The Source of Smoke by V. L. Adams

Author:V. L. Adams [Adams, V. L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: thriller, novel, fiction
ISBN: 979-8-88504-258-1
Publisher: New Degree Press
Published: 2022-04-25T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

* * *

Charlie was holding her phone in one hand and chewing on her thumbnail with the other.

Malachi: Leaving my meeting now. I’ll be there in a couple of hours. Where do you want me to meet you?

The events of the day before at the school still had Charlie rattled. The thought of meeting Malachi now made her stomach churn. It wasn’t anything to do with him. His texts and their conversations had been a light for her the last few weeks, but everything seemed to be snowballing.

Charlie gave Malachi her address, cranked up Nirvana’s Nevermind album and threw herself into cooking to quiet her mind. Rainna was at school, so Charlie didn’t have to worry about the awkward conversation of who Malachi was and why he was coming over to the house.

As she was blowing on a spoon to cool what she was tasting, Buck’s nails clicked on the hardwood followed by a bark and the doorbell. A glance at her watch let her know she had lost track of time.

Tugging the hem of her shirt and running a hand over her head to smooth the flyaways, Charlie jerked the door open and looked up. She’d never stood next to Malachi, so she was surprised when he took up the entire door frame. His beard was shorter than she remembered from when she saw him at the trial. He was holding a paper bag and shuffling his feet. When she looked into his eyes, he looked unsure but gave her a slight smirk. Seeing that he was nervous broke the tension for Charlie, and she smiled.

“Um,” Malachi started to talk and move toward Charlie like he was going for a hug when he stopped himself. Charlie found his uncertainty endearing and took pity on him by reaching forward for a quick hug.

Pulling back, she looked into his eyes. “It’s good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you, too.” He cleared his throat. “Is this weird?”

Charlie shrugged. “Of course, it’s weird.” She shook her head at him. “How could it not be? But just because it’s weird doesn’t mean it’s bad.” Charlie’s nerves from the morning were gone, and she just wanted to make him feel less awkward.

Malachi followed her into the house and looked down at the bag in his hands. “I brought you something. Nothing big, but I thought you might enjoy it. But just a warning, you have to share. I waited in line for this, and now I’ve got to know if it was worth it.”

Charlie eyed the bag in Malachi’s hands and saw the tiny writing on the front. It was from a new bakery in Tulsa that she’d been dying to try. She snatched the bag out of his hands. She opened it, breathing in the chocolate and butter and brown sugar that immediately hit her nostrils. “You brought me Neon’s?” Malachi nodded. “We’ve only known each other a short time, and you already get that the way to my heart is through my stomach.

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