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Whatever, she wasn't going to worry about it right now. Right now, she was just going to enjoy hanging out with her friend and do whatever she could to help find out who was stalking her.
“Thanks, Mike.” She smiled at him. She was more grateful for not only his friendship but also his willingness to give up his life to babysit her twenty-four seven. Although she had been told many times she shouldn’t, sometimes her past did make her feel less worthy of other people’s time and attention than she probably would have if she had grown up with a normal family and never been set down the path that had led to the biggest mistake of her life.
Michael smiled back. “You have to stop thanking me, okay? If things were reversed, you'd do the same for me.”
That was true.
She would, in a heartbeat.
She would do anything for any one of the people she loved.
“I’ll try, but I can't guarantee anything,” she joked. She nodded at his bags, which he’d set on the floor by the door. “There are three spare bedrooms upstairs, you can choose whichever one you like, and the bathroom is all yours because my room has an ensuite.”
Even though she lived alone, she had bought a large family home because it felt so normal, and she wanted to do some things that normal people did for a change. Living in a nice big family home, with a large yard, in the suburbs, on a beautiful tree-lined street seemed about as normal as you could get.
At least on the outside.
On the inside, she lived alone and kind of rattled around the large house. She never used the formal lounge room or dining room, she basically lived in the kitchen and sunroom at the back of the house. There was a small round table, a couch, and a TV she never watched, that was where she sat and ate her heat in the microwave dinner for ones and tended to her bonsai trees. The rest of the house was furnished, but it looked like what it was, the furniture that had been used to stage the house when she’d bought it. The maid who came once a week to clean her house kept it spotless, but she wasn't allowed to clean the kitchen because that was Samara’s own little den, and she didn't like having anyone else in it. It was going to be weird letting Michael in. Maybe while he was staying here, they would use the rest of the house instead.
“All right, I’ll go put my things away and then we can have breakfast,” Michael said, gathering the three bags he’d brought with him. He walked to the bottom of the stairs then paused and looked back at her. “You sure you’re okay?”
Her head felt a little foggy, kind of like when you were allstuffed up with a cold, and she definitely ached all over from slamming into the ground as she jumped from her stalker’s car, but other than that, she was actually feeling better than she would have thought, all things considered. “I’m fine, no need to worry,” she said quickly. The idea of anyone worrying about her made her uncomfortable, and she wanted to brush it away as quickly as she could.
Michael nodded once like he didn't really believe her but didn't want to push it and headed upstairs to unpack.
Samara was glad that he had let it to, just like she was glad he hadn't addressed the fact that although it was only four days until Christmas, there wasn't a single decoration in her house. There was no wreath on her front door, lights framing her house or Christmas scene in her front yard. No garlands circled her banisters, no brightly colored paper chains hung around her windows or stockings by the fireplace, and there was no Christmas tree twinkling merrily in the corner.
Her celebrations of the holidays only went so far as politely attending friends and her family’s Christmas get-togethers. But here in her home, she pretended the holiday didn't exist. She pretended that she hadn't wished practically her whole life that one day someone would care enough to give her the Christmas of her dreams. She pretended that she hated Christmas and didn't want to celebrate it. She pretended that the joy and excitement of others as they prepared for a fun-filled time with loved ones didn't mean anything to her. She pretended that Christmas wasn't important.
She was so tired of pretending.
*****
11:54 A.M.
Ashley Fallon—soon to be Watson when she married herfiancé on Christmas morning—pulled her car into her friend Samara’s driveway. She saw Brady Crowley sitting in a car parked on the other side of the street. She knew he was armed as was Michael who would be staying with Samara until they caught her stalker.
This whole thing gave her a horrible sense of déjà vu.
It was way too similar to what she had been going through this time twelve months ago.
She knew exactly what Samara was going through. While the circumstances of how they ended up with someone after them were different, the end result was the same. Trapped inside, unable to live your life, with a twenty-four hour a day guard glued to your side, unsure if you were still going to be alive when the sun rose on the following morning. Ashley just prayed that things didn't drag on as long as they had for her, and that Samara’s stalker was found and apprehended within the next couple of days.
“You want to go say hi to your guy before we go in?” Ashley asked her friend Aurora as she turned off the engine.
Aurora looked conflicted for a moment but then shook her head, sending her long brown hair tumbling over her shoulders. “No, if the stalker is here, I don’t want to tip him off that the house is being watched. If he knows he might not be brave enough to make another attempt, and if this doesn’t work and Samara being bait doesn’t lead the cops to the stalker, then who knows when this will be over.”
“Probably for the best,” she agreed as they both climbed out. “I’ll carry the gift, you grab the pizza,” she told her friend. Aurora was six months pregnant and shouldn’t be carrying heavy things, and what they had for Samara was definitely heavy.
As they walked up the path, Ashley could feel eyes on her.
They were being watched.
And she was pretty sure it wasn't by Samara’s stalker.
“Your husband is watching you like a hawk,” she said to Aurora.
“You know Brady, and he’s been even more protective since we found out we were having a baby.” The love in her voice when Aurora spoke of her husband and soon-to-be new little bundle of joy filled Ashley with a deep longing. She couldn’t wait until she married her best friend turned fiancé, and they were getting ready to welcome their baby into the world.
