Knockemout, #3
Things We Left Behind
by Lucy Score
Contents
6
Overview
Karen orchestrates a surprise breakfast between Sloane and Lucian before returning to Washington, urging them to end their grudge and revealing Lucian’s quiet support. Lucian volunteers to handle Simon’s case files, and a prickly meal yields a fleeting moment of closeness. Wylie Ogden’s entrance heightens unresolved tensions, leaving secrets and resentments intact.
Summary
Sloane arrives disheveled at the diner to meet her mother, Karen, and is blindsided to find Lucian already seated. Karen announces she’s returning to Washington and lists Simon’s final wishes: donating his clothes and delivering his case files to a new firm. Lucian immediately volunteers to have his staff courier the files.
Pressed by Sloane, Karen hints that Lucian has quietly done much for their family—admitting he sent her and her friends to a spa after the funeral—then extracts a promise that they stay and eat, saying it would make her happy. She bids an emotional goodbye, telling both she loves them; Lucian’s taut hug reveals how hard the parting hits him.
Left alone, Sloane and Lucian spar through orders and small talk. Sloane acknowledges his hidden kindness and makes him taste her elaborate hot chocolate; he feigns disgust, but she recognizes a crack in his armor. The shared sip creates a brief, intimate pause before they retreat to barbs and distance.
When former police chief Wylie Ogden enters, conversations stall and Lucian fixes him with a cold stare, signaling deeper unresolved history. Sloane hints that if she’d known everything, she wouldn’t have acted as she did, but Lucian shuts her down, insisting they leave it alone. Bean returns with breakfast, conspicuously pocketing the butter knives as the town watches, and the uneasy truce holds.
Who Appears
- Sloane WaltonGrieving librarian ambushed into breakfast with Lucian; resists but softens briefly over shared hot chocolate; unresolved past pain.
- Lucian RollinsWealthy neighbor; quietly helps Karen, volunteers to courier Simon’s files; prickly with Sloane, momentarily vulnerable, stonewalls secrets.
- Karen WaltonSloane’s mother; urges reconciliation, reveals Lucian’s support, and departs for Washington after an emotional goodbye.
- Bean TaylorClumsy but kind server; manages the tense table, delivers comfort hot chocolate, discreetly pockets knives.
- Wylie OgdenFormer police chief; his entrance chills the room and draws Lucian’s focused, hostile attention.
- Lou WittNaomi’s father; holds the diner door for Sloane, brief early-scene presence.
- Amanda WittSchool counselor and Lou’s wife; offers Sloane kind support at the entrance.