Three, Two, One, I'm Gone novel · Chapter 16 of 24

Chapter 16: One Seat

I pushed the cafe door open and stepped onto the sidewalk with my hand around my phone.

Paige did not lower hers.

"Well," she said, bright and light. "Look who's meeting my husband without me."

"He asked to meet me," I said.

"Dee, honestly. You recorded him again, didn't you? In a cafe, with your little coat over the table."

The cafe door swung open behind me, and Grant came out.

He stopped on the step.

For the first time in three years he did not look at Paige to see what his face should do.

"You're wearing her necklace," he said.

"It's mine," Paige said. "I won it."

"You didn't win it. I lost it for you."

People were slowing down.

A man with a coffee stood still on the curb, and two women from the cafe window were already holding up their phones.

Paige noticed them and lowered her voice to a smile.

"Grant. Come on. Home."

"Where's the fourteen thousand?"

"I told you, it's safe."

"Safe where?"

"Safe," Paige said, with a little laugh for the watchers. "For the house we're saving up for. Don't make a scene."

"Show me."

"Not in the street."

"Show me," Grant said, "or I'll ask the whole street."

I had never heard him use that voice.

I had never heard him use any voice that was not asking permission.

Paige's hand tightened on her phone.

Grant lunged and took it from her.

"Give that back!"

"What's the code?"

"I will scream."

"It's our wedding date," Grant said, and tapped it in.

The phone opened.

Paige's face went white under the makeup.

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