Valerie frowned, then offered a small smile deliberately casual. "To buy pastries, of course," she replied, glancing toward the shelves beside her. "What else do people come to a pastry shop for?"
Ethan didn't smile.
If anything, his expression hardened.
"You shouldn't be here," he said quietly, but firmly.
There was a pause.
Valerie stopped pretending. She studied him more closely the way his jaw tightened, the way his hands curled into fists behind the counter. She recognized that expression. She had seen it years ago, when Ethan knew something he was not supposed to say.
A sense of unease crept up her spine.
"Ethan," Valerie said slowly. "What is it you actually want to tell me?"
He didn't answer right away.
Instead, he glanced toward the shop window.
