When Kyle arrived to pick her up the next morning, he gave nothing away—no indication that everything wasn’t completely normal. But Jessica was anxious to know how Melanie had reacted to his announcement. Five minutes after they’d set off for their date he still hadn’t said anything and she couldn’t take the suspense any longer.
“How did last night go?” she asked, watching his face.
He glanced her way. “I’m sure you can imagine how unhappy she was.”
“Yes, but how did she react? What did she say?” She hoped her face showed her genuine concern. As happy as she was that Kyle had chosen her, she felt empathy for Melanie as well.
Kyle frowned. “She certainly didn’t make it any easier for me to break the news to her when she dropped Avery onto my lap the moment I sat down.” His frown deepened, if that was possible. “And then when I told her I’d decided not to adopt Avery, Melanie began sobbing, which got Avery all worked up.” He shook his head. “It was ugly.”
Jessica didn’t have any trouble picturing the scene Kyle described. Especially after sitting in that living room two days before. “How did you leave things?”
He was quiet for a moment. “She kept trying to change my mind. She even went so far as to say how disappointed she was that I had decided to . . .” He glanced down as he shook his head, then he stared at the road. “To abandon Avery.” He looked over at Jessica. “We were all in tears when I left. All of us.”
Her stomach began to churn. While she was at the movies with her aunt, he’d been having his heart ripped out. Jessica was certain it had been difficult enough to deliver the news to Melanie without her going into hysterics. Especially in front of Avery. She reached out and touched Kyle’s arm. “I’m so sorry. It must have been really hard.”
He glanced at her with a small smile. “Thanks.” He blew out a breath of air.
“What’s going to happen now? With Avery, I mean.”
He sighed. “I guess I’ll still spend some time with her, but I’ll start tapering it off.” He glanced at her. “I don’t know how else to do it.”
Jessica nodded, knowing there was no easy answer.
“Okay, enough about that,” Kyle said. “Let’s focus on having a fun day together before you leave tomorrow.”
“That sounds good to me.”
A short time later they turned up a dirt road that led to a ranch. “Yesterday you mentioned horseback riding, and I thought that sounded like fun.” He grinned. “So here we are.”
She smiled, looking forward to this new activity. “I didn’t bring any lunch.”
He laughed. “That’s okay. They provide it.”
“Thank goodness for that.”
They spent the next three hours horseback riding with a group of ten people, stopping halfway through the ride to have lunch. By the time they got back in Kyle’s truck, Jessica’s backside was really sore.
“Did you have fun?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Are you as sore as I am?”
She laughed. “Oh, yeah.”
“I was thinking we could go to the park and just relax for a while. How does that sound?”
“That sounds fine.”
He smiled. “I even brought our favorite blanket.”
“Good, because I’m ready for a nap.”
He laughed.
After Kyle spread the blanket in the shade of a large tree, they sat down.
“I’m not sure if sitting is the best idea right now,” Jessica said.
“Would you rather walk around?”
“I don’t know if that would help, actually. So I guess sitting is okay.”
“That’s good, because I wanted to tell you that after I left your place yesterday I tracked down Trey Harrington and had a little talk with him.”
Jessica’s eyes widened. “You did? What did you say? What did he say?”
“I was still pretty mad about my tires, so I probably came off a little angry.”
“Yeah?”
He nodded. “I told him that I didn’t appreciate the dirty looks he was giving you, and that I was keeping an eye on him.” He paused. “I didn’t want to come right out and blame him for the stuff that’s happened, because I’m not really sure he’s behind it, but I just wanted to put him on notice.”
“What did he say?”
“He told me he didn’t know what I was talking about, and that he didn’t appreciate being questioned by Barnes.”
“Oh. Well, I’m glad to know Barnes talked to him.”
“Yeah. Me too.”
“So Barnes has talked to both Alex and Trey. If either one of them is doing this stuff, maybe they’ll stop now. You know, since they know Barnes is on to them.”
“Yeah, hopefully.” He gazed at her. “I’m still not thrilled about you going home by yourself tomorrow.”
After what happened to Hudson, not to mention Kyle’s truck, she was less sure about it herself, but she had to find a job. “I’ll be careful.”
Kyle moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her. “I love you so much, Jess. I can’t bear the thought of anything happening to you.”
The next morning Jessica packed up her things, along with Hudson, and loaded everything into her car. Kyle had already arrived to begin working, so she told him good-bye, then hugged Ellen and headed back to her apartment.
Three hours later she unlocked her apartment door and carried Hudson inside. After letting him out of his cat carrier, she surveyed her home, half-expecting the place to be ransacked, but everything looked the way she’d left it. In fact, the place was so quiet that a feeling of loneliness swept over her. She’d gotten used to the activity at Ellen’s place and already missed knowing that Kyle was just a few steps away.
“Hopefully one of these jobs will work out,” she said to Hudson, who seemed to be looking for his cat food. She took out his cat bowl and put some food in it, then set the bowl on the floor. “I think I need to run to the grocery store, big guy. Will you be okay while I’m gone?”
Busy eating, he didn’t look at her.
She smiled. “Okay. I’ll be back in a little bit.”
At the grocery store she filled her cart with the things she would need for the next few days, but as she stood in the shampoo aisle, trying to decide if she wanted to save money by buying a cheaper brand, she heard someone say her name. She turned to see Alex standing behind a shopping cart.
“I thought that was you,” he said, a friendly smile on his face.
Her thoughts immediately went to all the things that had happened to her lately, and she held back a frown. “Hi, Alex.”
“I see you made it home okay.” He gazed at her a moment. “How long will you be in town?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“How’s the job hunt going?”
She really didn’t want to chat with him about her job search, or anything else for that matter. “Fine.”
“Good.”
“Look, I’ve got to get going.”
He stared at her. “Your detective called me the other day. Wanted to know if I’d spent the night in that little town where you’ve been living.”
Jessica stared back. “Did you?”
“No.” His eyes narrowed. “What happened?”
She hesitated, not sure if she should tell him about the new incidents, but if he was behind them, they certainly wouldn’t come as a surprise. And if he wasn’t, then what would it hurt? “You remember how Hudson was missing?”
His look of concern seemed genuine. “Yeah. Did he ever come home?”
“Yes. But someone shaved off all of his fur.”
Alex recoiled in apparent shock. “Oh wow. That’s sick.” His brow furrowed. “Is he okay?”
“Yeah, basically. But that’s not all.”
“There’s more?”
“Yes. Someone slashed the tires on Kyle’s truck.”
Alex gazed at her, the look of concern fading. “So naturally you thought of me.”
“No.” She shook her head. “No, that’s not how it is at all.”
“Oh, forgive me. Your boyfriend immediately thought of me.” He frowned. “Am I getting this right?”
Yes. “No. We just reported it to the detective.”
“Oh, so he thought of me. Hmm. I wonder who put that thought in his head?” Fury swept over his face. “You know, Jessica, I’m a respected attorney. It’s not cool that you’re sending police detectives to question me about crimes that I had nothing to do with.”
Her heart pounded at the look of outrage on Alex’s face. She’d never seen him like this before, and it scared her. “I’m really sorry if this caused trouble for you. That’s not what I wanted to happen.”
He gazed at her a moment and the emotion on his face smoothed out as the anger seemed to melt away. “I’m sorry I got mad at you. I know it’s not your fault.” He paused. “In fact, I’m worried about you. Before it sounded like someone was just harassing you, but this sounds even worse. What can I do to help you?”
“Help me?”
“Yes.” His eyes narrowed. “Should you even be on your own? Are the police keeping an eye on you?”
An alarm bell rang in her head. Why would he be asking those things? Did he really care, or was he probing for information so he could attack her later? Fear shuddered through her. “Yes, the police are keeping watch,” she lied.
A look of relief replaced the concern. “Good.”
Maybe he really is worried, she thought. “Well, I’ve got to go. Bye, Alex.”
“Take care of yourself, Jessica, okay?”
“Thanks.”
Back at her apartment, as she put away her groceries, she wished she could just stay with her parents, but they’d left town for a long-planned vacation. That night as she slept in her familiar bed, she had trouble falling asleep. Not only did every creak of her building startle her, but she was worried about making a good impression at her job interview the next day.
Twelve hours later she was sitting across from three people, trying to sell herself and her skills. By the time the interview ended, she felt good about how it had gone.
Now, as she she walked out to her car, she felt optimistic that everything would work out. She spent the rest of the day doing laundry, cleaning, and organizing. It was unusual for her to have so much free time, and she wanted to take advantage of it while she could. She knew once she started a new job, that would consume most of her time until she’d proven herself.
By the time she fell into bed at the end of the day, she was exhausted, but she called Kyle to tell him about her day.
“The job sounds promising,” he said.
“Yeah. I’m really excited about it, actually. I think I’d really like working there.”
“Good. And guess what? Your aunt’s cabinets were delivered today, so by the time you come back, the kitchen will look a lot different.”
“Fantastic. I’ll bet Ellen is thrilled.”
“She seems pretty happy.”
“Have you heard from Melanie? Has anything else odd happened?” She didn’t mean to link the two, but that’s how it came out.
“No, and no.”
Glad he hadn’t thought she was trying to pin the incidents on Melanie—although in the back of her mind she still wondered if she had anything to do with them—she nodded. “Good.”
They chatted for a while longer, and after they hung up, Jessica read until her eyelids refused to stay open. Hudson curled up against her side as she fell asleep.
In the dead of night she dreamed that someone was following her, stalking her, rummaging around in her room. She woke with a start, the terrifying feeling from her dream staying with her. Still drowsy, she kept her eyes closed as she tried to think of happy things, trying to push away the feelings from her dream.
Then she heard the squeak of a floorboard, and her heart leapt into her throat.