Dear Honey | HeeJayke

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 10: ᴄᴏɴꜰɪꜱꜱᴀᴏ

Jake's POV

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I stared blankly at the rows of canned soup, replaying that night in broken, jagged pieces. The fluorescent lights in Miller's Grocery buzzed overhead, a sickly, pale glow turning everything surreal, like a twisted dream I couldn't, fucking, wake up, from. Two days had passed, but I could still feel it-sticky, clinging to my hands like a memory that wouldn't fade...

"Jake!"

The sound sliced right through my thoughts, snapping me back. My stomach lurched; I'd know that warm, annoyingly eager voice anywhere. Sheriff Jay stood at the end of the aisle, dressed in worn jeans and a brown leather jacket.

Why does he have to show up at every damn moment?

I managed a weak, "H-hey..." gripping the shopping basket tighter, the cold metal digging into my palms, grounding me in this unfortunate reality.

Jay strolled over, all smiles, looking too casual, too damn friendly. His dark hair was messy, like he'd just clocked out and couldn't care less. "Doing the weekly shopping, huh? Haven't seen you around town much lately." He looked at my battered lips for a moment before turning his eyes to mine again.

"Yeah, been busy." I reached for a random can, didn't even check what it was. Anything to get him to keep moving.

"I see." He leaned against the shelf, way too close. "Speaking of, haven't seen Heeseung recently. Did he go to the city again?"

My throat tightened. Heeseung who... no, not now. "He's... been working from home. New book's keeping him busy."

"A book? Oh! So he's a writer, huh?" Jay's face lit up like he'd just stumbled on something interesting. "What kind of books does he write?"

"Mysteries." The irony wasn't lost on me. "Dark stuff, mostly."

"No kidding? My mom used to love that sort of thing. Maybe I've read some of his work." Jay shifted, looking almost sheepish. "Actually, I've been meaning to catch you guys. Wanted to apologize for all that mess when you first moved in."

My hand froze on a can of tomato soup. "What mess?"

"You know, the whole Robert Williams thing. Moving to a new town, and then bam-missing person case drops right into everyone's lap. Not exactly the small-town charm we like to advertise." He scratched the back of his neck, looking embarrassed. "Thank God it got solved, but still... not the warmest welcome, huh?"

I forced a laugh. It sounded hollow, even to me. "Oh, please. Don't mind it."

"Still, not fair to you guys. Especially with how some folks got... you know, suspicious." He genuinely looked sorry. "Small towns, right? Everyone's a detective."

I laughed again, a bit hysterically this time. "Yeah, noticed that."

"Nowadays it's mostly garden pests and teenagers stealing lawn ornaments." He rolled his eyes. "Got three calls this week about Mrs. Henderson's gnomes going missing. Turns out it was raccoons. They were dragging them into the woods behind her house."

"Raccoons stealing gnomes?" I surprised myself with a laugh. A real one, somehow.

"Found a whole garden party of them back there. Mrs. Henderson wanted us to arrest the raccoons for theft." Jay grinned. "Told her that wasn't really in our jurisdiction."