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Two days passed and Leah barely had time to breathe let alone think about Brandon.
That was a lie. And when she started lying to herself she knew she was screwed.
And oh how she wanted to be screwed by Brandon.
If anyone knew the dirty thoughts that had gone through her head in the last few days, they would think she was a sex-starved nymphomaniac. But she couldn’t stop them. Everything reminded her of him. If Carly said how hard opening the studio was, all she would think about was his hard abs that she’d seen the night she met him and how she wanted to lick those abs. Hell, when she drank coffee every morning, she'd remember the note he left her and then that would lead to her imagining him bending her over the counter that he’d left the note on.
She was crazy. Absolutely, certifiably crazy. This was out of control and as far as she was concerned, not normal behavior for a twenty-eight-year-old woman.
Needing a break from the forms she was filling out, she went to see what Melanie and Carly were up to.
She found them both in Studio A cursing at each other.
“Seems like you guys are getting a lot done in here,” she said from the doorway.
“Get over here and help us hold this,” Carly said. They were holding a ballet bar against the wall and from the cursing she assumed they were trying to hang it.
She grabbed an end. “Do either of you have the slightest idea what the hell you are doing?”
Carly said, “No,” at the same time that Melanie said, “Yes.”
“Don’t lie to make yourself look good,” Carly said. “You have no freaking idea how to hang this.”
“I’ve hung several bars,” she stated.
“You had help,” Carly said and rolled her eyes. “Male help.”
“Fine,” Mel conceded. “Let’s set it down,” she said to Leah and they carefully placed it on the floor.
Melanie slid down to sit on the floor, back against the giant mirror that was already hung on the wall. “We can’t afford to hire anyone, so what do you suggest we do?”
“I’ll see if Brandon and Logan can come to help us tonight.” Leah wasn’t sure but she thought she saw Mel blanch at Logan’s name.
“Whatever,” she waved her hand. “We just need it done.”
Carly let out an exaggerated sigh and turned to Leah. “Did you need us for something?”
“No, I was just going stir crazy in there and needed a break.”
“Let’s go grab some lunch. Mel?”
“You guys go ahead without me. I’m just gonna sit here and die.”
“Stop being dramatic.” Carly threw a towel at her as they left the room.
“What’s up with Mel?” Leah asked. “She’s kinda been in a mood the last couple of days.”
“Did you happen to notice that her mood coincided with the return of my cousin, Logan?”
Leah had met Logan briefly yesterday morning when she and Carly had grabbed coffee and donuts at the bakery. He was every bit as handsome as his brother – and the object of her dreams – but there was something sad about him.
“Mel and Logan are a thing?”
“No.” Carly glanced at her and shook her head. “Mel has a thing for him and has for years. He on the other hand thinks of her like a little sister.”
“Ouch,” Leah said and winced. “That’s gotta suck.”
“She does okay when he’s out of town, which is less and less these days. But when he’s here, she’s an emotional rollercoaster.”
Leah was starting to think it was an epidemic with the Graham boys. Her obsession with Brandon was new but she could see herself becoming like Melanie.
With one little exception. Brandon already said he wanted to date her. She was the one who was putting him off and torturing herself at the same time.
Carly’s phone beeped and she pulled it out to check it. “Huh, that’s interesting. It’s Brandon and he says he needs to talk to you.”
“Me?” She pointed to herself wondering what he could want.
“Yeah, he wants to know if you can stop by the station?”
“Now?” Oh God she looked horrible. Her hair was a mess, hence the hat she had on and she was wearing old jeans and a t-shirt because they had spent the morning pulling weeds outside the building.
“He said whenever, but why don’t you go now. I need to go to the hardware store anyway and then we can meet at the deli.”
Her face must have shown her fear because she added. “It’ll be fine, Leah. I don’t know what the deal is with you and Brandon, but he’s never been the type of guy to fuck with women.”
She relaxed. A little. “I’ll meet you at the deli in twenty minutes.”
“Deal.”
They parted and Leah wasted no time in getting to the police station. Katie was in her usual perch behind her desk.
“I’m here to see Bran – Chief Graham.”
“Keep calling him that, honey and you might find yourself in one of those cells back there.” Leah had no idea what that meant but just ignored it. “He’s in his office. Go on back.”
She took her time, walking the corridor to his office and at his door took a deep breath before knocking.
“Come on in,” she heard and turned the knob to open the door.
His dark eyes spotted her and turned to quick-fire before calming just as fast. “Leah, come on in. Have a seat.”
She left the door open, unsure if he wanted it closed or not and took a seat in front of his desk.
“We had a break in the case at The Rinky Dinky.”
“Oh,” she said, not sure if she was happy or sad that this meeting wasn’t about them.
“Unbeknownst to me, my brother Logan has some cameras set up around town and one of them just happened to catch the person who broke the window.”
“That’s great news,” she said, wondering why he was telling her this.
“It is and it isn’t. While the picture never showed the perp's face, we did get a good look at his license plate. Do you know a William Huntington?”
“Will?” she asked, shocked.
“That’s who the car belongs to and when I checked into him...well, it seems he is nowhere to be found.”
“Why would Will be here, in Cedarville?” she said out loud. This didn't make any sense.
“I was hoping you could help me with that?”
She shrugged and shook her head side-to-side. “I’ve known Will for a long time. At least ten years. More actually, now that I think about it. I was in high school when my dad took his parents on as clients. Oh, God.” She put her hand to her chest. “My dad.” She closed her eyes and squeezed them tight so she wouldn’t cry. “This has to do with my dad doesn’t it.”
Brandon stood, walking around his desk and closing the door. Then he sat down right next to her. “Leah, look at me?” When she didn’t comply he took her hand. “Look at me,” he said again. She opened her eyes and turned her head towards his. Somehow, his touch calmed her.
“I don’t know what this guy was trying to accomplish by coming here and smashing a window. But I do know that he is M.I.A. and that to find him, I’m gonna need your help.”
She licked her lips and then rubbed them together. “I don’t know how I can help.”
“Just tell me everything you know or remember about him. Every piece of information could be something we could use.”
She started from the beginning. “His parents, Amanda and Wayne became clients of my dad’s when I was in high school. My dad loved to have new clients over for dinner and show what a family man he was.” She scoffed and shook her head. “Will was their only child and he and I were just a year apart in age, so dad always pushed us together when the adults were talking. He was a nice enough guy, pretty normal really.” She looked down and noticed that Brandon was still holding her hand.
“What about during the trial?”
She began to rub her thumb across his hand. “I don’t remember seeing him at all. I know I saw Wayne, and early on I saw Amanda, but she seemed to stop coming to the trial.”
He averted his eyes from hers and she could tell that he knew something. “What is it? What do you know?”
“During my background checks into Will, it showed that his mother was deceased.”
“What?” Shocked, she tried to pull her hand from his but he wouldn’t let go.
“She committed suicide,” he winced as he said it.
She hung her head and let the tears that had been forced in for days, maybe even weeks, fall. A nice woman, a mom and wife had taken her life and it was most likely because of her family. “I didn’t know,” she sobbed.
He stayed silent and just held her hand while she cried. She had always liked the Huntington family and Amanda had been a strong, independent woman. Nothing like her own mom. She had worked and taken care of her family. At the time, when Leah had found that out, she swore that was the type of mom she wanted to be. One who refused to let the husband do all the work and who contributed.
When her tears subsided, she lifted her head and saw that Brandon was holding a box of tissues for her. “Thank you,” she said, taking a few with her free hand.
“I’m sorry this is bringing everything back up again,” he said and she could see from his expression that he was.
“It’s never going to go away,” she sniffed. “I thought I could run from it but it follows me everywhere I go.”
“You didn’t run,” he told her. “You made a choice to try and make a new life for yourself. What Will is doing, that’s running.”
“I don’t know why he’d even come here or honestly, how he even found me. I didn’t tell anyone where I was going.”
“No one?” he asked. “Not even your mom?”
“No.” Then it hit her. “Although I did tell my landlord to forward my mail here.”
“We’ll start there,” he said. “I’m going to need all your information from New York and I will start digging.”
“There’s a cop,” she said. “In the city, who was really nice and helpful to me. He might be able to help you.”
He nodded. “In the meantime, I think you should make sure you have someone with you at all times. Don’t go out alone. Especially at night.”
“You think he’s dangerous?” That had her scared.
“I don’t know.” He finally let go of her hand and stood. “But I’m not willing to take that chance.”
If she hadn't been an emotional mess, his words would have made her swoon.
He handed her a pad of paper. “Write down anything you think I might need.” She began writing and when she was almost finished, a knock sounded on his door.
“Come in,” he said.
“There you are,” she heard Carly behind her. “I’ve been waiting for you at the deli. I even texted you.”
When she turned to apologize though, Carly went off. “You’ve been crying. Brandon what the hell did you do to her.” She moved further into his office and pushed him backward.
“Hey,” he held up both hands in a surrender move. “I didn't do anything.”
“Carly stop,” Leah said loudly. “He didn’t do anything.”
“Then explain the crying?”
Together she and Brandon told her the story about Will.
“Holy shitballs,” Carly said. “Do you think she’s in danger?”
“Like I told her, I have no idea. But until we catch this guy, I don’t want her alone. Better yet, none of you should be alone.”
“Seeing as I like living, I am willing to give in to your bossy attitude just this once.”
Leah stood and handed Brandon the notepad that she had written all her info on. “I put my cell on there in case you need to reach me too.” It felt a little awkward that his tongue had been in her mouth and yet he didn’t even have her phone number.
“Thanks. Umm, here’s my card, it has my number on it if you need me.”
“Oh my God,” Carly said. “If you two are done with this mating ritual, I’d love to get back to work.”
Leah felt her cheeks go warm and knew they had to be as red as an apple. “Thank you,” she said quietly. “I appreciate all you are doing.”
“Are you gonna be okay?” he asked as she started toward the door.
“She’ll be fine,” Carly spoke before she could. “Leah is strong.”
His eyes searched hers, asking if that was true. She nodded and held his gaze for a few seconds before leaving his office.
She wasn’t sure it was the truth though. She didn’t feel strong at that moment. She felt weak and emotionally exhausted. The only thing that seemed to give her strength was his touch.
And wasn’t that part of what she was running from. Losing herself in a man?