Page 10 of Secrets in the Deep

She turned to look into her mother’s hazel eyes. “I’m going to order a coffee.”

“Don’t be silly. Darcy?—”

“Is a bodyguard, not a slave. Caramel cappuccino for you?”

Her mother huffed. “If they even have caramel.”

She barely held in the eye roll as she moved to the counter. “Hi.”

The woman on the other side smiled at her—a wide, genuine smile. “Hi. Emily, right?”

Thatwas something she’d never get used to. Strangers knowing her name and using it like they were an old friend. “Yes.”

“I’m Polly. The owner of The Wandering Bloom. Although, we just call it Bloom. And we have the best coffee in town.” She leaned forward and lowered her voice. “Don’t let Basil tell you otherwise.”

“Basil?”

“He runs The Pancake Bar. He has good pancakes. Coffee’s okay. Nothing like ours.”

“You have books too.” Her gaze drifted to the shelves.

“Yes. I’d tell you we sell them, but locals treat it more as a library. Which is fine, because they come back to finish and buy more coffee.”

Emily chuckled. A real chuckle, not that practiced one for the media that made her cheeks ache.

“What can I get you?” Polly asked.

“I would love an oat latte. And if you do caramel lattes, I’ll grab one of them for my mother. And an Americano for Darcy.” She had no idea what Darcy drank, but over the years, she’d learned most bodyguards just took their coffee black.

“Easy. Having it here or to go?”

“As much as I’d love to have it here, we have a safety briefing to attend from the local search and rescue guys.” Her skin tightened at the thought of seeing Ryan again. She’d successfully avoided him for the last three days, but that was because she’d had no scenes to shoot. Her reprieve had officially run out.

“I know.”

Emily’s brows rose. “You know?”

“Sorry, that sounded kind of creepy. I’m dating Joel, one of the guys on the team. He told me about it.”

“Oh. That’s great.” She’d only met the guys once in the five months she’d dated Ryan. It was at a bar, and they’d all been friendly enough. But Ryan had talked about them a lot. Had photos of each of them in his phone and in his apartment. From memory, Joel was the funny guy in the group.

“Sometimes he drives me nuts—okay, most of the time—but God, I love him.”

She swallowed the lump in her throat. The mention of love should not feel like a fist around her heart. She was happy for the café owner. Just because Emily hadn’t gotten her love story didn’t mean others shouldn’t.

“It sounds like you have a great life here.” That was good. It hadn’t sounded jealous at all. But then, she was a good actress.

Polly laughed. “Says the woman who has everything.”

This time, it was definitely the practiced smile that curved her mouth. It was as fake as her mother’s lips.

What would Polly say if Emily told her the truth? That sometimes her life felt like a snow globe. Idyllic to anyone looking in. But also forever paused in a perfect moment. Frozen. Trapped. “Thank you, Polly.”

“You got it.”

Emily turned as the doors to Bloom opened and Preston and Faye stepped in. They’d also forgone the bodyguards in this town. It was only her mother who’d decided she needed one.

Was she surprised? No.