Tim and I have made up since the night of my birthday.

He came by the next evening with a bunch of roses and a pair of beautiful earrings. We never discussed the necklace again, but I did do one thing he asked. A few days ago, I scheduled an interview with that primary care practice. He was right—working at a maximum-security prison isn’t exactly my dream job, and at the very least, the primary care practice is much closer.

If I quit my job at the prison, I’ll never have to see Shane ever again. It will be a relief.

Mostly.

Tim and I are engaged in what has become our nightly routine of washing the dishes together after dinner. We’ve been together for about two months now, and since we told Josh about our relationship, Tim has been spending three or four nights a week here. Of course, he lives right down the block, so he hasn’t relocated too much of his stuff here, since it’s easy enough for him to go back and forth to get whatever he needs.

“Are we becoming like an old married couple?” I ask him as I slide the last of the dishes onto the dish rack.

Tim chuckles. “Do you remember when we were kids, and we always used to talk about what life would be like when we got married?

It was mostly Tim who used to talk that way, but I do remember it. “Yes, of course.”

“I just assumed we would end up together, you know? Like there was nobody else in the world that I could possibly marry.”

“I know.” I allow him to pull me close to him. “When did you stop thinking that way?”

“Never.”

I laugh but Tim isn’t smiling. He’s looking into my eyes with a serious expression on his face.

“Brooke,” he says. “I just want you to know that… I love you. I have always loved you, and I’m pretty sure I’m always going to love you.”

Even though it’s the first time he’s said that, his declaration of love doesn’t come as a surprise. I could tell he was itching to say it to me. And even though I felt it too, I was scared to hear him say it.

Because the last man who told me he loved me tried to kill me.

But there is no way I can leave him hanging. It’s obvious how badly he wants me to say it back. I’m sure he would pretend it’s all right if I didn’t, but inside, it would kill him.

“I love you too,” I say.

He kisses me, and I want it to be this wonderful moment when we tell each other we love each other for the first time, but I can’t stop thinking about the last time I said those words. I love you, Shane.

Then a few hours later, he was tightening that necklace around my throat.

Our kiss is interrupted by the sound of Josh yelling at the TV screen. I had told him to go up and do his homework, but apparently, he decided to play more Nintendo. “Oh my God,” I say. “That kid is in serious trouble.”

I go out to the living room just in time to see something exploding on the television screen. I poke Josh hard in the shoulder. “Up to your room now, buddy.”

“But, Mom—”

“Josh, now.”

“I’m right in the middle of this level!” “Listen to your mom,” Tim says sternly.

I love the way Tim is with Josh. He respectfully defers to me on everything, but he always backs me up if I need him to. And Josh really loves him. The two of them are pretty adorable when they’re doing something together—Nintendo, baseball, home repair.

Josh grumbles, but he shuts off his game and throws the controller down on the sofa. With the Nintendo off, the television turns to cable, which is showing the evening news. Josh stomps up the steps one by one, then the door to his room slams loudly.

“Am I that mean?” I ask Tim.

“No way,” he says. “I used to teach fifth grade when I started, and sometimes these kids need a push in the right direction. But he’s a good kid. He wants to do well in school, and he’ll be grateful that you made sure he did his work.”

“Maybe…”

My eyes go straight to the television screen, which is showing a local news story. It’s about a missing woman. Kelli Underwood, who disappeared two days ago. She was discovered to be missing when she didn’t show up for her waitressing job.

Waitressing job?

I look closer at the television. There’s a photograph of the missing woman plastered on the screen. And right away, I recognize her.

It’s that waitress from the Shamrock. The one I knew from high school. The one I ran into at the grocery store, who yelled at me for testifying against Shane and told me to stay away from Tim.

Tim is also staring at the television screen. His eyes widen when they show the photograph of Kelli. His fingers grip the edge of the sofa, his knuckles turning white.

“Isn’t that the waitress from the Shamrock?” I say as casually as possible.

“Um.” He rips his eyes away from the television screen. “Is it? Maybe.

I haven’t been there in a long time. Not since we went together.” “You’re not sure? Didn’t you say you went out with her?”

“No,” he says. “I mean, barely. We got a drink together when she was done with her shift. That’s it. It was nothing.”

“I see…”

I’m almost certain he told me they went out on two dates. And Kelli certainly seemed to remember it when she confronted me at the supermarket. But he doesn’t want to admit it.

Maybe because this isn’t the first girl he’s gone out with who suddenly vanished.

“Listen, Brooke…” He runs a slightly shaky hand through his hair. “I think I might head back to my place. I’m kind of beat and we’ve got an early morning meeting tomorrow. So I’m just going to sleep at my own place.”

I had assumed after we exchanged “I love you’s” for the first time, we would make passionate love soon after. But instead, Tim can’t seem to get out of here fast enough. And then when he’s walking down the steps of my front porch, he trips and almost falls on his face.

But I can’t say I’m not entirely disappointed he’s gone, because now I get to google Kelli Underwood.

The details are extremely easy to find. Kelli (with an “i” at the end) is a twenty-seven-year-old waitress, who was also taking art history classes at the local college. She lived alone in a small basement apartment, and they discovered she was missing when she didn’t show up for her shift at the Shamrock two nights ago. One story mentions she has a boyfriend, but it doesn’t say whether he’s a suspect.

Two days ago… was Tim here that night? I can’t remember. Fortunately, Kelli was extremely active on social media. Unlike me,

she has plastered photographs of herself all over the Internet. I look back on her various social media feeds, searching for anything that jumps out at me. Finally, I spot a post from the beginning of the summer:

Fact: Assistant Principals are GOOD KISSERS!!!!!

Unless there’s some other assistant principal Kelli went out with, I’m going to assume she is referring to Tim. Which means he went out with her during the summer, and it was enough of a date that they kissed at the end. Or during. And apparently, she liked it.

But that’s the only mention I can find about Tim. He has minimal social media presence himself, and she hasn’t tagged him or anything. Aside from that one kiss, I can’t prove anything else happened between them.

But he definitely went out with her. He was lying when he played it down.

Still, I can’t entirely blame him. I’m sure he’s not eager to talk about a waitress he went out with before we were together. And after what happened with that Tracy Gifford girl, he would rather not associate himself with another missing girl.

It doesn’t mean he’s responsible. Hell, Kelli probably just took off somewhere without telling anyone. She’s probably fine.

I’m sure of it.