Chapter 3
Priya returned with their order, sliding the pecan pie toward Hannah with a knowing look she chose to ignore for now.
“So,” Ethan said, once they were alone again, “Hannah the nurse’s aide, who apparently knows people at every restaurant in Richmond.”
“Priya and I worked together at a diner a few years back. Small city, smaller circles.”
“What happened at the diner?”
Hannah hesitated, unsure how much to reveal to a man whose reputation preceded him through every conversation in the city. “It closed. Financial troubles. Most of us scattered to different jobs.”
“That’s not the whole story.”
“How would you know?”
“Because you got very careful with your words just now.”
Hannah studied him for a long moment, weighing honesty against self-protection, an old habit she’d developed long before tonight.
“My ex-boyfriend owned the diner,” she said finally. “When we broke up, badly, he made sure I couldn’t find work anywhere connected to him afterward. Called in favors. Spread rumors. It took me almost a year to rebuild any kind of stable income.”
Ethan’s expression darkened slightly. “That sounds considerably more complicated than a simple breakup.”
“Most breakups are, when the wrong person decides ending things means destroying everything you built alongside them.”
Something passed between them then, recognition of shared, though different, experiences of betrayal.
“Is that why Priya reacted the way she did?” he asked. “Surprise at seeing you somewhere unexpected?”
“Partly. She probably assumed I was avoiding places connected to my ex’s social circle. This restaurant used to be one of his favorites.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. “Should we leave?”
“No,” Hannah said, surprising herself with the certainty in her voice. “I’m allowed to eat pie wherever I want. I’m done letting him dictate where I can and can’t exist.”
Something like respect flickered across Ethan’s expression. “I like that answer.”
“You didn’t ask for my life story when you hired me for seven minutes.”
“No,” he agreed. “But I find myself considerably more interested than I anticipated.”
They ate in comfortable silence for a while, the earlier tension with Lauren fading into something calmer, more genuine than either of them had expected from an arrangement that began as pure desperation.
“Can I ask you something?” Hannah said eventually.
“Go ahead.”
“Grant. What actually happened there, beyond Lauren’s apartment?”
Ethan’s expression hardened slightly. “That’s not a story appropriate for pie and casual conversation.”
The implication settled heavily, reminding Hannah exactly who she was sitting across from, despite the surprisingly normal conversation they’d been having.
