Page 114 of Forever Dark
A knock came at the door, startling Selena from the thought.She spit into the sink, wiped her mouth, and crossed the room, expecting maybe Eric Wilson with some overeager question about hot water or the TV remote.
When she opened the door, Jessie Chase stood there.
For a second Selena only stared in disbelief.She had worried about running into her, but she didn’t think her childhood best friend would seek her out.
Jessie was still beautiful, still slight in the way she had always been, but the years had redrawn her in other ways.Dyed blue hair had been twisted into a messy bun that looked like it had survived both sleep and bad decisions.A silver stud flashed in one nostril.Her eyes were the same though.Alert.Wry.Harder now.
Jessie leaned one shoulder against the frame and said, “So this is where you’re hiding?”
Selena found her voice a beat late.“I was going to come and see you.”
“But you didn’t.”
“Did Connor tell you where I was?”
“Nope,” she said.“Don’t pin that on my brother.”
“Ugh, Eric…” Selena instinctively knew it must have come from him.
Jessie pushed off the frame.“Well.I’m here now.”
Selena looked at her properly then, taking in the changes and the old familiarity underneath them.Fifteen years had not erased Jessie.It had only roughened the edges and deepened the shadows around the things she used to say easily.
“You look good,” Selena said.
Jessie’s mouth twitched.“That’s a lie, but I appreciate the effort.”
“It’s not.”
“It is.But let’s move on.”She jerked her head toward the lot.“You want to get a coffee?There’s a place nearby that’s good.”
Selena almost smiled at the understatement.“Yes.”
“Good.Follow me.”
Jessie turned before Selena could say anything else.
Five minutes later Selena was behind the wheel, trailing Jessie’s battered Jeep down Main Street and into a part of Elmsview she knew by instinct even after all this time.Familiar corners came back one after the other.The hardware store.The laundromat mural peeling at one edge.The pharmacy that still somehow survived.
Then the sign came into view, and she felt something loosen in her chest.
HANK’S REDHOT DINER
The lettering had been repainted since she was a teenager, but only just.The old shape of the building remained.Same red trim.Same broad front windows.Same parking spaces angled too close together for modern trucks.
Selena shut off the car and smiled at the place as she got out.
Jessie climbed out of her car.“Why does this feel like déjà vu?”
“It’s good to see some things don’t change.”
They went in together.
The bell over the door gave the same tired jangle it had always given.Warmth met them at once, carrying coffee, bacon grease, syrup, and fryer oil.Vinyl booths lined the walls.Chrome trim caught the late morning light.Somewhere behind the counter, an old country song crackled from a radio that probably should have died a decade earlier.
Jessie glanced toward the back corner by the window.
“Remember where we used to sit in high school?”
