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before, crazy as that sounded.
    â€œAnd so it’s come to this, taking advice from my dog again.”
    He wagged his tail as I stroked his head. I decided it wouldn’t be a bad idea to call Shannon; I still had her number. If she picked up, I’d just disconnect, knowing she was fine. No need to torture myself with the future I’d lost, though I was building a shop that could accommodate her desire for us to do vintage clothing as well as trinkets. Just in case. That meant I hadn’t entirely given up hope.
    My heart pounded unpleasantly as I hit speed dial. She was my first contact. Best friend. Kid sister. Apprentice. All those words applied to how I felt about Shannon Cheney, but none was quite big enough. Losing her hurt worse than anything ever had, even my breakup with Chance. And I’d loved
him
like a madness.
    International cell calls took a while to connect, and then it rang. And rang. Five times, then it kicked to voice mail. Unease stole over me.
Maybe she didn’t answer because she didn’t recognize your number. The note isn’t talking about her. It can’t be
.
    Jesse came next on my phone. It had been that way from before, and so Chance was further down the speed dial, like number seven. I hadn’t changed it, full of superstitious fear that if I moved Shannon, it would be the same as accepting she wouldn’t ever remember me. It’d be like giving up on her—on our friendship and our plans—and that I would
not
do.
    So she was one. Jesse, two. I wrestled with indecision, but before I could make up my mind, my phone rang back. Shannon’s number.
Thank you.
I shouldn’t answer it, but on the off chance that things were starting to come back to her, I had to.
    â€œHello?”
    Silence on the line, for a beat too long. And then: “You just called my girlfriend’s phone. Who is this?”
    Jesse
. The revelation felt like a fist in the heart. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so surprised. She was young for him, but ten years or so wasn’t the end of the world in terms of age difference.
What did you expect? You leftthem together with no memory of you, no recollection of why they mattered to each other. It was natural for them to fill in the blanks
.
    Shannon had just enough issues to hit Jesse’s white knight complex…and she was alone in the world, apart from the dad she didn’t want to see. She needed him. There was no way he could resist. Still, it hurt, though things were good with Chance. The pain existed because their hookup made me feel…replaceable. I squeezed my eyes shut, listening to Jesse breathe.
    â€œWell?” he demanded. He sounded odd. Angry.
    Finally, I answered, “She was a friend. I haven’t talked to her in a while.”
    Hoping that would be enough. I couldn’t drag this out. Couldn’t.
    â€œHave we met? Your voice sounds…familiar.” Now he seemed unsettled. I pictured him raking his hand through his tawny hair.
    â€œYeah.” No point in lying.
    But that reply opened the door to more questions, answers he wouldn’t believe—or maybe he would. Maybe the fog was finally lifting. Too late. Too damn late. They’d moved on without me. I felt cheated and hurt but not angry. And not even surprised, really. Back in Kilmer, I’d seen the beginnings of a crush forming on Shannon’s end, though I’d never thought it would go anywhere. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn’t have done this. Fuck. I had to get off the phone.
    â€œJust have her call me, I guess, when she gets a chance.”
    â€œI’d love to.” But his tight tone caught me, and it left so many questions. He was too upset to wonder when he’d met me, this mysterious friend of Shannon’s, and that meant the bad things promised by the note on Tia’s front gate had come true.
    â€œBut?”
Why don’t you hang up? Idiot
.
    â€œI don’t know where