AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What did the fucking note say?”
He swears under his breath and shuffles his feet. “It just called you a fucking whore.”
I take a step backward and feel like someone kicked me in the stomach. “Like the spray paint on the house. What the hell did I do to someone to deserve this?”
“You didn’t do anything,” he rushes to assure me, but I shake my head.
“Obviously, I did. If someone is doing all of this, I must have hurt them in some way, or I did something?—”
“This isn’t your fault,” he assures me, taking my shoulders in his hands. “You didn’t ask for this, babe. Let me take care of this. I’ll handle it. If you don’t want to go back to work, grab Lily and go to my place, and I’ll meet you there later.”
I nod and take a long, shaky breath. “You go back to work. I think I will go back to the shop and keep my mind busy for a while.”
“I’m sorry, Summer.”
“Yeah, me, too.”
When I get back to my store, I fill the others in on what’s going on, and we spend at least an hour speculating on who could be behind this.
“It’s not random kids,” Ida says, shaking her head.
“I don’t know anyone who has any kind of a grudge against me,” I tell them, worrying my lower lip between my teeth.
“Except Evan,” Sharla reminds me. I had to tell them all what happened last week because they asked what happened at dinner. “He was mad, and maybe he’s the one doing it.”
“I ran into him literally minutes before my phone went off,” I remind her. “He can’t be in two places at once. Besides, he was headed in the opposite direction, toward the courthouse.”
“Yeah, and he’s not the type to throw rocks through windows,” Sharla concedes. “You’re right. I don’t know, but it’s scary. I’m glad you’re not staying there right now.”
“Me, too.” I don’t know what I’d do without Chase. “I think the adrenaline is wearing off. It made me sweat.”
“I’d be bawling my eyes out,” Sharla says.
“I think I’m getting used to it. Isn’t that horrible?”
“Yes, it is horrible,” Ida says sternly. “And I plan to ask Chase what he’s going to do about it. This has to stop.”
“He’s working on it,” I assure her.
“We need to talk.” It’s several hours later, and Chase has just walked through his front door. I brought Lily here not long ago and have been waiting for him to get home.
“Yeah, we do.” He kisses my forehead as he passes by to the kitchen and pulls a bottle of water out of the fridge, twists off the cap, and takes a long sip. “You go first.”
“I’m selling my house.”
That catches his attention. His eyes narrow on my face as he lowers the bottle.
“I have to, Chase. So much has happened that I just can’t go back to living there. I’ll buy something else or just rent somewhere for a while. If I need to, I can move in with Aunt Paula.”
“You’ll stay here,” he says immediately.
“I don’t want to put you out?—”
“You’ve been living with me for months,” he reminds me. “And if I have my way, you’ll move in and live here permanently.”
“Per—” I swallow hard and have to lower into the chair behind me. “Permanently?”
“Yes.” He frames my face in his hands. “You’ll stay here. It’s where you belong, Blondie. Here with me.”
