Keith held the door open, the bell chiming softly as Abbie stepped out into the cold.
The morning air bit at her cheeks, sharp, familiar, the kind that woke you up faster than coffee. Snow dusted the cobblestones like sugar.
She folded her arms over her apron, more for protection than warmth. “You’ve got thirty minutes. After that, I’m back to my minimum-wage reality.”
Keith chuckled, falling into step beside her. “Wow, timing everything like a soldier now, huh?”
“Well, you seem to always show up where no one asked you to,” she muttered.
He didn’t bite back, just smiled, faint but genuine. “You always had that fire.”
The words made her pause. Not because they were flattering, but because they came too easily, like he still knew her.
And he didn’t. Not anymore.
She glanced at him, t
