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“Are you two…” Teagan gestured vaguely.
“What?” Brittany asked, looking shocked. “Oh no. Not that. No. He just wants hedges that won’t die within weeks of planting, and he keeps strange hours.”
“Oh, okay…” Teagan wasn’t sure why she felt so relieved but she did.
Brittany didn’t comment on it if she noticed, so Teagan continued.
“Well, anyway, he’s a contractor and he lives in the houses he’s renovating, so there wasn’t a bed. Or heating. And we ended up cuddling on the floor. Shea and Brad came by the next day to help Jaxon with some project and found us there together. Rather than come clean about why I was there, I lied and said we were together. He backed me up.”
“Interesting,” Brittany said, dragging out different syllables of the word.
“I thought so,” Teagan replied with a shrug. A quick glance up at the clock revealed it was officially past the time for her shift to start, and Brittany was reacting slightly differently than she was expecting, and a change of topic sounded lovely. “So what do I need to do around here?”
Britt was silent for what felt like the longest moment ever, but she spoke again, a look in her eyes indicated the discussion wasn’t over, but she answered Teagan anyway. “The sansevieria are ready to be repotted,” she replied. “You want to get started on that?”
Relieved, Teagan nodded. “Only if I can take one home… They’re the only bloody plant I can’t seem to kill, so I love them.”
“You have at least two already,” her friend laughed. “Or were you wanting one of the moonshine ones? Because I might have already potted two of the bigger ones and saved them back for us…”
“You read my mind, like always,” Teagan grinned and reached for her gardening gloves, ready to disappear into the back of the greenhouse for a few hours with naught but several dozen plants and piles of new potting soil to accompany her. “Anything else need repotting while I’m going to have my hands dirty?”
The front door of the shop jingled, interrupting Brittany’s response. Both of them turned to see who had entered.
Teagan’s blood ran cold and she took a step back, gripping her gloves while Eric McKinnon meandered up towards the counter. He took his time getting there, stopping to flick the leaves of this plant or that one.
Chapter Seven
It gave Teagan ample time to form a plan. Unfortunately, the only thing she could come up with was to flee. But she knew he would just follow her to a less public area and besides, she wouldn’t do that to Brittany.
“Hello, Teagan,” he simpered, once he’d reached the front counter where she was standing with Brittany.
Her back straightened and she jutted her chin out, a side-effect of her mother’s influence because she didn’t feel like doing it at that moment. She didn’t feel strong, she felt used up.
Eric was like a vampire, he sucked all her willpower the second he got close and turned his attention on her.
“Eric,” she said, her voice crisp and cool, even though she felt like screaming.
“You’re a hard one to track down, did you know?” he said. “I went looking at the university library and I realized your finals must have ended because there weren’t many cars in the parking lots. Since I haven’t been able to catch you at home, I had to settle for coming up here again.”
She hadn’t been so much dodging his calls as she’d blocked his number soon after Jaxon had changed her locks. Teagan wasn’t much of a dodger, she was more skilled in avoidance.
“Ever stop to think she might have been dodging your calls because she didn’t want to talk to you?” Brittany trilled from behind her. Teagan stood up a little straighter, remembering she wasn’t alone.
Eric turned towards Britt for the first time since he’d arrived, smiling in a way that dripped bitter saccharine. “You know, that thoughtdidoccur to me, Ms. Barclay. But you see, I left something- a piece of my property- at Teagan’s place the last time I was there and it’sratherimportant that I get it back. So, if you’ll excuse me?” He turned back to Teagan, who noted the glint in his eyes. How it changed from sweet to sour in a second’s time. “I left it in your bathroom, do you if mind I swing by later when you’re home and pick it up?”
“It’s gone,” she said, fighting to keep the waver from her voice. She almost apologized, but then stopped herself. He didn’t deserve an apology. “We- Ifound it. Assumed it was garbage. Tossed it. Oops.”
Shit. Maybe he hadn’t noticed the slip-up. But like always, nothing registered on his face. There wasn’t a flicker of anything that would have prepared her for what came out of his mouth next.
“Well. Do give the boyfriend a call, so you two can give the place a once over and let me know if I left anything else. Okay? You know how to reach me.” He turned back towards Brittany. “Good day. Lovely shop, Ms. Barclay.” He turned back to Teagan. “And you, Teagan. Always a pleasure.”
He left, the door to the shop jingling when he exited, and with him, went every shred of courage Teagan had to her name. She let her gloves slip from her hands. She reached out for the counter to support her weight. “Oh God, he knows. Britt, heknows. Did you hear him? He said ‘boyfriend’, he knows about Jaxon...”
Brittany came to her instantly, reaching out to squeeze her hand. “Oh, he doesn’t knowanything.”
“What?” Teagan asked, bewildered in her misery.
Britt scoffed. “Listen. I’ve known Erics my entire life. He’s just great at picking up context clues. He guessed boyfriend, but as far as he knows, you could have been referring to Brad or your dad, orme. You gave him nothing other than someone helped you clean up after he left. It could be anyone.”
