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place” and she couldn’t help but shudder at the thought. Exactly three streets separated Faith from him . Three times she’d been forced to face him, three times already in the past two days. Each time, it had taken every ounce of her will to pretend as if he didn’t matter at all to her. She forcibly turned her thoughts away from the reason she never came here. Instead, choosing to focus on the building sitting so inconspicuously in front of her. It was everything a coffee shop should be, from the at-home feeling to the hand-painted cup with steam rolling off the top, which someone had drawn with what appeared to be shoe polish on the front window. No matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t find a door besides the front one. With a growl of frustration, she headed inside. The smell of coffee assailed her senses as soon as the door opened. She automatically drew the scent into her lungs, savoring it.
    “How may I help you today?”
    The words floated from behind the counter. She looked over the skinny teenager who stood waiting for her answer. He had emo bangs dyed an impossible shade of blond, but his skin tone spoke of someone who spent a great deal of time in the sun. Her guess was he didn’t want to be there anymore than she did.
    “Hey. My name is Faith, and my sister, Serenity, is renting the upstairs apartment. I looked around outside, but couldn’t find the door to her apartment.”
    He merely looked bored as if he waited for a point to this conversation, but he didn’t care anything about it. A spurt of irritation ran through her at his less than helpful attitude. “So,” she drawled. “Do you know how I can find her apartment?”
    “Sure. The hot chick upstairs. I know her.”
    When it didn’t appear as if he intended to say more, she barely suppressed the urge to stamp her foot. “Where is the door to her apartment?” she asked through clenched teeth.
    Some of her aggravation must’ve finally shown, because he nodded in the direction of a set of steps to his left. “Head up those stairs. It’s the first door on the right.”
    Working up a smile, she thanked him before following his directions. At the top of the staircase, she spotted Serenity’s door. It stood open half an inch. She knew what she would find even before she pushed it fully open. The room lay bare without a single clue as to where Serenity was off to now. Without much hope and few other choices, she searched every inch of the apartment, hoping to find something, but came up empty handed. Returning to the front counter in search of answers, she was surprised to see an older lady with curly white hair working in place of the tanned teenager. The woman seemed as confused over her sudden appearance as Faith was over hers.
    “I was looking for my sister, Serenity,” Faith explained.
    The woman smiled brightly. “Oh dear, she moved out a month ago when she got married.”
    Faith thought the woman was clearly crazy as a loon if she thought Serenity’s wedding had been a month ago. She must live under a rock if she hadn’t heard the gossip about Serenity’s defection yet. Faith pressed on. “I’m sorry. The blond kid working when I came through here earlier made it seem as if she still lived here.”
    The woman gave Faith an odd look. “I’m sorry, hon, but you must be confused. I’m the only one working today.”
    Faith brushed a tired hand over her eyes. She considered arguing for a moment, but the sensation passed as quickly as it came. With a quick nod of thanks, Faith headed back to her car, thinking in minute detail of all the ways she would kill Serenity when she found her. Her gruesome thoughts came to an abrupt halt when—after a solid ten seconds of turning the key in the ignition—nothing happened. This couldn’t be happening. It simply could not. She turned her head in the direction of Hidden Gems and nearly snorted aloud at the irony of it all. Her thoughts went back two years.
    Adam Monroe had been