Their destination was a small duplex on a heavily wooded road. Cleo pulled up behind one of the three vehicles already in the driveway and turned off the car. The night was eerily still as they got out and headed toward the front door. When they stepped inside the downstairs apartment, Olivia’s mother was sitting […]

It seemed like the night started winding down shortly after that. Cleo and Andrew sat at a high-top table a little ways away from the bar, nursing beers while Olivia stopped by to see them every chance she got. The bar gradually began to empty and even though the jukebox was still going strong, the […]

The jukebox was playing the same song it did every Friday night around this time. Noah didn’t know which regular thought this was so funny and honestly, he was too busy to investigate. But that didn’t stop the twanging guitars from pounding into his skull. He set down a couple of heavy plates on the […]

Olivia didn’t really plan on being alone forever. She wasn’t actively looking for someone right now, but when she pictured herself in twenty or thirty years, there was always someone there too. She couldn’t tell who they were (though Iris dropped cryptic hints every so often). But despite her hesitation and fear, she knew there’d […]

Mia was finally in bed, and Olivia had just sat down with a book and a mug of tea when her phone buzzed. The only person who would be texting her this late was Noah. So she was about to text him back and tell him to get some goddamn sleep when she realized the […]

Noah had been working since ten that morning, so he was grateful for the chance to sit down for a few minutes. He and Olivia were in a booth by the bar, eating a quick late lunch before it was time to get moving for the dinner service. There were a few people sitting at […]

Roman had always loved to cook. So when the opportunity to buy New Winslow House of Pizza had come around, he and Celine had discussed it, looked over their finances, and decided to take the plunge. Now it was the primary pizza place in the small town and Roman was very proud of that fact. […]

Cleo shivered as she walked down the sidewalk toward her apartment. She’d just left Starbucks and knew she should call Olivia or text her or something, but decided to wait. She wasn’t entirely sure why she was so hesitant to talk to Olivia. They’d been best friends their entire childhood, and she was still Cleo’s […]

The New Winslow Public Library was always quiet, no matter the day or time. Iris stood by the reference desk, absently tapping her foot as she gazed around the small building. “All right there, Iris?” asked Ruby, an eighty-year-old volunteer who had been shelving books at the library for as long as Iris could remember. […]

Three hours later, Cleo was sitting in a busy downtown Starbucks. She sipped her coffee as the shop bustled around her. Students and tourists waited in a long, snaking line that then became a mass of bodies crowded around the bar. Something played on the ceiling speakers, an upbeat pop song she could barely hear […]