Page 27 of Starting Our Chance

I was just about to ask Felicity to tell me about herself so that I could get to know her better when the waitress approached us and blurted out, “Are you Loretta Forman?”

I sat back in my seat and looked the young woman over. I didn’t know her; this town wasn’t that small.

Felicity jumped in. “Who’s asking?”

“Those men over there.” The waitress pointed to the bar area where Dylan sat with two men in suits. “They came in asking about you, and Dwire scooted over to have a chat with them.”

“So, they don’t know she is here?” Felicity pressed.

“No.” The waitress shook her head. “They just seem to be gathering information. They hedged around about the spray paint job on the high school that was in the papers recently, and then outright asked if anyone knew you personally. I remember you dated my older cousin in junior high, so I was pretty sure you were Loretta, and I wanted to give you a heads up.”

Felicity was opening her purse as the waitress spoke. I stared hard at the young red head with her order pad in hand. I was about to ask her who her cousin was, but apparently my curiosity was misplaced. Before I knew it, Felicity was slipping a large bill into the woman’s hand and telling her not to talk to the men about me being here.

“They haven’t seen you.” Felicity spoke matter of fact as the waitress left, her young eyes large with the drama of situation. “You and I are just going to sit here and have a long dinner. If anything gets out of hand, Marcus and Logan can be here in ten minutes.” Felicity shuffled around in her seat so that she could see the men at the bar.

“What the fuck just happened? Why would they be asking after me?” I craned my neck around the booth, but Felicity’s sneaker kicked me hard under the table. “Ouch!”

“Quiet,” she hissed. “Those men are not from around here. And until we find out what they are after, you need to lay low.”

“This is crazy,” I whispered back in a firm voice. “You’re acting like this is some mafia drama film or something.”

The hard look in her eyes was earth shattering. I sucked in a deep breath, and the full implication of what we were discussing hit me: These men could be checking Waynesboro Parish out. Had my old boss sent them, turning over every rock to find his money? And here I had been thinking that it was all behind me. But apparently my name in spray paint had been the final straw he’d needed to come after me—since I was the only, albeit poor, link to his money.

“I’m so stupid,” I groaned. “I’ve fucked up.” Instantly, the liquor concoction in my stomach did a series of flips, and I wasn’t sure I could keep it down. “Up north—my old job—I was framed.”

“Lore.” Felicity’s voice was sharp and her fingers gripped tightly around my wrist. “Look at me. Now.”

I was on the brink of losing my shit, but her voice brooked no argument. I met her gaze and it was hard, full of command. “This is bad,” I murmured. The world was spinning, and I felt my skin tingle all over as fear threatened to consume me.

“What the hell is going on, Lore? It’s clear that you’re in trouble. Tell me. You can trust me.”

Felicity’s words pierced the veil of fear that was closing in and threatening to swallow me whole. “How do I know y’all won’t turn me over to them?” My voice was so soft, I wondered if she had even heard me.

She had. “I believe in innocence until proven guilty. From the way you’re acting, and from the little I know about you, I’m willing to wager you aren’t guilty. Besides,” Felicity leaned over and stared hard at the men in suits, “they are Milanesi.”

Given the way she spat the word out and looked like a foul taste had been left in her mouth, I was curious enough to ask her about it. But then I engulfed the horrid reality that was my life and realized that what I had going on took precedence. So, I replied, “I trust you.”

Her face lit up. “Good. Now, let’s talk about all this later. Right now, we eat and wait them out. Then we leave. I’m going to tell you about how I met Marcus, and you are going to forget about all the drama in your life and focus solely on this thrilling tale.”

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