Just like it would be too much to bear if he did what he wanted to do more than anything—kiss Evie again—and then she went away. That was a contradiction that would actually kill him.

“Straight behind you,” Law muttered, leaning in close to Sawyer. Sawyer twisted in his seat.

Dammit. Could the world just cut him a break right now?

Charles was standing near the front door, and the whole bar had gone silent, like they were in some kind of cheesy Western movie and a shoot-out was about to take place.

“It’s a public place,” Jake said quietly. “You’re not on duty.”

And Charles looked sober.

All of these things were true, but they didn’t change the fact that Sawyer’s already raw nerves were now screaming.

Charles made eye contact with Sawyer, pointed to the TV closest to where he was standing, and turned his body to face it.

So he wasn’t here to make trouble. He was here to watch Clara on TV like the rest of the town. Charles’s current address was a room in a sketchy boardinghouse, and Sawyer knew from last time they’d picked him up—after that fight on Main Street—that he didn’t have a phone. So he had probably heard about the show but had no way to watch it.

That was the rational explanation.

The less rational reality was that he was here, and Sawyer was freaking out.

“It’s not a public place, actually,” Law said, low enough that only Sawyer, Jake, and Evie could hear him. “It’s my property. So say the word, and he’s out of here.”

Sawyer shook his head. He couldn’t speak, but he made a point of looking back up at the TV to try to signal that everything was fine.

Of course, everything was not fine.

And of course, Evie knew it.

She waited a few minutes, until the panel was winding down, before saying “Oh! Sawyer! I forgot, I want to have you do some built-in shelves at the inn. Will you come look?”

He shot her a skeptical look. She was going to rescue him again?

“I talked to Jake about it, and he said you’re the customer service guy.” She leaned across him. “Right, Jake?”

She wasn’t wrong. Jake was not the person to close a deal. But she was also lying through her teeth. There was no way she and Jake had talked about shelves at the inn.

But Jake grunted vaguely in agreement.

She hopped off her stool and tried to give him his coat back.

He held up a palm. But he got off his stool. “Let’s go.”

Eve really did want some bookshelves.

There was a big empty wall in her room that called out for some.