her from the trance she was in. “What the hell?” He grabbed the letter from her hand.
I’ll have what’s mine, eventually.
Enjoy the fun now… it won’t last.
“Who sent this, Zoey?”
“I… I don’t know.” She pressed her hands to her face. “I can’t believe this is happening again.”
“Have there been others? Zoey, I’m calling the police. They need to know you got this. I mean,” Dawson paced. “This, plus the damage to your shop, is starting to freak me out.”
“I know. God, this is infuriating.”
“Zoey!” The sound of the door and her mother’s sing-song voice made Zoey wince.
“Mom.” Zoey gave Dawson an apologetic grin. “What are you doing here?”
“Well, I haven’t heard from you in a few days, so I thought I’d stop by to check on you. But I can see what has you so busy…” She turned to Dawson. “Hello, I’m Katrina Horton, Zoey’s mom. And you are?”
Dawson held his hand out, “Dawson Ford, ma’am. Pleasure to meet you. I can see where Zoey gets her looks.”
“My, my. A charmer. And what do you do, Dawson?”
“I’m a firefighter. Station six.”
“Oh.” Her eyes twinkled as she looked at Zoey. “Well… I can see you’re busy. How about dinner tonight? You can bring your friend, Zoey.” Katrina smiled at her daughter.
“Sure. I’ll call you later, mom.” She pressed a kiss to her cheek.
Dawson watched as her mother left the store before turning to Zoey. “Ok. Now, can we call the police?”
“Yeah… fine.”
Zoey busied herself with getting things in order with the store. She was pissed this was happening to her. For the life of her, she couldn’t understand why someone had targeted her or the store. Zoey wanted to scream. Just when her life was coming together, this shit was interfering with her peace.
“Miss Horton?” A uniformed officer stood at the counter.
“Yes. That’s me.”
“I’m Officer Patrick. Someone called and said you’d received a threat of some sort?”
“Hey—London.”
“Dawson. I didn’t realize you were the one who called this in.” Her eyes flicked to Zoey, and she smirked.
Looking back at Dawson, Zoey rolled her eyes. Trying not to let her jealousy show. London was gorgeous, and seeing how friendly she was with Dawson made her gut churn. “Well.” Zoey handed her the note. “I found this mixed in with my mail this morning.”
“Interesting. And you’ve had some recent vandalism to the shop as well?”
“That’s correct. It started with the door being busted. Then the brick through the window and then the window was painted with MINE in red paint. This isn’t the first letter I’ve gotten either.”
“What?” Dawson stood behind her. “What do you mean, this isn’t the first letter? Why didn’t you tell me about the others?”
“There was just one other. I’ll go grab it.” Zoey hurried to her office, searching through the drawer until she found the letter she’d crumbled and shoved to the back.
“Here,” she handed the letter to London.
She read the note, comparing it to the newest one. “The notes and damage don’t come right out and threaten you directly, but it’s implied. Is there someone angry with you? And ex-boyfriend, perhaps?”
Zoey snorted. “No… I don’t date.”
Dawson cleared his throat, cocking an eyebrow at her. “Well, not until you.” She gave him a nervous smile.
Dawson growled, making London smirk at their interaction. He turned to London when a memory hit him. “What about that woman who gave you shit the first day you were open?”
“Woman?” The London asked, scribbling something on her notepad.
“Yeah, there was this woman who came into the shop the day before I opened. She told me no one wanted me here, and I should just close the store. But I haven’t heard from her since.”
“Do you know her name?”
Zoey shook her head. “No.”
“Wait.” Dawson tapped the counter. “I ran into her at the bar. I didn’t get her name, but she was with another girl she called Brandi. She complained that you’re the reason she couldn’t open her store because you’d won the bid to this place.”
London continued to write down the information. “Alright. I’ll give this to the detective, who will do some digging and see if we can find her. Until then, be vigilant and let us know if anything else happens.”
She handed Zoey her card and shook Dawson’s hand before leaving. “It was nice seeing you again… Nice meeting you, Zoey.”
Zoey watched as she left. Her attention snapped from the front when Dawson slid the box of donuts towards her. “She’s just a friend, Zoey.”
Zoey sighed, not wanting to talk about it. Dawson opened the lid and grinned. “Let’s eat these and talk about how to handle this problem.”
“Seriously, Dawson? Problem? There is nothing to talk about. The police will figure this out.”
Dawson tried to reign in his anger, not wanting to upset her further. But she was blowing this off as nothing major. “Zoey, you need to take this seriously.”
“I am. I’m just not going to let it make me run scared. Now… give me that jelly-filled donut.” She snatched the powdered donut from his hand and shoved it into her mouth.
They sat together talking about the shop, her mother, and their next date. Dawson was on edge about the things happening, but Zoey had made it clear she didn’t want to dwell on the matter.
Zoey invited him to her mother’s for dinner, but he had to be on shift early the next morning and he asked for a rain check. The truth was he didn’t think he could keep his mouth shut around her mom, and she didn’t want her to know right now. They agreed to go have dinner on Tuesday, after she closed the shop.
Dawson kissed her goodbye, promising to stop in if he could while on duty. Zoey watched him as he walked away. She couldn’t help but worry something was wrong. Someone as perfect as him, shouldn’t be with someone like her.