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“You were ghosting him, so he came up with this plan. Because he wants to see you.”
A compact clicked closed on her side. “Okay, I hear that smile. He’s not going to change. I don’t trust him.”
“It’s a little romantic and that’s making me smile. Go see what he has to say for himself.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” Charley and I went into the front yard for a little more walking before bed. The freedom of it wasn’t lost on me.
“Okay, fine.” She blew out a long breath. “He does look really cute.”
“You’ve got this, hot stuff.”
“Thanks. I’m still gonna be hard on him.”
“Damn straight.”
We hung up and then I took Charley in through the front door. He was stumbling a bit with exhaustion. I sighed. If Ileft him in his crate, he’d cry and be sad. It wasn’t even ten yet.
I put on my pajamas. Charley had passed out on his dog bed before I’d left the bathroom. My phone showed an alert for a new message in my social media account. I glanced down at it, expecting spam. It was from Clint.
Clint: Hey, babe. I saw that’s stalker’s finally in jail. When can you come out? Miss you.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Sometimes life pulls you through a portal, like an invisible door through space, and you find yourself on the other side where you didn’t expect to be. I kept not recognizing myself in the new aftermath of my life.
My injuries from the fight with the stalker were still tender and, if I wanted to, I could blame my new caution and fear on that. I’d nearly died. Miller had glared down at me, vindictive triumph on his face, and I’d seen my death reaching out to take me in a matter of seconds. Joshua too had gone to that dark place and stared at me like I was his sacrifice in a blood ritual. I shivered.
“Over and done,” I muttered to myself, alone in my bedroom.
Charley sighed in his sleep. I crawled under my covers then stared down at my phone.
Sally: Hi. I’m still recovering from my fight with that asshole and not traveling anytime soon. I won’t make it out there. Time for us both to move on. Take care and I’m rooting for you.
The message left, zooming off to Clint nearly as fast asthe speed of light, and I stayed where I was, wiping my face with a tissue. I needed to do the right thing.
At eight the next morning, Amber walked through my front door, a big tote bag over her arm. “It’s Saturday,” she said. “Let’s go do something.”
“Road trip to the coast?”
“Girl, I can’t think of a better way to spend the day.” She plopped down in the chair next to mine at the dining-room table. “Can you drive though? I had a hard time sleeping last night.”
Charley stood up next to Amber and grumbled, a doggie smile on his face. She petted him. After a few nervous starts, I thought he was loving our outings away from the house.
“Yeah, I’ll drive. It’s only about forty minutes west.” I got up and made a plate of food for her in the kitchen. Antonio had been baking again and the selection of rolls and pastries was a little terrifying—from the standpoint of being able to fit into my clothes. I put the bread and a cup of coffee in front of her. “Ready to talk? Or do you want to wait until we’re moving?”
She pulled apart a roll and put a small piece in her mouth. “I didn’t even kiss him.”
I sipped my coffee. “Do you want to see him again?”
She put her head on the table. “I don’t know. He’s too good with words—and he laughs at me.”
“Poor shug.” I patted her shoulder. “Let’s go eat a big seafood lunch and find tacky magnets to send to our relatives.”
We put on music and drove through verdant green forests, past rivers and streams, farms, and hippie communes. Amber dozed a bit. Charley panted and stared out the window with his ears perked up from his perch in the back seat.
The car topped another rise in the twisting road and theocean spread out before us, the edge of water seeming to curve away from the sky. Amber and I cheered and Charley barked.
