I’m in full work mode when we’re out in public, keeping an eye around us at all times for any potential threat. Zero percent of my brain is focused on Annie or what she’s doing or what her days have been full of or why she hasn’t even texted me at all. And that’s when my foot hits a divot in the sidewalk and I trip, nearly busting my ass on the pavement before I catch myself.
“Holy crap, Will!” says Amelia, stretching out a hand to help me up. I don’t accept her hand and instead pop up on my own with extra exuberance, brushing my slightly raw palms against my jeans. “Are you okay? I’ve never seen you trip before.”
“I’m fine, let’s keep going.”
Amelia’s mouth is open and she looks near laughing. “You’re blushing. I’ve never seen you blush either! I didn’t know you could be embarrassed.” Now she is laughing and I hate her for it. Are we sure she isn’t actually my annoying little sister after all?
“Come on, we don’t need to stand here. There are paparazzi over there.” Who most definitely caught my spectacular fall on camera and will publish it ASAP. Cool. Just the sort of image I want buzzed around the internet. Clumsy Blushing Bodyguard.
This is Annie’s fault. Another reason I need to get my head out of the clouds. Relationships interfere. They’re bad for people. They’re—
“Where the hell is Annie?” I ask Amelia when we pass her flower shop and see a Closed sign on the door.
“She’s sick.”
“What? Since when?” My voice sounds a little too eager.
Amelia points to the little sticky note on the door. It’s in Annie’s handwriting. Only in a town this small would someone leave a note like this: “Out sick! Be back when I don’t feel like I have plungers up my nose anymore.”
I look sharply to Amelia. “How long has she been sick?”
“I think since the day after Hank’s.”
Shit. I had no idea. Now I feel terrible. This whole time she’s been sick, and I haven’t checked in on her at all. Wait. No. It’s not my job to check up on her. I’m her dating coach, not her boyfriend or her nurse. If it were anyone else in the world, I’d never think twice about someone having a cold. In fact, I’d stay even farther away so I wouldn’t catch anything. I’m just going to put her out of my mind and see her when I see her.
We walk in silence a few steps.
“Do you think she has a fever?”
Amelia chuckles to herself. “She did…but I don’t know if she still does.”
I tap my thumb on the side of my thigh and try to stay silent again. “I just don’t understand why no one told me she was sick.”
She pauses and turns to me with laughing eyes. “And I didn’t realize I was supposed to give you updates on Annie’s day-to-day health.”
“Well, now you know. I always want to be kept in the loop about…everyone’s health.”
“Okay. Now I know,” she says, with deep satisfaction. We walk a few more steps before Amelia breaks it. “Davey’s son broke his arm last week.”
“Who?” I frown down at her.
“You know. Little Charlie?”
“No.”
“And Mabel said she had a tickle in her throat the other day. I wonder if she’s catching what Annie has.”
I breathe deeply to counteract my annoyance. I see what she’s doing.
“Oh—and I heard Gemma is going to have to have surgery for some of her bunions later this month!”
“Amelia.”
“What!” She laughs. “I thought you wanted to be kept in the loop about everyone’s health. I’m just looping you in per your request!”
I groan. “I say this with all due respect as someone who works for you—please, shut up.”
As soon as I say this, Noah steps out of The Pie Shop. “She doesn’t know how to. I think it’s physically impossible for her, actually.” He grins at her and she steps into his arms, angling her face up to kiss him. Right out here in broad daylight where the paparazzi get their fill. These two don’t care, though—they’re in a lovesick bubble. So sick that Noah came outside to greet Amelia like an overeager golden retriever. That’ll never be me.
Amelia looks at me over her shoulder once they’re finished with their PDA. “Thanks for walking me in, Will. I’ll be here all afternoon with Noah and then ride home with him. So you’re off the clock for the rest of the day to go…wherever you like—and see…whoever you’d like to see.”