

The corner of my mouth lifts in a smile as I remember how she looked when I caught her staring at me that night.

“Yep, that was him. He’s a detective down at the first precinct, and it’s hard to get our schedules to line up, but we try to catch up at least every week or two. When you grow up with that many sisters, guys need to stick together.”

She laughs and I think it’s the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard. She’s mindlessly playing with one of her curls, repeatedly stretching it out and releasing it. It takes everything in me not to reach across and touch it.

“I remember noticing you were drinking from a coffee mug and thinking you would never fall asleep having coffee that late,” she comments.

She’s not wrong. I had a lot of trouble sleeping that night, but not because of the coffee. Because of her. I hold that thought back, though, because I don’t want to come on too strong.

“Coffee or soda is my drink of choice. I have a beer a few times a month, mostly in the summer, but rarely drink much alcohol. Probably stems from needing to stay sober at parties when we were younger so I could threaten any guy who hit on one of my sisters,” I say, joking.

Her phone dings, and she looks down at it. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but do you mind if I reply to this quickly? Janie is asking me if I’m okay getting an Uber home so she can leave with her new friend.”

“No, not at all,” I answer. I hope this doesn’t mean she plans to leave soon.

She types in a quick response, then looks back up at me, putting her phone in her purse.

Suddenly seeing my chance, I smile at her and say, “It’s actually perfect, because I’ve got a killer craving for pancakes. I was trying to figure out whether I could convince you to go with me to get some of the best in town. Now it seems like the perfect compromise… You go with me to get pancakes and I can give you a ride home.”

She smiles across the table at me.“You had me at pancakes.”

CHAPTER 8

ANNIE

We arrive at this cozy little diner on Fourth Street, called Pat’s Diner. The server greets Jack by name and sits us in a comfy corner booth. He orders traditional pancakes with some bacon and, of course, a coffee. I decide to live on the edge and order the pancakes with marshmallow cereal baked into the batter, whipped cream on top, and a glass of whole milk. This is another reason I run, so I can eat what I want. When our food arrives, I carefully pour half of my milk over my pancakes and look up to see Jack making a mock disgusted face.

“What?” I ask. “You don’t put milk on your pancakes?”

“Um, I’m pretty sure no one, except you, puts milk on their pancakes.”

I give him a dismissive look and reply, “That’s ridiculous. I’m sure lots of people do. My dad did. Don’t knock it ’til you try it.”

He chuckles. “I’m going to have to take your word on that, Annie. There is no way I’m trying that.”

Jack digs into his pancakes, and we make small talk while we’re eating. When he’s done with his food, he pushes his plate to the side. “So, what made you decide to move up to Elladine from Columbus?”

I’m looking down and cutting off another bite of my pancakes, and I hesitate, trying not to be awkward while I decide how to respond.

“Oh, shit. I’m sorry, you don’t have to answer that,” he says, clearly noticing my discomfort.

“No, it’s okay, really. I want to,” I say. I’m surprised to find that I do want to answer, which is weird because even Janie doesn’t know all the details about what happened. I’ve not really been able to bring myself to talk about it much up to now.

“Well, let’s see.” I pause, thinking of how to word it. “It’s kind of the typical cliché heartbreak story,” I start, smiling self-depreciatingly. “I was engaged to be married before moving here. Jason and I met when we started working in the ER right out of school five years ago. Neither of us really knew what we were getting into when we took the job. TV makes it all look a lot easier than it is in real life.” I chuckle. “We kind of bonded initially over that first shock of being a new grad in the ER and became friends. After a few months, we started dating. Things were good, at least I thought they were, but I had dated very little before that and never too seriously. Anyway, we dated for almost four years before getting engaged last summer.”

Jack leans in, resting his head on one hand while he watches me. I find myself shocked at how easy it is to tell him my story and how little sadness I feel as I tell it. It almost feels very… clinical.

“We were supposed to get married this April. Jason had been picking up a lot of extra night shifts for a few months, Iassumed to help pay for the wedding.” I reach across the table and take a sip of his coffee, which causes him to smile. He smirks when I make a face at how overly sweet it tastes.

“Geez, Jack, do you want some coffee with your sugar?”

---