Chapter 9 #2
“I don’t think there’s any chance of that. I love you, Simon.”
“Damn, I didn’t think I’d get so emotional hearing you say that to me. I love you too. Have fun today.”
“I will.”
He leaned in and kissed her, then stepped back. “I’ll stop by and see you. If you need anything, just shoot me a text.”
Atlee nodded. She kept her gaze locked on his ass as he walked away from her, toward the door. She waved when he turned around before exiting and sighed once he was gone.
“Giiiiiiirl!”
Atlee grinned at Bethany, one of her employees.
She was in her mid-twenties and still trying to figure out what she wanted to do with her life after college.
She’d moved back home to live with her parents, and Atlee lucked out when the energetic, outgoing woman had walked into the food pantry, wanting to know if she had a job available.
“You two are adorable together. He’s…”
Atlee didn’t wait for Bethany to come up with an adjective. She offered her own. “Perfect for me.”
“Yes, he is.”
Warmth filled her. “You ready to move the first load to the square?”
“Yup. Let’s do this!” Bethany said perkily.
They spent the next hour moving food and getting the booth set up, and then the rest of the day went by in a blur.
Atlee and her employees passed out fruit and info cards and talked to just about everyone who was there to celebrate the holiday.
Most people were wearing something green, and the bright color was nice to see in the square after the brutally snowy winter they’d had.
Spring was a time for new beginnings, and Atlee couldn’t help but think about her own with Simon. And more immediately…what their evening might entail. She had no idea what Simon had planned for their so called eightieth anniversary, but felt on top of the world throughout the day.
He came over now and then to say hi, check in, and steal a few kisses…which was more than all right with Atlee. Around two o’clock, before the scheduled end of the celebration, she and her employees had given out all their food, and even all of their info cards.
“Why don’t you go on and get ready for your night,” Bethany said with a grin.
“I need to help clean up, get everything back to the food pantry,” Atlee said with a shake of her head.
“Why? We’ve got this. It’s what you pay us for. Go, Atlee. Do as Simon asked. Put your feet up for a hot second. Relax. Daydream about your man coming home and whatever he has planned. You deserve it. You work your ass off for this town.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
Atlee wasn’t one to shirk her duties, but she couldn’t help but admit, at least internally, that she needed a break.
She was tired. She worked really hard to get donations and to get the word out about the food pantry.
Winter was always tough on people, and she was ready to do just as Bethany suggested—relax. “Okay, I will. Thanks.”
“Of course. But I’m gonna want to know what amazing things that man of yours came up with to celebrate.”
Atlee chuckled. “Of course you are. You’re the worst gossip out of everyone at work.”
Bethany didn’t take offense. “I need to live vicariously through you and everyone else. My social life is crap. But I love this town, as small as it is. You give me hope that I can find a man as good as Simon one day.”
“You will,” Atlee told her.
“Git,” Bethany said with a smile. “Text your guy so he knows you’re heading to his house. Maybe it’ll give him incentive to get people packed up and gone the second three o’clock rolls around.”
Atlee pulled out her phone and let Simon know she was calling it a day and on her way to his place. He responded immediately, telling her to drive safe and he’d see her soon. He also reminded her not to do any housework or chores when she got to his house.
She drove to his house with a smile on her face.
It was a new thing for her, being with a guy who demanded she not do the dishes, the laundry, or anything else.
Her ex always complained that their house was a mess, calling her lazy for not keeping it cleaned to his standards.
Even though she was the only one doing any housework, on top of taking care of Renee and working full time.
She parked in the driveway and cut the engine to her SUV.
Looking down at the bigfoot keychain in her hand, and the brand-new key Simon had made for her, she couldn’t help but smile wider.
She wasn’t sure if he was asking her to move in permanently, and she wasn’t exactly expecting it, as they hadn’t really been together all that long.
But knowing he saw them getting married one day made her feel warm and fuzzy inside.
Thankful that she already had some comfy clothes she could change into inside—at Simon’s insistence, she’d left some things in a couple of his dresser drawers—she made her way toward the front door.
She slipped the key into the lock and couldn’t keep the silly grin off her face when the deadbolt clicked open without a sound.
It was just like Simon to keep his locks oiled and functioning flawlessly.
Atlee went inside and shut the door behind her, turning the lock on instinct. As a single woman, she’d always understood the need for safety, and with someone in town breaking into homes, she was extra cautious.
Putting her new house key and car fob in the bowl on a table near the front door, where Simon always dropped his own keys and wallet when he entered the house, she wandered into the living area connected to the kitchen.
Deciding to splurge, she grabbed a bottle of wine off the counter and opened a drawer to find a bottle opener.
She’d pour herself a glass, then go sit on the couch.
She had a book she wanted to dive back into on her phone, and she’d occupy herself with that as she waited for Simon to arrive.
A noise had her looking up and into the living room with the bottle opener in her hand.
Blinking, it took her a moment to process what she was seeing.
There was a man in the house.
No…a boy. Someone Atlee had never seen before. He wasn’t very tall, maybe around her height, five-nine or so. He had brown hair, and he hadn’t shaved in a couple of days…but it was his eyes that had her freezing where she stood.
There was no emotion in them at all. He didn’t look scared to be caught inside a house that wasn’t his. He looked…soulless. And that scared the scrap out of her.
This wasn’t a boy who was inside Simon’s house out of necessity. Because he was hungry or desperate for money to help his family, like Marley, the boy who’d been breaking into cars on the interstate. This kid was bad news.
He was holding a plastic grocery bag in one hand that seemed to be quite full. He’d obviously been in Simon’s house for a while, picking and choosing what he wanted to steal.
How long they stood there and stared at each other, Atlee had no idea. She was scared to do anything. To speak, to move. She hoped that he’d flee, but he wasn’t moving. He was staring as if trying to decide what to do about the fact that she’d caught him red-handed.
Suddenly, he dropped the bag of Simon’s belongings and, instead of running toward the door, he came at her. Fast and aggressively.
Letting out a small sound of distress, Atlee tried to back up, but there was nowhere to go in the kitchen. The boy didn’t have any weapons that she could see, but that didn’t matter.
Atlee tried to block his fist as he swung at her, but she was a fraction of a second too slow. He hit her. Hard.
And it hurt. More than she thought it would.
He didn’t say a word, although he’d grunted when he hit her.
Atlee dropped to the floor, one hand on her cheek and the other landing on the tile, breaking her fall.
The next few seconds were a blur as the boy began to kick her. Hitting her anywhere he could, while Atlee did her best to protect herself from the blows. Neither said a word, both concentrating too hard on the fight.
If it could be called that.
The person in the house might be a boy, but he was strong. Far stronger than Atlee.
She had a moment of fear and despair about what Simon would think when he walked into his house, expecting to find her chilling out and looking forward to the evening ahead, but instead finding her crumpled and bleeding on his kitchen floor.
It was her last thought before the intruder’s booted foot made contact with her head, and everything went dark.
Atlee came back to consciousness slowly.
She ached. All over. She tried to open her eyes, but only one would open properly.
It took several seconds for her to realize where she was and to remember what had happened.
She was lying on her side on the cold tile floor in Simon’s kitchen.
There was an intruder. He’d hurt her. Badly.
But he hadn’t killed her…yet.
She could hear him somewhere nearby. He was breaking things, mumbling under his breath.
Atlee couldn’t understand why he hadn’t left.
Why was he still there? She didn’t know how long she’d been unconscious, but figured it couldn’t have been too long at all, if the kid was still in the house.
She couldn’t see him, but she had a feeling he wasn’t done with her.
Why would he leave a witness to what he’d done? Someone who could identify him?
She needed help. Now.
Moving slowly so as not to make any noise, and because every movement sent piercing pain through her body, she reached for her back pocket.
She almost cried when she found her phone still there.
She pulled it out and brought her arm back around to her front.
Thinking fast, she quickly flicked the button that would put the phone on silent mode—the last thing she needed was for it to ring or ding with a text or email—then unlocked it and clicked on Simon’s name.
She could’ve called 9-1-1, but Simon was the police. He’d know immediately something was wrong when she didn’t speak. He’d come. She had no doubt whatsoever about that. She just hoped it wouldn’t be too late. That he wouldn’t get hurt when he confronted the young man in his house.
Not even bringing the phone up to her ear to listen to it ring or to see if Simon answered, Atlee tucked it against her chest to hide it…just in time. The kid appeared from around the counter and stared down at her with a sneer.
“Welcome back,” he said.
Hearing his voice for the first time made Atlee flinch. He was calm. Too calm. It scared the crap out of her.
“Get up.”
When she didn’t move, simply lay there on the floor staring at him, he spoke again.
Except this time he yelled. Loudly, and with such force it made her jerk in fear.
“Get the fuck up!”
Then his voice lowered a little. “It’s time for some fun.”