Page 37 of Yours, Forever

"The usual?" I said to my customer.

Max left and I joked with Annie, a regular, about the haze of the honeymoon period.

After I helped everyone with their coffee and pastries, I finished with my maintenance tasks, and put my heart back in its place. I checked my phone to find a couple of texts.

Ren: Pri said that someone asked for directions to rEvalution at the front desk. I thought you'd like to know

Ren, Ale's twin sister, and Ren's best friend, Pri, worked at the public library. Between them and my café, we kept track of most comings and goings of interest. Having their eyes came in helpful, especially these days, when the ghost of investigators haunted Max and I.

I frowned and shot her a quick response.

Eva: thanks for the warning. Let me know if you hear anything else

No more texts came my way, but I became vigilant.

When an unknown, tall, attractive man in his early thirties came into my coffee shop, I immediately went on guard. His eyes were half shuttered as he inspected the place, and the blue of them landed on me last.

He gave me a cordial, yet slightly guarded smile.

A spy. Maybe a man desperate to climb up the corporate ladder in Max's dad's conglomerate. I didn't know much about Max's family or anyone on his team, except Leon and Chris, and this person could be anyone.

He stopped across from me, right where Max had stood when he came to inform me we were married. "Hello. You must be Eva."

He had black hair, blue eyes, and white skin. His clothes seemed expensive but casual; a simple pair of jeans, a sweater, and a modern hip-length trench coat.

"Can I offer you anything?" I asked. It was hard to guess who this guy was.

"Sure, thanks. I'll have a medium coffee with space for cream, and a slice of that coffee cake. It looks amazing, thank you."

I let him pay while I added coffee grounds to the basket. "What brings you here?"

"Is it that obvious I'm not from here?"

I didn't hide the way I gazed down and up his form. "Yes. We all know each other around here."

"Of course. Small town life, right?" He smiled. "I've read about it in books."

"Right." I let the espresso drip while I got his cake and gave it to him in a to-go paper bag. "So? Why are you here?"

"I'm here for Max... and to get to know you, too. I hope."

"At least you're honest." I gave him a steely look and finished his coffee.

I'd used a to-go cup; a small hint as to what I hoped he would do. I offered it to him with pursed lips and an arched eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" He took the cup from me.

"Telling me you're here for Max and I. But I think you should go."

He stilled; even his gaze remained steady on me as he processed my words.

"I'm so sorry," he finally said. "I should have introduced myself first. I'm Javier Pendleton."

"I don't care who you are—"

"I'm Max's friend."

"Oh, yeah? Then why has he never talked about you? Why did you show up when he was not here? Why didn't he say you were coming?"