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“Bright Side.” His voice was so gentle, I had to look at him. There was regret and a bit of shame coloring his face. “I followed you.”
The spatula fell out of my hand.
No.
I didn’t want it to be true. I liked when there was a possibility that it was a coincidence.
Andrew reached for me and then dropped his hand. He never touched me without my permission. But he followed me.
“I was desperate to know something about you.” He shoved a hand in his pocket and fiddled with his keys. “I-I’ve never done anything like that before.” A noise of frustration escaped him. “It was creepy. Stalkerish. I knew it when I did it, but I couldn’t stop myself.”
“It is creepy,” I confirmed.
Baker was ashen. She didn’t want to be right. It was all over her face that she wanted to be wrong in this case. She stepped closer to me, so that our arms touched. I needed the support more than I realized.
“The second time I went there, I just wanted to feel close to you. I don’t know where you live. I can’t call you.” His keys jingled in his pocket where he turned them over and over. “When I’m with you . . . I can’t really explain it. I’m better. I didn’t know that I needed to be. But I did.”
I stared. Conflicting emotions took up arms. I couldn’t be with a man who would stalk me. But I understood exactly what he meant. I was better with him too.
“I guess I look like a creep again, showing up here uninvited.” He hung his head. “I’m not trying to scare you. I’m sorry if I have.”
“Trish.” Baker’s voice broke. “I’m sorry too. I know you like him. I didn’t mean to make trouble.”
I slid my arm around her waist since my daughter occupied her arms. “Good friends don’t back down from the hard stuff.”
“What’s going on?” Daniel inserted himself in the conversation, his expression lethal when he took in the scene. Baker and I both were upset, and Andrew was slumped against the counter.
“I-I appreciate what you did here, but I think I’ve overstayed my welcome.” He pushed away from the counter and touched my cheek. “The time we’ve had is everything.”
It appeared to take all his effort to let me go. When his back replaced my view of his face, it felt wrong. I couldn’t tear my gaze from him as he left without a word.
“Are you okay?” Daniel’s gruff voice forced me to look away from the empty entryway into the kitchen. The front door closed with an air of finality.
“He admitted he followed her to Paths a few times,” Baker explained. “I wanted you to be happy. I was only trying to look out for you.”
“I know.”
“I checked him out. He’s clean on paper. If he’s into anything, it’s off the radar.”
I whipped my head toward Daniel. “Like what? Keeping a woman locked away in a basement?” I clapped my hand over my mouth. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t—”
“You have every right to say that. What was done to you was heinous. Something you didn’t deserve.”
I gulped at that, because Huxley’s words had always stated the exact opposite, something I’d never shared with anyone but Lisa.You’re an undisciplined slut, a whore. There will never be any freedom for such a recalcitrant tramp like you. No. Freedom.I must have looked dazed, because Daniel leaned down so he could look me in the eyes, and all I saw was stern gentleness. Something that only Daniel Elliott could pull off.
“You didn’t deserve what was done to you, Trish. The evil that sick bastard orchestrated. But the power is in your hands now. The freedom to choose what happens to you, to your body. That freedom is yours.”
I nodded, trying to process what Daniel was saying. “You didn’t find . . . anything?”
“No. And he impressed me today.” My brows shot up at Daniel’s admission. “I recognized the look on his face when he came by the truck. It was the look of a man who was scared shitless and not afraid to admit it.”
“What if he’s telling the truth? That he just wanted to be close to me?” I asked to no one in particular.
“He told the truth. He could have kept denying it,” Baker offered.
“I’ve been wrong before, but I can’t live my life always terrified that I’m making a mistake.” It was a revelation. One that my head and heart were in full agreement on.
“We’ll watch her.” Baker held up Ella. “Go get him.”
