Nova wrinkled her nose. “Well that’s one hell of a coincidence.”
“Hmm,” Alex’s eyes focused on the coffee table, avoiding her gaze.
“Alex–why did you move to Lucky Palms?”
“I,” he paused, “needed a fresh start.”
“You don’t so sure of that.”
He sighed and shook his head. “Back in Sunset Valley, I was working at a three star restaurant, picking up the kind of things that would help me open my own place someday. And now I’m working at an absolute dive. It doesn’t make sense.”
Nova leaned forward. “Oh?”
“I had a great job. I had a girlfriend. We were going to move in together, and things were getting serious, and then…then…” His brow knitted.
“And then I’m here, in Lucky Palms. And when people ask why I moved here, I say ‘because I needed a fresh start.'”
Nova frowned. “Do you remember actually moving here? Like, renting a van, packing up your stuff, that kind of thing?”
He looked up to her, and her heart skipped a beat. When unsure, his gleaming brown eyes were so incredibly sad. “No,” he shook his head, “I just remember being here.”
Nova’s face fell, drawn down by sympathy. “I’m sorry, Alex. That’s…disturbing.”
“I’m going to make coffee,” he announced, standing up.