“Grant?”
She nodded.
The man saw that he had been recognized.
He smiled.
Then walked toward the rear hallway.
Owen immediately moved after him.
Autumn caught him.
“No.”
“He’s leaving.”
“Good.”
“He arranged this.”
“We don’t know that.”
“You recognized his number.”
“That doesn’t mean—”
“Autumn.”
Her eyes filled with anger.
“Do not chase him.”
Owen stopped.
The command was stronger than fear.
Something in it mattered.
She continued:
“You have a daughter.”
That ended the argument.
Owen looked toward the disappearing gray coat.
Then back at Autumn.
He hated that she was right.
His phone rang.
Melissa.
“I’m calling the police.”
Owen said:
“Good.”
Autumn immediately shook her head.
“No.”
He stared.
“What?”
“I don’t want this becoming—”
“Becoming what?”
“A thing.”
Owen almost laughed from disbelief.
“A man you haven’t spoken to in two years arranged a fake blind date and is watching you from across a restaurant.”
“That is already a thing.”
Autumn looked embarrassed.
That reaction angered him.
Not at her.
At whatever had taught her to doubt her own right to react.
He lowered his voice.
“You don’t have to minimize it because he never hit you.”
Her face changed.
Owen regretted the bluntness.
Then she looked away.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
“He always did this.”
“Made something strange happen.”
“Then made me feel ridiculous for noticing.”
“If I complained, I was paranoid.”
“If I got angry, I was unstable.”
“If I asked questions, I didn’t trust him.”
“So eventually…”
She stopped.
Owen finished quietly:
“You stopped trusting yourself.”
Autumn looked back at him.
“Yes.”
He nodded.
“I understand more than you think.”
She studied his face.
“Because of your wife?”
The question surprised him.
His sister had apparently told someone enough.
“My wife was nothing like that.”
“I know.”
Autumn looked embarrassed.
“I shouldn’t have asked.”
“No.”
“It’s fine.”
They stood near the restaurant entrance while snow struck the glass.
Owen looked toward the rear hallway.
Grant had disappeared.
Security arrived before police.
The manager reviewed cameras.
Grant exited through the kitchen-service corridor.