with my new finance guy, I head straight to Hope’s place. I know she had some things to do, but I’m really anxious to see her again. With everything going on with this mysterious guy around my cabin, it just keeps me on edge. When I’m not with her, I have to know that she’s okay.
When I get to her place, her neighbor is on her front porch watching me, but doesn’t say a word. She nods a hello and I’m back to knocking on Hope’s door.
‘I said go away. I’m not giving you any money,’ she yells through the door.
Freezing for a minute, I can tell by her voice that something is wrong.
‘I don’t remember asking for money baby, but I promise you don’t need it.’ I try to joke back. Finally, I hear her moving on the other side of the door.
When she opens it, she looks scared, obviously rattled, and she’s shaking. Pushing into the house, I pull her into my arms, closing and locking the door behind me.
‘What happened?’ I ask her firmly trying to get her to focus her attention on me.
Then I pull her over to the couch and into my lap.
‘My… my mom…’ she tries a few times, and she stops, closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.
‘My mom showed up. She said that she’d broken up with her boyfriend and wanted a real relationship with me. I told her no. This is an old pattern, nothing new. She would do this every time she and the guy broke up, but a few weeks later there would be a new guy and she’d be back to her normal self. Though she tried to swear that wasn’t going to happen. I finally told her to go and closed the door.
Before I could get it closed, she asked me for money. Of course, I refused because she looked high as a kite and would only use it for drug money.” Then she takes a deep breath and relaxes into me.
‘She looked high?’ I ask just to be sure.
‘Yes,’ she says.
Even though I may have led a sheltered life, I know quite a bit about druggies. Not just because I did some research after Hope told me about her mom the first time. My brother kept harping on drugs and how bad they were. Apparently, he dated a girl right out of high school that was heavy into drugs.
She used him for money and when he wouldn’t give her any, she stole stuff from him.
Then my brother would drink heavily, which he didn’t do very often. But I definitely got the impression that he was really in love with her, even though she did all this bad stuff to him. After that, he never really dated, and I always assumed it was because he couldn’t trust people. But who knows?
‘What I do know is that if her mom is desperate for money, she’s not going to take no for an answer. Especially if she thinks her daughter owes her anything, which from the sound of what Hope said is exactly what her mom thinks. All this means I can’t let her stay here.
Looking around the place, I know she told me it came furnished which means I don’t think she has much here. Then a plan starts formulating in my head.
‘All right. Let’s pack up all your stuff. Everything that’s yours and we will load it up in the truck and take it up to my place. I’m not going to leave you here alone and we can stop before we leave town and break your lease.’ I’m thinking as I speak.
My main concern is to keep her safe, no matter what. Letting her stay here alone is not an option, especially with the mysterious man that seems to be watching either her or me. I think the best plan is to stay together.
‘Wait! Are you asking me to move in with you?’ Hope asks as she sits up and studies my face.
Is that what I’m asking? Yeah, I guess it is. I think for a minute about her living with me and suddenly I want it more than anything.
‘Well… yes, for your safety,’ I tell her.
She looks at me for a moment like she can see right through me.
‘And it’s for no other reason?’
When I feel my face heat, I wonder if she can see it. She answers my unspoken question by running a finger over my cheekbone right where they are the reddest.
Even though I don’t know women well, I do know Hope and I can tell by that look that she wants more. I’m going to have to give her more of a reason to take this big step.
‘Because I want to wake up with you every day. Because my cabin doesn’t feel like home when you’re not there. Because I hate being away from you. Because I…’ she stops me mid-sentence with her lips on mine.
Even though I have a few more reasons that I could give her, I guess those were enough. I pray this kiss means yes. Certainly, it feels like a yes. When her hand starts trailing down my chest, I know she wants more than just a kiss. I want more too, but her safety is what’s important here. We need to get her out of this cabin. So, I pulled away from the kiss and when her eyes lock on mine, she smiles.
‘Yes, I’ll move in with you.’ she whispers, and I swear the world tilts just for a moment.
‘Okay, let’s quickly get all your stuff packed up and get you out of here before your mom comes back.’
The mention of her mother kicks her in high gear. She jumps up and goes to her room. By the time I get in there, she is stuffing her clothes into a suitcase.
‘I’ve got your clothes. Go get the rest of your stuff,’ I say taking over emptying out her closet.
In less than thirty minutes, we have everything she owns loaded into my truck and she’s doing a final walk through of the house.
‘Got everything?’ I ask, and she nods.
After sayings a quick goodbye to her neighbor, we leave and go straight to the Sheriff’s office.
‘I guess it’s pretty convenient that my landlord’s office is right across the street from the Sheriff’s office,’ she sighs, looking worried.
‘Let’s go break your lease and then we’ll let the sheriff know about your mother being in town and then we’ll head home.’
When I say home, my heart races and her eyes light up. Even though I know moving in with your girlfriends is a big step, this just feels right to me.
Taking care of her lease at the landlord’s office is easy. Though he puts up a bit of a fight since she just moved in, but when I offered to pay the rest of her lease he calmed down. Once he knew that could rent it out again, and he’d be making double the money through the rest of her lease, he stopped complaining.
Hope tried to stop me because I know she doesn’t like me spending money on her, but she will soon find that there is nothing I won’t do to keep her safe. When we enter the Sheriff’s office, I ask to speak to detective Greer. Another cop takes us to a little waiting room.
‘Who is this detective?’ Hope asks once we’re alone.
‘He’s the detective that questioned Axel and handled the issue with Emelie’s ex-boyfriend when he filed that false report. Ever since he’s been very respectful of us and I think he’ll be the one to help us.’
Thankfully, he doesn’t make us wait long. Bringing us to his desk, he says, “Hi folks, what can I do for you?’ ‘Do you know my friend Axel? You brought him in for questioning when his wife’s ex was causing issues?’
‘Ah yes. Throwing that little jerk in jail after we got everything sorted out was the highlight of my day. What can I do for you? I hope you all aren’t having any problems with him.’
‘Oh no, we’re having a slightly different problem. Though I don’t know if there’s anything you can do right now, but we just wanted to make you aware,’ I tell him.
On hearing my words, he sits up straight and grabs a notebook and pen.
‘I think you are going a little overboard, Cash.’ Hope finally speaks up.
‘You’ll learn that there’s nothing I won’t do to keep you safe.’ I tell her before turning back to the detective.
‘Her mother is in town. Hope left when she was eighteen to get away from her. We’re not sure how she tracked her down, but she is a known druggie and a thief. Not to mention, she’s already demanding money from Hope because a couple hours ago she did just that, showing up at her place wanting money. Even though I’m moving her to my home to make sure she’s safe, I wanted to let you know the situation. If something were to happen, it would be good if you already were already aware of the problem.’
Then he begins asking questions. What is her mom’s name? Does Hope have a photo of her? Finally, he asks what she’s been charged with in the past. Thankfully, it seems to be all small things-shoplifting, petty theft, misdemeanors, those sorts of thing. Then he takes down Hope’s old address, even though we won’t be there. Hope insisted that he watch the area, especially looking out for Mrs. Tipton.
He gives us his card and tells us to call him if anything were to come up. Hesitating for just a moment, before I decide to tell him about the footsteps around my house.
That perks his ears up. ‘People generally don’t randomly show up out there on the mountain. Did you tell me you have a picture of this guy and you don’t recognize him?’ the detective asks.
‘No, you can’t see his face. When I get home, I can e-mail you a copy.’
‘Yeah, please do that. Though I doubt these two things are related, but you just never know. Stay alert, stay safe, and call me if anything else happens.’
On the way home, I have Hope call Phoenix and tell him what’s going on with both her mom and the guy that we saw in the woods. He agrees to pass the word on to Axel and Bennett. It’s best they know and they’re on alert.
Something in my gut says that this is not over. It’s just the beginning. Though the beginning of what, I have no idea. And that is what terrifies me.
