Jonna's life as a teacher is all routine, until she receives an online invitation from a near stranger, Zachary, and drops everything for a weekend of fun.
As the weekend evolves into much more, Jonna explores many facets of herself, with another s...
Jayden cornered her in the kitchen a few mornings later.
"Did you deal with Shane?" he nibbled on a pop-tart, glowering in his little brother protective kinda way.
Not in the slightest.
"Of course!" she breezed, thinking of all the paperwork Shane had yet to file.
She needed to check on the status of the proceedings, and she kept meaning to call the case manager...
"So, he gonna leave you alone?" her brother's girlfriend yelled from her usual spot on the couch.
Jonna sighed, shooting Jayden a knowing look. He held up his hands, half-eaten pop-tart trailing crumbs.
"She cares about you," he mumbled in between bites.
Everyone cared. Just not the right person. Laney hadn't contacted her in days. She missed the cutesey emojis, and the dirty jokes. Hell, she just missed the girl.
"I want her to lay off. If I wanted someone watching my every move, I'd have moved in with mom," Jonna was careful to keep the harshness from her tone.
She was crashing, after all. Jayden was nice enough to let her stay through the divorce, but after...she didn't really know what she was doing afterward. Best not to anger the landlord.
"Ma would be more in your face, so count yourself lucky," Jayden said.
As though she'd been invited to the conversation, Ola flounced into the kitchen, propping herself in the doorway. "We just worry 'bout you 'cause people who contest a divorce...they can get loco."
"Thanks, to both of you," she pointed from one interloper to the other, "but I've got it covered. Promise."
They shared a look that said they didn't believe her.
Jonna shrugged off their worry and went to work, intent on making a dent in her to-do list, and nearly succeeding. In her downtime after classes, she graded essays, imput grades, and hosted student conferences. Yet, her mind was halfway out the door. She checked her phone constantly, hoping for a response from Laney, and dying at the lack of.
Maybe Laney was a one-time kinda gal, and Jonna'd had her shot. That had to be it, because she couldn't think of a thing she'd done wrong, unless they simply hadn't clicked.
To cease her obsessive thoughts, she stashed the phone in her purse on silent. As soon as the device was out of sight, she felt lighter. She reminded herself that her life was complicated and full, which lasted for about an hour. Then she was back to obsessing.
Jonna hummed her favorite song in an effort to clear her head. She was halfway to her car before she noticed a second set of footsteps following her. Casually, she pretended to dig in her purse for her keys, instead finding her phone. The stranger continued on, stopping only when Jonna got to her car. The glass on the driver's side provided a blurred image of her stalker, and nothing more. An external awareness crawled over her skin, so much that she was sure the stranger was touching her. When she whirled to confront them, she was shocked.
The person was familiar, and yet, so not.
"Shane, what the hell are you doing?" She kept her hand on her phone, finger ready on what she hoped was a 9 and a 1.
Her soon-to-be ex-husband was a definite stranger, looking more disheveled than she'd ever seen him.
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