Chapter 17
Damn but Jamie looked good in his running shorts. And his well-loved Parker County Police Academy t-shirt fit snug, showing off his flat stomach and thick biceps. He’s in great shape. I had to force myself to look away as he walked towards me. My mother’s ficus tree suddenly needed my undivided attention.
He gave me some safety tips, then we stretched. I can’t believe I teased him about running too fast for him to keep up. I hadn’t run in almost a year because of Asshat Craig.
After jogging for a few blocks to warm up, I picked up speed and ran at what I thought was a fast pace. Jamie ran beside me, always between me and the road, and matched me stride for stride. I felt a little awkward at first, but eventually I found my stride and settled into a rhythm.
I snuck a peek at Jamie when we stopped to wait for traffic at a four-way intersection. He was sweating, we both were, it was summer in Texas, but he didn’t look winded. Not even a little. Unlike me, I wasn’t gasping for air or anything, but I was grateful for the mini-break while we waited for the pedestrian light to change to the walk signal.
When we started running again I set a quicker pace, wanting to see if I could outrun him. He kept up without effort, so I pushed myself harder, speeding up again when we reached the running track at the park. He didn’t bat an eye as he adjusted his stride to mine. It wasn’t long before I was gassed and had to rest. What was I thinking? I spotted a water fountain and used taking a drink as an excuse to catch my breath. I doubted I was fooling Jamie with my I need for water act, but he didn’t say anything other than, “Thanks, I needed a water break.”
“Do you run a lot?” I asked as he wiped away water that had splashed on his upper lip.
“Not as much as I did when I was on the force, but often enough.” His grin told me what I’d already guessed—I wouldn’t be outrunning him. At least he was nice enough to not say it out loud. “How about you?”
“I haven’t run in about a year.” I didn’t mention Asshat Craig. “It probably shows.” My laugh sounded nervous.
“You’re keeping a good pace for taking a year off.” He said it casually but I felt heat rise in my cheeks at the small compliment.
“Thanks. Ready?”
“Whenever you are.” He winked as the left side of his mouth lifted in a grin.
Is he flirting? Because he legit just winked at me.
I set a slow, steady pace for the run back. We both knew I couldn’t out run him, so there was no point in running myself stupid trying.
When we got back to the house, I invited him in. “You can take a shower if you want.” I didn’t think he’d relish the idea of sitting in his car in sweaty gym clothes or putting on his street clothes without showering.
“That’d be great. Thanks.” Jamie said before grabbing his bag and heading towards the full guest bath on the first floor.
I thought about running upstairs and showering, but decided it’d be better to wait until he was done. Most men I knew showered much faster than I did, mostly because of my long hair, and I wanted to see him again before he went back to shadowing me.
When Jamie was getting ready to leave, my mom invited him to stay for dinner.
“Thanks for the invite Mrs. Taylor, but I’m on the clock so I can’t.”
“But you’d be here with us, surely you could protect us from the inside as well as from the outside.” I had to constantly remind my mother that not only did she not need to feed the guys from SSI during their shifts, but she wasn’t supposed to interact with them at all.
“Not quite as well. The idea is to see, and stop, him before he gets too close.” Jamie showed off his diplomacy skills by adding, “But I wouldn’t object to having some leftovers delivered curb side.” He smiled at my mom, causing her whole face to light up. He’d made her day by letting her break his rules.
“I’ll send Emily out with a plate.”
“Thank you Mrs. Taylor.”
“Please, call me Anne.”
He nodded but didn’t respond, instead he asked me, “Walk me to the door?”
My mom went to the kitchen while I walked with Jamie. I had a feeling he wanted to say something, so I waited for him to speak first.
“Does your mom try to feed everyone?” He didn’t sound mad, just curious.
“She wants to, but I don’t let her. She knows she’s not supposed to talk to them but pretends to forget.” I shook my head and rolled my eyes.
“Thanks for that. I know she means well but it’s for everyone’s safety that we ask you to ignore us while we’re here.” Jamie’s hazel eyes looked distant, like he was thinking about something else. Not sad, per se, just thoughtful.
“You okay?”
Jamie blinked twice in rapid succession. “Yeah, I just wish things were different.”
So do I, but I doubted he meant it the same way I did.
“Do me a favor, text me before you bring out my dinner. I want to make sure there aren’t a lot of people milling around.”
I nodded as I answered. “Sure, I can do that.”
“Thanks Em. I’m right outside if you need me.”
He called me Em. I smiled as I sprinted upstairs to my bedroom.
After dinner I got a text from Jamie, asking me if he could give Meg my number so we could arrange a time to get together. At first I thought it was weird, since Meg had my phone number but then it occurred to me that she had access to my number in a professional capacity but we hadn’t exchanged numbers personally.
I texted back and said it was okay, and made sure to thank him. It meant a lot that he was asking instead of assuming. He did that on our run too.
A few minutes later I got a call from Meg. She said she couldn’t wait to get to know me, claiming the Sheppard’s had lots of nice things to say about me. My small smile soon turned to a much bigger one when she asked if I wanted to meet at Grannie’s the next day for lunch. I loved Grannie’s and hadn’t been there since I’d come home, so I readily agreed. We agreed to meet at one o’clock the next day.
“Do I need to tell Jamie,” I corrected myself, “or someone from SSI, that I’m going out for lunch tomorrow?”
Meg’s soft laugh held no judgement when she said, “You just did. I’ll take care of everything. See you tomorrow Emily.”
Right.“Thanks. See you tomorrow.”
We didn’t talk for long, but I got the feeling I was going to like Meg.
Doug offered to drive me to Grannie’s, saying it’d be easier, but I still didn’t like the idea of being driven around so I politely declined. He simply nodded and said, “Holla when you’re ready to go.”
There was a brief moment, while I crossed the street to Grannie’s, that I regretted my choice. If Doug had driven, he would have been walking beside, not a few feet behind, me. Not that it would have stopped me from having a minor panic attack when I thought I saw Asshat Craig’s car and came to a full stop halfway across the street. My heart racing as my body froze in place.
Doug was at my side in a matter of seconds, scanning left and right while guiding me the rest of the way across the street. “Emily, are you okay? What happened?”
It couldn’t be him, why would he be here?I sucked in some much needed air and counted to ten. Or at least I tried, Doug wasn’t patient enough to wait that long for an answer.
“Emily?”
“I’m okay.” Doug’s eyes followed mine, as I looked back over my shoulder. “I thought I saw Asshat Craig, sorry, Craig. But it couldn’t be him.” It’d be too much of a coincidence for him to be driving by Grannie’s, five hours from where he lived, in the middle of a work day, just as I was crossing the street. No way it was him.
Doug put his hand on my back and steered me towards the door, “Let’s get you inside.”
Meg was already there, and unfortunately she’d just witnessed everything. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, just freaked myself out.”
“Let’s get you a coffee and you can tell me all about it.” She called out over my shoulder, “Doug?”
I looked back, Doug was standing near a high top facing the door, talking to someone on his phone. Great, he’s probably telling Jamie what happened. Which only made sense since it was his job and Jamie was his boss. So why did it bother me so much?
Doug held up his free hand, making the peace sign, in answer to Meg’s question, never taking his eyes off the door.
As Meg delivered two coffees to Doug—two, not a peace sign—I grabbed a booth and looked around the dining room. It hadn’t changed much since we’d all hung out here in high school. The dark wood tables and brown leather bar stools at the high tops were the same, bright ceiling lights providing plenty of light, while the soft hanging chandelier lamps provided a rustic candle glow. The walls were decorated with the same pictures of old saloons, though I noticed a few new black and white photos of employees and a few from the Wyatt Foundation fundraisers. I’ll be able to attend this year. The shelves along the walls were still crammed with old fashioned glass bottles, and dusty cowboy hats hung on pegs below them. For a second, I was transported back in time, when things were simpler. Safer.
It didn’t last long because Meg sat down across from me and asked how I was holding up.
“I’m okay, just spooked myself.” I’d convinced myself it couldn’t have been Asshat Craig.
“Okay. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help?”
I didn’t think there was, well except maybe not talking about it. “Thanks.” I changed the subject. “How do you like working at SSI?”
Meg glowed while she told me how much she loved it, especially working with Jack. Then she asked me what I do, so I told her about designing websites and managing social media accounts for businesses.
“That must require a lot of creativity? How do you know what to post?”
“I don’t manage content, what I do is behind the scenes. It’s a mix of number crunching and trend watching. The creative part is in designing their sites.”
“That’s so cool.”
Meg and I both looked at the door when the bell chimed and saw Jack walk in. That explains the two coffees. He nodded in our direction before sitting down with Doug. I looked at Meg with a raised eyebrow.
“Just in case.” Her answer was short and to the point.
I hate that this is my life right now.
“Jamie said you and your friend Ashley are joining us for the county fair?”
“Is that okay?”
“Of course, the more the merrier!” Her smile was contagious. “The guys have been a million times, but I’ve never been so I begged Jack to take me.”
“It’s a lot of fun, we used to go every year. Though I haven’t been in a few years.”
“Then I’m glad you can join us.” She looked over her shoulder towards Jack, before whispering behind her hand, “He thinks I’m crazy cause I can’t wait to feed the baby cows.”
It felt good to laugh.
I was about to ask Meg about her favorite books, because Jack and Jamie had mentioned we shared a love of reading, but I was interrupted by Mary’s voice cutting across the dining room.
“Jack. Doug. What a pleasant surprise.” She walked over and hugged Jack. When she pulled back, he pointed to us. I wouldn’t have thought it was possible for Mary’s smile to get any bigger, but it did.
“Emily Taylor, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.” She crossed the dining room and pulled me out of the booth to give me a hug. It’d been a long time since I’d felt the love expressed in one of her mama bear hugs, and I relished it. I loved my mom, without question, and her hugs were food for my soul. But it never hurt to have more than one woman give you that kind of heartfelt hug.
“It’s good to see you too, Mrs. Sheppard.”
“Please, it’s Mary.” I looked to Meg and she nodded.
“I’m sorry, I’m interfering with your girl time.” She squeezed Meg’s hand. “I’ll leave you two to it.”
Meg and I made eye contact, and it amazed me that I could tell we both had the same idea. I nodded.
Meg suggested, “Why don’t you join us, if you’re not too busy.”
“Never too busy for family,” Mary said as she scooted in beside Meg. “How are you Emily?”
I figured she probably knew all about what was going on, since her husband and sons were hired to protect me, so I didn’t hide.
“Pretty good, but I’ll be glad when this whole mess is over.” I nodded in the general direction of Doug and Jack, who looked like two friends hanging out for a relaxing cup of afternoon coffee rather than two bodyguards poised to intercept an abusive ex-boyfriend.
“I can understand that. I don’t know what happened, but I hope for your sake it’s all resolved soon.” Mary’s reply shocked me. I assumed because Meg, and well, her whole family, knew that she would too. When I looked at Meg, she answered my unasked question with a smile. They really take their client confidentiality seriously.
“Thank you.” I picked up my coffee. “I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed your coffee Mrs. Shepp-Mary.” I corrected myself because her expression told I probably should.
“Three generations of Winchester women thank you.” Mary had inherited the coffee shop from her grandmother. It would’ve have passed to her mother, but she died before Grannie. Before that, this place had been a run down saloon, which explained the décor.
Just then a woman with a Grannie’s apron came around the counter and started wiping down tables. Mary called her over, “Beth, have you met Emily Taylor, Anne and Chris’s daughter?”
She transferred the wet cloth to her left hand before wiping her right hand on her apron and reaching out to shake my hand. “I don’t believe I have. But I’ve heard so much about you.” My heart jumped to my throat. Does everyone know what happened? “You’re the spitting image of your mother. She gushes about you so much, I feel as if I know you.”
“Thanks.” I didn’t realize my mom was still close with Mary, or friends with Beth. Beth stayed and talked to us for a few minutes before returning to work. Mary stayed a few minutes longer before she too returned to work.
Meg and I talked until her lunch hour was over. When she stood, she said, “I’m glad we did this. I can’t wait to spend the day with you, and Ashley. She sounds like a hoot.”
“Me too.” And I meant it. “Ashley can be crazy but she has a heart of gold.”
When we got to the door, Doug went out first and scanned, then nodded. Jack held the door for me and Meg, then followed behind us. The three of them escorted me to my car. Total overkill. My face must have given me away because Meg said, “Sorry, Jack doesn’t want to leave me alone, just in case, so you get a full escort.” I might have thought she was annoyed based on her words, but her face was all smiles when she looked at Jack.
“No worries. Thanks again, Meg.”
Jack waited with Meg until Doug got in his truck, then waved to let me know I was free to go.
God it sucks that this is my life.
On the drive home, I couldn’t stop thinking about the car I saw. The one I thought was Asshat Craig’s. It had been in the back of my mind while I had coffee with Meg, but was easy enough to ignore while I had someone to distract me.
I told myself there was no way it was him. I didn’t think he’d take a day off of work just to drive around Weatherford, hoping to see me. If it had been him, he would have said something, or at least honked at me to scare me. He wouldn’t have seen me and kept going without trying to hurt me, verbally or physically.
I’d finally convinced myself I was just being paranoid as I parked. I grabbed the bag of muffins I’d picked up for my parents, and glanced across the street to see if Doug had parked yet. Of course he had. I felt stupid for taking comfort from seeing him there, when I’d been telling everyone I didn’t think I needed protection.
After getting out of the car, I made sure my locks clicked before walking to the front door. I noticed something on the porch, it looked like flowers but the colors seemed off.
When I got closer, I could see they were flowers and the reason the color looked off was because they were dead. My breath caught in my throat as I looked over my shoulder, expecting to see Craig. He wasn’t there. Taking a deep breath, I looked around to see if someone was watching, waiting to see my reaction, but the only person I could see was Doug. I thought about calling him, but didn’t want to over-react twice in one day. I’m sure it’s just the neighborhood kids playing a prank. The last thing I needed was for the SSI guys to think of me as the girl who cried wolf.
I picked up the bouquet of dead summer flowers and carried them inside, hoping Doug hadn’t noticed me or, if he had, didn’t think it was worth his attention.
He had. When I got inside, I had a text from Doug asking if everything was alright. Not wanting to make a big deal out of what was most likely a prank, I told him everything was fine.
There’s no way I saw Craig near Grannie’s today.
There’s no way he thought to buy flowers and let them die.
There’s no way he drove five hours just to leave them for me to find on my parent’s porch without making contact.
Right?
My hands were shaking, and my breath came in ragged spurts as I put the prank flowers in a garbage bag, then took them out to the trash bin in the garage. I didn’t want anyone to find them.
Because it was just a prank, and nothing to worry about.
If I say it enough, I’ll believe it.