Without conscious thought, Kelly straightened in the chair and flung her arms around Steve. He put a hand on the wall, narrowly avoiding being knocked off the armrest. His clean scent wrapped around Kelly like a comfort blanket. At the same time, Nicole joined them for a group hug.

In that moment, Kelly knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, no matter what happened, these two would always have her back.

Chapter 14

After the conversation with Steve and Nicole, Kelly arrived at work feeling optimistic and looking forward to seeing Lucy. She’d do the honourable thing and ask how her night out with Kate went, and not read more into it.

When eight-thirty, and then nine a.m. rolled around, and Kelly still hadn’t seen Lucy, her heart sunk. Perhaps due to the business being so small, Lucy managed to gather the information she needed, within a day, and Kelly had lost her window of opportunity.

After delivering an order of sausages, eggs, and toast, to a gentleman at a table by the front window, Jacinta slid back behind the counter and sidled up next to Kelly. “Must be serious.”

Glancing at the few customers sipping coffee and looking relaxed, Kelly had no idea what Jacinta was on about. “What?”

“That woman, the one hanging around here yesterday, looking like a government official.”

“Lucy,” Kelly corrected, hating the way Jacinta referred to Lucy as that woman.

“Yeah, her, the hottie. She was here when I got in at eight. The boss arrived shortly after and they’ve been holed up in the office ever since. What do you suppose that’s about?” Jacinta licked her lips as if she could taste gossip.

Unfortunately for her, Kelly wasn’t buying into it. Jennifer trusted Kelly for a very good reason. “She could be a silent partner, for all we know.”

Covering her mouth, Jacinta coughed the word “bullshit” into her hand.

The door chimed and Kelly was literally saved by the bell. The next few hours flew by in a flurry of activity as they handled the mid-morning and lunchtime rush.

At twelve forty-five, during a lull in customers, Kelly finally managed to take a quick break.

After grabbing a chicken sandwich, she pushed open the backdoor and stepped outside.

The sun was high in the sky. Kelly revelled in the warmth on her skin. A cool breeze blew through the alleyway bringing with it the faint odour of food scraps from the nearby skip bin.

Leaning against the brick wall, Kelly slid down until her backside connected with warm concrete. A hunger pang gripped her stomach as Kelly placed her sandwich in her lap and picked up one half.

Just as she was about to sink her teeth in, the backdoor to the café swung open and banged closed.

A shapely figure cast a shadow over Kelly’s outstretched legs. When she glanced up, her breath caught in her throat.