With my phone resting on my lap, I stared across the yard toward the lake. The water was glassy tonight, much like my eyes.
Logan had called, but I’d ignored it. After the ringing stopped, I put it on mute.
We’d already spoken once tonight, and as of now, I was going to start cutting down on phone calls. I lived to hear his voice, but after each one, I felt miserable. It hurt too much.
He’d been busy these last two weeks, per his usual schedule. Maybe he was using work to hide from the pain of our split. Maybe he just wanted to return to his regular routine. Either way, he always seemed to be in the middle of something when we talked. But, to his credit, once he answered, we had his full attention. In the two weeks since we’d left, he hadn’t missed a single call to wish Charlie sweet dreams.
Tonight, though, he’d sounded different. Still just as busy, but almost in a hurry to end our call. A quick hello. A faster good-bye.
Would this become the new normal?
I’d worked hard the last two weeks, catching up at the bar. Charlie had gone right back to days with Hazel at the camp, and for the most part, I was glad for the routine. Except for nights like this, when I wasn’t working. Free time was my new enemy.
I was an emotional wreck when left alone with my thoughts, which was probably why I hadn’t set foot in my workshop. I knew once I got in there and pictured Logan in his spot by the cabinet, I’d completely lose it, something I had yet to do.
One of these nights I’d go in there and have an ugly cry. Until then, I was toughing out the blurry tears and stinging nose.
Footsteps sounded behind me in the kitchen and I blinked fast to clear my vision. I didn’t want Hazel to know I’d been on the verge of crying. So as the screen door creaked, I forced a smile when she stepped onto the porch.
“Figured I’d find you here.”
I nodded. “I thought I’d better enjoy the evening before it gets too cold.”
As soon as the snow fell, Hazel and I traded our porch visits for living room campouts. Each winter, we’d pick a new show to binge after Charlie was asleep. Though Hazel would still brave the cold to smoke.
She slid a cigarette from its box and pulled out a lighter from her jeans pocket. After a heavy drag, she took her spot on the railing, blowing the smoke as far away from me as she could. “I think Charlie’s more nervous about first grade than she was kindergarten.”
I sighed. “I think you’re right.” Charlie was struggling because one of her friends from kindergarten had moved away and because Logan wasn’t here.
As expected, Charlie had been withdrawn these past two weeks. She was definitely happy to be home, but she missed her dad.
Just like me, she was torn.
“How are you doing?” Hazel asked.
“I’m good,” I lied. “Glad we’re going to be getting into the fall routine.”
She laughed. “Try again.”
“I knew you wouldn’t buy that,” I muttered. “I guess I just wish things could be different.”
“But they aren’t.”
My gaze went back to the lake. “No. They aren’t.”
On the plane, I’d wondered if I’d feel the same sense of home—of peace—when I got back to Lark Cove. There’d been a niggling feeling that I’d built up Lark Cove as a sanctuary when it really wasn’t and that without Logan in our lives, it would feel different. By the time the captain had announced we were landing, I’d all but convinced myself that Montana wasn’t everything it had been before.
But the moment I’d stepped off the plane, breathing in the clean mountain air, the worries of the last week had vanished. A deep contentment had settled the anxieties from the city.
It just felt like . . . home.
Charlie’s smile the moment we’d pulled up to the cottage had been impossible to ignore. She’d been so happy to be back in her safe place that I knew we’d made the right decision.
So now I was holding out hope that with time, the ache in my heart would lessen.
“I know I’ve told you this already, but it’s worth repeating,” Hazel said. “I’m proud of you for going. It couldn’t have been easy to go back, but I think it’s good you faced the past.”
“Thanks.” It hadn’t been easy, but it had been a chance for me to confront those old demons. The wounds from my childhood cut deep, but they’d healed more in the past two weeks than they had in years.
“Why don’t you go to your workshop and paint or something? It’s better than you sitting out here, dwelling on the things that cannot be.”
I shrugged. “I’m just not feeling it. But you’re right. I shouldn’t just sit here. Maybe I’ll go for a quick walk.”
Hazel frowned. “It’s almost dark.”
“I’ve still got thirty minutes or so. I’ll be back soon but call if you need me.”
I stood from my seat and turned my phone off mute. Logan had called again, but I cleared the notification, willing myself to stay strong and not call him back until tomorrow. Then I tucked my phone into my jeans pocket.
“Okay.” She didn’t press too hard for me to stay, likely knowing that some movement would clear my head. “See you in a bit.”
I hurried down the stairs and around the side of the house, setting a fast pace on the sidewalk. I didn’t follow my normal route past the bar and through town. Instead, I turned down a small dirt road that wound along the lake.
It took a while for my mind to quiet, but by the time I reached a small bend in the road, I’d found the calm I’d been seeking all evening. From there, I let my flip-flops lead the way as I watched the sun lower on the horizon. Its lingering rays cast an amber glow over the lake’s surface.
As the light began to disappear behind a mountain range, I turned around to go home but stopped as I recognized my surroundings.
I’d walked right to the house that Logan had bought in Lark Cove.
The gleaming windows reflected pastel pink and sherbet orange from the sunset. The lawn was a deeper green under the fading sky. And the cedar shakes were so warm and inviting, I found myself crossing the grass to take a closer look.
I was jealous that Charlie had gotten a full tour. When he’d been here, Logan had driven us by it again, showing us the lot. But since the purchase hadn’t gone through yet, he hadn’t had a key to take me inside. As I peeked inside the windows, I wished I’d taken him up on his offer to call the realtor.
There wasn’t much I could see from outside, so I gave up my snooping and walked over to the driveway, testing the side entrance of the garage, just in case. I smiled when the door opened.
I didn’t hesitate to go inside and flick on the lights. The two empty garage bays were the cleanest I’d ever seen. The concrete floors weren’t marred with a drop of oil. Fresh paint hit my nostrils and I pulled in a deep breath. Since this property had been built about six years ago, Logan must have arranged for a crew to come in and paint. One of them had probably forgotten to lock the door.
I crossed the room, walking toward a row of cabinets at the back. The sound of my footsteps echoed in the bright space, bouncing off one white wall to the other, while the fluorescent lights hummed over my head.
I knew I was invading Logan’s space, but I couldn’t resist opening up a couple drawers and cabinets. As I opened the last drawer, a man’s voice echoed in the garage.
“Hello, Thea.”
I screamed, spinning around so fast that I slammed my hip into the corner of the counter. My heart was in my throat as I tried to regain my breath. “Oh my god,” I heaved. “Ronny? You scared me to death.”
“Sorry about that.” He reached behind him and pulled the door closed. When he turned the deadbolt, every muscle in my body tensed.
Nothing about this situation was right. Nothing about Ronny was right. Whoever this was, it wasn’t the sweetheart who came into the bar almost every weeknight and occasionally on Sundays to keep me company. This wasn’t the quiet, polite and shy Ronny I knew.
His movements were aggressive, stiff and hard. His normally slouched shoulders were pulled back like he was preparing for a fight. And his jaw was clenched and angry.
Every hair on my body stood on end, affirming with their prickles what my gut was screaming. This is not right.
Ronny’s gaze ran up and down my body, hovering too long on my chest. His eyes were narrowed with a predatory stare. He was the cat. I was the stupid mouse who’d gone for a walk in her safe, small, trust-everyone town.
“I, um . . .” I swallowed the fear clogging my throat. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here for you.” He said it like I should have known it already. Like the next word out of his mouth was going to be duh.
I needed to get the hell out of here, but Ronny held his position by the door.
Stay calm, Thea. Don’t panic.
“Well, I’d better get going.” I plastered on a wide smile as I shuffled down the cabinets. “Hazel’s probably wondering where I went.”
“You’re not going anywhere.” Ronny shook his head. “Not until we talk.”
With Ronny standing by the door, I didn’t have any choice but to go past him to get out. The buttons for the garage doors were right next to the light switches too, so I couldn’t escape through one of the bays.
Relying on years of dealing with creeps and jerks at the bar, I dropped my shoulders away from my ears, hoping he’d take it as a sign I was relaxing. “Sure. I’d love to talk. But would you mind if we went outside? The paint fumes are getting to me.”
He frowned. “Do you think I’m stupid?”
“Of course not! You’re the best, Ronny. My favorite customer.” I was laying it on thick, but I didn’t care. I had no idea what Ronny’s intentions were, but I was sure they were nothing wholesome or friendly. And I had a little girl waiting for me at home. She needed her mother to stay in one piece.
“You have—”
My phone rang in my pocket. I reached for it but stopped when Ronny took three fast steps my way.
“Don’t,” he barked. He held me captive with his angry glare until the phone finally stopped ringing. “You aren’t going to ignore me this time. Now that you’re back, we’re going to have a long overdue discussion.”
Ignore him? When had I ignored him? “Ronny, I don’t understand. What’s going on?”
My phone rang again, stopping him before he could explain. His nostrils flared as his face turned red.
I went for my pocket again. “Let me just put it on silent.”
“I said don’t touch it!” His roar filled every inch of the garage.
I flinched hard, nodding as I whispered, “Okay.”
Ronny’s entire body was shaking with fury. His hands were balled by his sides. The red from his face seeped across his fair skin, coating his neck, staining his ears and tingeing his arms. He had light-brown hair buzzed short, and even his scalp was turning crimson.
What was happening? Who was this man? Because he sure as shit wasn’t the regular at my bar who I’d known for years.
My body was shaking from head to toe and I sucked in a hitched breath. Then I balled my own fists, fighting the panic away. “Ronny,” I said quietly, “I don’t know what I did to make you so upset, but I’m sorry. Let’s talk about this. We’re friends, right?”
His face was still red, but his hands relaxed. “Friends? We’re more than friends. We’re meant to be together. I knew it when I saw that drawing you did of me last year. I knew you thought about me as much as I thought about you.”
My head spun as I thought about all the drawings I’d done of Ronny. There had to be at least twenty in all of my notebooks. Not because he had a particularly interesting face or anything, but because he was just . . . there. I’d drawn all of the regulars that many times because some nights, they’d been the only ones around.
“I’m so sorry,” I lied, scrambling for anything to say to calm Ronny down. “I didn’t mean to lead you on. I draw everyone. It’s just a hobby. I didn’t know you had feel—”
My phone rang again, cutting off my apology.
“Give me that phone!” Ronny exploded, storming across the garage in a flash.
I backed up, trying to get away, but he trapped me against the cabinet. He grabbed my arms, his fingers digging into my biceps, as my phone kept ringing.
“After all the nights we spent together.” He shook me as he spoke, the jolts accentuating his words. “After all the hours I kept you company so you wouldn’t be alone. After everything we had, how could you turn your back on me just because he showed up? Were you thinking of me when you fucked him at the motel? Or in your shed? How could you do that to us? How could you leave me for him? You really are just a filthy cunt.”
Bile rose in my throat as I recalled the last threatening email I’d gotten, the one that had set Logan off.
Ronny was Anonymous743.
He’d been watching me. He’d been watching me with Logan.
He was off his fucking rocker.
Ronny wasn’t much taller than me, maybe an inch or two, but he was stocky. He outweighed me by at least fifty pounds. The grasp he had on my arms was so tight, there was no way I could wiggle free. My only shot was to get him to let me go long enough to make a dash for the door.
I relaxed, completely, letting my shoulders go limp. The move caught him off guard just enough that he stopped shaking me. And the moment he did, I shoved my knee right between his legs.
The second I made contact with his balls, Ronny doubled over, his hands going slack. I wasted no time dashing around him and going for the door. That was lucky. So goddamn lucky. Elation swelled until panic set back in.
Ronny recovered more quickly than I thought and his boots thudded on the cement behind me. I had twenty feet on him, maybe less, but I kept running. My palms slammed into the door and my fingers scrambled for the lock. Open, dammit. Open!
The deadbolt flipped easily and I gave the knob a hard turn. I yanked the door open and flew through but kept my grip on the knob. Once I was clear, I whipped the door closed, watching over my shoulder as it slammed shut. Then I made a break for it, turning for the road just in time to collide with a solid chest.
I screamed as two arms wrapped me tight.
“Thea!” Logan pulled me closer, holding me so I wouldn’t fall.
I blinked, looking up at a familiar chin. “Logan?”
“Thank god.” He breathed in my hair. “Are you okay?”
I shook my head, trying to spin back around to the garage. “It’s Ronny. He’s in there. He’s crazy, Logan! He’s been—”
“You can’t run from me, you fucking bitch! I want to talk!” The garage door flew open and Ronny rushed around the corner. He skidded to a stop on the driveway when he saw Logan.
Logan moved faster than I’d ever seen a human move. He let me go, took two long strides toward Ronny and started throwing punches. His arms were like snakes, striking Ronny’s face, then recoiling only to strike again. It didn’t take more than two seconds for Ronny to drop to the ground in a bloody heap.
I swayed on my feet, unable to process what was happening, when two sheriff’s deputies flew past me. They went right to Logan, ready to drag him off Ronny, but Logan was already backing away.
“We got him, Sheriff,” one of the officers said into his radio while the other fished out a set of handcuffs.
Logan’s breath was coming hard as he turned and came back to me. His hands ran up and down my torso in a frenzy. “Are you hurt? Did he touch you?”
“No.” I shook my head as my eyes took him all in.
He was wearing a suit, sans the jacket. His tie had come askew underneath his vest and his sleeves were rolled up his forearms.
He was gorgeous.
He was here.
If this was a dream—if I’d fallen asleep on the porch—I didn’t want to wake up. Crazy Ronny and all, I’d take this dream every night.
Logan finished his inspection, and when he was convinced I was fine, he wrapped me in his arms. Then he held my head to his heart. My ear was pressed right against its frantic rhythm.
Behind him, I could hear handcuffs being clicked around Ronny’s wrist.
“He came after me,” I whispered. “He was watching us. He sent the emails.”
“I know. Sean tracked him down this afternoon.” His arms banded tighter. “Thank god, you’re okay.”
The adrenaline was fading and my muscles were shaking. The sides of my arms throbbed where Ronny had grabbed me. The strength in my legs was seeping into the concrete. So I clung to Logan, letting him hold me up. “You’re here?”
“I’m here.” He kissed my hair. “And I’m not going anywhere.”
