Laurel stumbled outside, into the cold night air. Everything was too close, too hot inside the inn, and she just needed some space to get her head on straight.
Dad knew about the job. Which meant that Pike had probably told him. Of course, to both of them, her acceptance was a foregone conclusion. She’d practically signed her life away when she’d applied for the job in the first place. She just hadn’t realized it until the ink was already dry.
A sharp stab of pain speared through her chest. Laurel tried to hiss in a breath but couldn’t seem to manage it. A thousand-pound weight had dropped onto her ribcage, keeping it from properly rising and falling. One hand went to her sternum to press and rub, as if that would somehow alleviate the ache. But it didn’t. Not like it usually did. She’d
