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think . . . I think he’s testing me. He’s been traveling a lot, looking at different sites for new restaurants.”
    My heart speeds, hope and excitement bubbling up. “Yeah?”
    “Yeah. Don’t know where yet, or even when. He’ll build from scratch, more than likely, so it’s looking like several months, at the earliest.”
    “How do you like Chicago?”
    “It’s . . . different. I mean, it’s great. I love being in the city, and Winter enjoys it, but . . . it’s not home.”
    I nod, realizing how much he misses it here. It wasn’t just me it affected when he moved. Yeah, I lost my brother, my help, and my companion, but he left everything. I’m not sure I’d have the courage to do that. Just another reason he’s the one person I’ve ever looked up to.
    I hear a feminine voice in the background, and Cade turns his head, nodding with a smile on his face. When he turns back to me, he says, “Hey, I gotta run.”
    “All right. Tell Winter I said hi.”
    “I will. I’ll talk to you later.”
    “Bye.”
    I close my laptop, then fall back against the couch. Even though nothing got settled, I feel better for having talked with Cade about what’s been going on. I’ve tried so hard to put on a front for him since he left, keeping all my worries buried, because the last thing I want is for him to feel guilty. He had enough doubts about leaving in the first place. He doesn’t need my problems heaped on him as well.
    I just need to get into a routine, figure out how to do this on my own, and then everything will fall into place.
    I’m sitting for only a minute before Haley comes rushing out of her room, her princess nightgown hanging to just below her knees. I look over at her, my reason for everything, and smile. “Ready, baby?”
    “Yep!”
    I let her grab my hand and pull me up, following behind her down the hall. At least it seems no matter how much of a clusterfuck I think life is, she remains unaware. And that’s exactly how I want to keep it.
    jason
    The professor dismisses class, and I pack up my shit, shoving it into my backpack as I shoulder it and head toward the door, the three people I was assigned to work with on a group project left behind at the table. I don’t get far before one of the girls tugs on the sleeve of my hoodie.
    “So, you’ll call me, right?”
    I glance at her, walking a little too close to be the friend she’sbeen pretending to be. When I don’t answer, she continues, “You know, to talk about the project?”
    I don’t mention the fact that she didn’t ask either of the other two in our group to do the same. It’s easier to placate her. “Yeah, sure. I’ll see you later, Kristi.”
    “Bye,” she says with a wave, her smile too bright, her eyes hidden behind layers of whatever shit it is girls put on their eyelashes. She doesn’t look all that different from how I found Haley the other night.
    I take the stairs two at a time until I’m outside. A quick glance at my phone shows I have about half an hour before my next class, so I detour to the coffee shop to grab a caramel macchiato. The line’s not too long, fortunately, and it takes me only a couple minutes to get to the front.
    “Hey, Jason,” the barista says.
    “Hey”—a quick glance at her name tag fills in the blank for me—“Stacy. How’s it goin’?”
    “Good.” She smiles and leans forward a little, giving me a glimpse down her shirt. “You want the usual?”
    I look—of course I look—and then glance back up at her face. I don’t recognize her, so I don’t think she’s in any of my classes. And I don’t come in here that often, so the fact that she knows my usual order is a little disconcerting. “Uh, yeah, thanks.”
    “Sure thing.”
    She moves away from the register and makes my drink, even though there are others still in line behind me. When it’s finished, she hands it over with another smile. “See you later, Jason.”
    “Yeah, later,” I say as I head out the