Page 68 of You'll Be the Death of Me

“Dell. Yes, they can. And you might notice if you weren’t so busy running off to the next achievement. I sometimes wonder...” He trailed off with a sigh that stirred a pain in her chest.

“Sometimes wonder what, Jay?”

He gave her a sincere look like he had in the park when he’d been telling her his true feelings about Tommy. “I sometimes wonder if you’re even aware of your own success. Do you even appreciate it? And when will it ever be enough? I mean, if you died for real today—please don’t—you’d haveso muchto show for it, but to what end? Are you even... happy?”

The question winded her like he’d punched her in the chest. Leave it to her best friend to put his finger squarely on the button she’d been missing all day. Her mouth opened to respond, but nothing came out.

Jason watched her with a knowing expression. “Maybe if you’re trying to find a wrong turn, start there.”

Dell didn’t get the chance to respond before someone called to Jason from across the room.

“We need you back out front!” they said.

Dell couldn’t see who’d spoken, but she wasn’t about to be the wrench in her well-oiled restaurant machine. “Go,” she told Jason. “Keep things running. We’ll talk about the partnership thing later.”

“Heard, Chef,” he said with a grin.

“Thanks for rescuing me from the freezer,” she added. “Oh, and one more thing before you go. Can you please tell Oscar I know how much he appreciates working here and giving him a shot was one of the best decisions I ever made?”

Jason flicked a curious eyebrow but didn’t ask any questions. “Sure.”

“Thank you. You’re the best, Jay.”

“You better come back to me soon,D,” he said.

“We’re working on it,” she promised him.

Chapter 12

Before Dell returned her host’s body, she walked outside to summon a rideshare. It wasn’t until she opened her rideshare app that Dell learned the woman’s name. Stella.

“Thank you, Stella,” she said to herself. “I’ll return the favor by saving you from going back to your date.” She punched in an order and saw a car was one minute away.

Cole stood beside her on the sidewalk, waiting. Given they were fully in public now, not hiding in a freezer, it was best they didn’t speak in case anyone thought Stella had lost her mind.

When the car pulled up, Dell opened the back door before removing herself from Stella’s body. Stella blinked a few times, looking dizzy, and then climbed in without a fuss.

“Now what?” Cole asked when Dell turned to him. She was back in her nightie, barefoot, and looking up at his handsome face framed by the glowing city lights. The thought of how close she’d been to kissing him in the freezer momentarily made her head swim.

“Now I spiral out thinking of what Jason said about being happy,” she responded with a frown.

The open expression on Cole’s face said he knew that would be a heavy journey, but he was willing to join her and help carry the load. “I noticed you sidestepped his question back there. Is that because you don’t know the answer, or because you don’t want to face the answer?”

Dell turned to him, feeling winded again. “Wow.Way to go for the jugular.”

“Sorry,” he said with a soft laugh. “But I think he might be right. We’ve tried everything else and haven’t gotten anywhere. Maybe it’s worth considering.”

He might have been right, but Dell wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to consider it. “Before we go downthatroad, let’s recap what we’ve learned today. Maybe verbalizing thewrong turnwill do the trick.”

Cole gave her a look like he could tell she was stalling, but played along anyway. “All right. Well, I’d say your murderous fiancé was a pretty obvious wrong turn.”

“Ex-fiancé,” Dell corrected.

“Sorry.Ex.”

“And yes, that is obvious. I still can’t even wrap my mind around it. It feels like a movie. People don’tactuallyplan to off their spouses for personal gain in real life. But apparently, they do. The lesson there is, obviously, Tommy is not who I thought he is, nor is his mother. But that revelation didn’t bring me back to life.”

“No, it didn’t,” Cole said with a note of dismay. “And quite frankly, prison is too good for him. He deserves much worse for what he planned to do to you.”