Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
As soon as I saw her on the porch, I knew something was up.
Yeah, the cut-off jeans and that mind-blowing red top might have thrown me for a moment, but I immediately pinged to her expression.
I didn’t want to start a game of twenty questions in front of Miss Laverne, so I figured I’d let Joy lead the conversation.
“How’d it go at the Wylies?” she asked as she held open the screen door for Miss Laverne.
“It was wonderful. I didn’t realize we’d be gone as long as we were, but Delilah wanted to visit. I should have insisted you come along.”
I guided Miss Laverne to her favorite chair in the parlor, where she took a grateful seat.
“Can I get you something to drink?” Joy asked.
“Lemonade would be lovely, dear,” the older lady smiled.
“I’ll help.”
Joy tossed a sassy smile over her shoulder as she sashayed into the kitchen.
I made sure to keep a few steps between us so I could admire her ass in those shorts as we went into the kitchen.
My girl knew what she was doing, I could tell, because she bent awfully low when she looked into the fridge for the lemonade, considering the fact that the pitcher was on the top shelf.
I groaned.
She giggled as she took a peek at my expression over her shoulder.
“You like teasing me, don’t you?”
“Depends.” She lifted the pitcher, turned around, and placed it on the counter.
“What does it depend on?” I asked.
“Whether you like being teased.”
“Oh, I like it all right. Just know that tonight, there are going to be some repercussions.”
Her eyes got wide. “Graham,” she gasped. “We can’t do anything tonight. We’re staying here, remember?”
I braced my hands on the counter on either side of her and leaned in. She smelled wonderful—honeysuckle and sunshine. I had no choice. I had to kiss her.
“Miss Laverne,” she breathed out just before my lips met hers.
Kissing Joy was like being on my bike and leaning into the wind at eighty miles an hour; loud, reckless, and exactly where I wanted to be. She tasted like mint and heat and something I couldn’t yet name.
She pulled away first, blinking up at me with flushed cheeks and slightly parted lips. “You’re my kind of trouble, Graham Wallace.”
I ran a thumb across her lower lip, letting it linger. “Doll, if you think I’m the trouble in this scenario, you haven’t looked in a mirror.”
“You’re good for a girl’s ego,” Joy smiled. “I’m thinking about keeping you.”
“That’s the plan.”
“Now let me get Miss Laverne’s lemonade poured.”
“I’ll do that,” I said. “You go out and visit with her.”
She stood on tiptoe and gave me a soft kiss. “Thank you.” Then she sashayed out of the kitchen, and I admired her ass yet again.
It took me more than a minute to find Miss Laverne’s tray for the lemonade, so when I got out to the parlor, I could tell something had changed. The air in the room was electric. I looked from Joy to Laverne, and I realized that Miss Laverne was oblivious.
“Here you go,” I said as I passed out the glasses of lemonade. I sat down next to Joy on the loveseat and put my arm around her. I could feel her trembling.
I looked down at her. It was clear she didn’t want to cause a scene in front of Miss Laverne, but fuck that noise.
“Joy, what is it?”
“I got a text,” she whispered.
“Is something wrong?” Miss Laverne asked as she placed her glass down on a doily.
“I don’t know,” I told the older woman. “Can I see your phone?” I held out my hand to Joy.
Joy’s hand shook as she handed me her phone. I read through the text.
UNKNOWN: Did you like the flowers?
JOY: Who is this?
UNKNOWN: Don’t be coy. You know me.
JOY: Tell me who you are.
UNKNOWN: Joy, stop playing. You’re making me angry.
Dots were showing, signaling that another text was coming in. As soon as I saw that, I stood up. I didn’t want Joy to see what this asshole was going to say next. She didn’t need the stress.
UNKNOWN: Answer me. You don’t want to make me angry.
I didn’t respond. There were more dots as he began typing again.
UNKNOWN: Joy, when I ask you a question, I expect an answer.
I responded.
JOY: This is Graham Wallace. If you’ve been watching Joy, you know who I am. Stop communicating with her right now. Do you understand me?
There were more dots as he began typing again.
UNKNOWN: LOL. Joy is mine. Always and forever.
JOY: I’m calling the sheriff.
UNKNOWN: LOL. Good luck with that.
I waited for what felt like forever. There were no more dots. He was done texting.
“What’s going on?” Miss Laverne asked again.
I looked over at Joy. She was white as a sheet. I put her phone in my left back pocket since mine was in my right. I sat back down beside her and pulled her tight against my side. She looked up at me. She was clearly scared. I knew she hated that. I turned to Miss Laverne.
“Three and a half years ago, when Joy was working as an au pair in London, she was stalked. He hurt her, and she ended up in the hospital.”
Miss Laverne gasped. “I can’t believe Esperance never told me. That’s horrible, honey. How badly were you hurt?”
Joy shook her head. “Not bad,” she whispered.
The older woman frowned. “Are you telling me the truth?”
Joy winced. “Miss Laverne, I haven’t told my family about this. I’m only bringing this up to you now because some of the same kinds of things are happening to me again, here. I don’t want you to be caught in the middle.”
Miss Laverne leaned forward in her chair. “Child, you mean to tell me you were hurt while you were away in London, and you didn’t tell any of your family here in Tennessee? That’s not right.”
Joy was wringing her hands so tightly that her knuckles were white. I sat down beside her and placed my hand over hers, caressing them, trying to soothe her. I looked up at Miss Laverne, and she looked at me. The old girl didn’t miss a trick.
“Let me guess, Joy. You don’t want me to say anything to Esperance about this. Am I tracking?”
“Yeah,” Joy whispered. “I promise to talk to them soon. I’m going to have to.”
Miss Laverne’s white head of hair bobbed in agreement. “You are, honey. You should have told them when it was happening.”
“It’s just that when I was in the hospital, I wasn’t thinking all that straight.”
The older lady gasped again. “How long were you in the hospital for?”
“Only three days.”
“Three days? You must have been badly hurt.”
“I told you, it wasn’t that bad,” Joy mumbled.
Miss Laverne looked at me, and I gave a small shake of my head. I knew that Joy wasn’t ready to talk about it.
“And you never told your family? In all this time?” Miss Laverne asked for confirmation.
Joy shook her head. “No, ma’am.”
Miss Laverne gave Joy a long, considering look. “That’s okay, dear. I know you had good reasons,” the older lady said gently, and I wanted to kiss her. “How can I help?”
“I’m worried about you,” Joy blurted out.
“Why on Earth would you be worried about me?” Miss Laverne smiled wide. “I’ve lived here all my life. This is the house I was born in and where I grew up. My mama left it to me when she died. Ain’t nothing bad ever happened to me here, and nothing ever will.”
I watched as Joy’s fingers clenched tighter and tighter during Miss Laverne’s speech. “Yeah, but you never had a crazy man out to get you.”
“It’s okay. From now on, I’ll lock my door.”
I snorted a laugh. “So that’s what’s finally gonna get you to lock your door, huh?”
“Well, when somebody from England comes to terrorize our Joy, darn tootin’ I’ll lock our door. Now, Graham, what are you and your young friends going to do about all of this? I assume you’re working with Sheriff Rivers. You better call him.”
“I will. And I’ll be staying here with the both of you, and Joy will start working the day shift.”
Joy jerked around in her seat and glared daggers up at me. “For the last time, I’m not going to ask Roxie for any favors. She needed a tech at night, not for days. I’ll continue to work nights until I can find a job that lets me work days.”
Miss Laverne let out a quiet laugh, and Joy turned to look at her. “What?”
“Aw, honey. You know that’s not how Jasper Creek works.”