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Dawson leads me through the hall, past the restrooms and my office, and into the kitchen. I’m only mildly relieved when there’s no furry animal foaming at the mouth, threatening to kill me. That means scenario one can be marked off my worst-case scenarios. Of course that leaves option number two, and now I’m wondering who the dead body is outside.
When he opens the door, my gaze automatically drops to the ground. I breathe a sigh of relief.No dead body there. Then, I look at the dumpsters. Now I’m frowning. There’s no dead body there either. I scan the area quickly and as far as I can tell there’s nothing out of place that I can find, so I figure I might be ahead of the game.
“Dawson, it’s getting late and Ben is expecting me home early, because we have plans.” It sounds so weird hearing myself say that out loud. Me, Juniper Sellers, the woman who was never good enough for anyone and treated like trash by her one boyfriend, has somehow managed to attract the town’s most eligible bachelor.
I don’t know how it happened. It’s so strange for me. I don’t mean to sound sorry for myself, because I’m not.Not really.The life I had made me the woman that I am and after a lot of years, I’ve begun to really like myself. That doesn’t change the past though. I was the woman that no one truly wanted. I don’t even think I was good enough for myself. When I looked in the mirror, all I could see when I saw my reflection were the words that my mother would say to me over and over.
I stop those memories in their tracks, before they have a chance to grab hold of me. That’s a rabbit hole I don’t need to go down.
“Junie, I’m talking about all the writing on the dumpsters and on the wall.” Dawson says that quietly, almost as if he’s trying to handle me gently. That should worry me, but instead it just makes me smile. Maybe I simply needed to move to Maine to find what I’ve been missing in my life. That’s a silly thought, but at the same time it’s probably right.
Ben.
Ben is in Maine. My safe place. I’ll never forget him telling me that, because I felt it deep inside and with his words something took root that I’ve never known before. I’m scared to call it love, but again, that’s exactly what it feels like.
Pulling myself out of my thoughts, I look at Dawson.
He shakes his head, but his face loses some of his tightness as he lets out a small laugh.
“Junie, the graffiti?”
I frown and then I drag my gaze back to the dumpsters and the side of the building.
Well shit.
Someone has taken bright orange spray paint and sprayed everything with slurs.
Bitch. Whore. Cunt.
Across the side of the building in large letters it says, “Go back to Tennessee.” It’s written as T-E-N-N. There’s no doubt who they’re directing this at. Apparently, someone has a lot of anger and it is aimed straight at me.
I let out of frustrated breath. There’s not much more I can do, I even kind of expected this. I’m the new girl in town, and most everyone knows that I am thesisterof a serial killer. They may not hold a grudge against Gavin, because he’s one of their own—even if he did move away for a while. He’s back with Luna now, and the town loves Luna.
Me?I’m an outsider. It’s not an unheard-of role for me, because I’ve lived it most of my life. This is just another blip on the radar.
“I’m so damned sorry, Junie,” Dawson says.
“Why? I’m the sister of a serial killer, it was to be expected.”
“You were his victim, too. You’re also Gavin’s sister. Don’t you don’t think that should matter?”
I pat Dawson on the shoulder—mostly because that’s as high as I can reach.
“Calm down, Big Boy. I’ve had worse words than this directed at me andthosewere spoke in person by a guy slinging his fist.”
“Shit, Junie,” he growls.
“I’ll get some paint and spend Sunday covering it up. It’s fine, Big Guy. Now, let’s get out of here. I got a boyfriend to see and—”
“You might as well wait around,” Dawson says, and I get a very bad feeling…
“Why should I wait around?” I ask him, but I know. I know because I can hear the police siren wail.
“I called the Sheriff’s office when I first saw all of the crap out there.”
“Damn it, Dawson!”
“Junie, we had to report this, they needed to know.”
