Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
If it came to that.
“Have a seat,” I said, pointing to my little table for two. I picked up a rogue cupcake crumb and flicked it in the trash, then sat down. “I’m guessing this has to do with what you mentioned in the parking lot. That you’d been ‘doing something for me.’ ”
He pulled out the chair and sat opposite me. “It does.”
I opened my hands wide. “Well, what is it?”
He twisted his face, as if he were about to deliver bad news. “I had our family private investigator—”
“Wait,” I cut in. “You have a family private investigator?”
He rolled his eyes, apparently exasperated with the interruption. “Yes. We do real estate deals. Sometimes a lawyer isn’t enough. May I continue?”
I nodded. “Sorry.”
“I had our family private investigator run a background check on Ellison Shaw—”
My hand shot up, interrupting him again.
I should have known this had something to do with Ellison and trying to convince me that I’d “chosen the wrong guy.” I had sympathized with Aaron at first. Getting rejected hurts, no matter who you are.
But we hadn’t even been dating. He was taking this toxic masculine competitive thing too far.
So far, in fact, that it made me wonder.
If this was how he behaved when he didn’t “win” a competition for a woman, what would he do if he didn’t get the land he’d come here for?
My temper flared, faster than I expected.
“I’d like you to leave,” I said firmly.
Aaron’s eyes bulged. “What?”
I stabbed my index finger onto the table. “Doing a background check on Ellison is uncalled for and gross. A huge breach of confidence. I’m just getting to know him myself. I don’t need to know that he missed a credit card payment back in college.”
Aaron shook his head, like I wasn’t understanding. “He has a record, Kelsey.”
“For what,” I scoffed. “Stealing a candy bar?”
“For assault and battery.”
I flinched. “Like … a drunken bar fight?”
“No. He beat his neighbor to within an inch of his life. He was convicted, Kelsey.”
I reared back as if I’d been slapped. My first instinct was to accuse Aaron of lying. But he was too smart to lie about this. He knew I could just ask Ellison or research it myself.
“That’s not all,” Aaron continued. “His last bookstore? It burned down. The fire was suspicious. His insurance company denied his claim. Once they figured out it was arson.”
My mind couldn’t absorb the information. Beating a man nearly to death? Burning a bookstore? This wasn’t the Ellison I knew. Unless I didn’t know him at all.
“Then he moved here, disgraced, to start all over,” Aaron said smugly. “And now Christmasville is going to hell. Coincidence?”
I finally found my tongue. “So, what are you saying? That he’s a serial killer? Did your little background check tell you that too?”
He grimaced at the spite in my words. “I’m not taking any joy in telling you this, Kelsey. I’m concerned about you. Regardless of the fact that I wanted to pursue a relationship with you, I care about you as a person. A friend. Have you been hurt so badly that you can’t believe that?”
I could believe that. I cared about a lot of people I was never going to sleep with. But I no longer trusted Aaron. He’d behaved like a toddler losing at Candyland when I’d turned him down.
I measured my words carefully. “Even if this is true, even if I end things with Ellison, that doesn’t mean we’re going to …”
“Kelsey,” he said calmly. “I’m leaving.”
I sucked in a breath. “What?”
“I’m leaving in the morning.”
“The deal fell through?” I said, perplexed.
“No, it’s actually more likely to happen now. But with everything going on, my family felt that I could do the rest of the negotiating remotely. To stay safe. Besides they’re not sure Christmasville is a smart investment any longer.”
He pushed himself up from his seat and gazed down at me. “So, even though I may never see you again, I’m taking the time to let you know what I’ve found out. Because I want you to stay safe. Believe me or not. That’s your prerogative. I’ve tried my best.”
I watched, mouth half hanging open, as he walked out of the door and my life. His footsteps echoed down the quiet hall until I couldn’t hear them anymore. I went to the door and locked the deadbolt, my hands trembling. My mind spun with two realities—what I thought I’d known and what I now knew.
Ellison’s soft kiss flashed in my mind. His hands had held me so gently.
Were they really the same hands that had beaten a man?
That had almost taken a life? My chest felt tight as I faced the realization that I hadn’t known him at all.
His mysterious past was a shameful, violent one.
Was he doomed to repeat it? Had he already?
Sunday morning, I turned on the television, and every local channel was focused on the incoming storm.
Meteorologists’ assertions of low-pressure systems and cold fronts served as a backdrop while I showered and dressed.
I glanced out the window at the emptiness below.
No sign of the nor’easter yet, other than a lone salt truck—a wreath tied to the grille and a giant Santa hat strapped to the roof—making its way down the side street.
My phone chirped. I grabbed it off the nightstand and read the incoming text. It was from Ellison!
I’ve been released. I really need to talk to you. Can I come by?
Competing emotions battled in my gut. I was relieved and glad that they’d finally released him.
But I wasn’t ready to talk to him. My head was still spinning with everything Aaron had said last night.
I needed to absorb and process it before I confronted Ellison with what I knew.
I decided to ignore the text for now. Let him think I was sleeping in.
But before I put my phone down, another notification came through.
This time, from my real estate app. I clicked on the new rental that just became available.
As it loaded on my phone’s screen, my heart raced.
It was perfect. A one-bedroom right on Main Street.
The rent was in line with what I was able to pay.
If this apartment had popped up a few days ago, I would have jumped at the opportunity.
But now I wasn’t sure about anything anymore.
My new life in Christmasville had started so well, but now it was a living nightmare.
The town was spiraling. I could lose my job at any moment.
The man I’d begun falling for wasn’t who I thought he was.
Oh, and a killer was hiding in plain sight picking off victims, and I had to live in fear until they were caught.
This was not the Christmas romance movie that I ordered.
What could I do? Head back to Boston and see if I could get back my old job? Start fresh again somewhere else with a short stay in Christmas-Murder-Ville on my résumé? I felt unmoored. Lost.
My phone’s screen started to dim, and I pressed my thumb to wake it up. I had to see the apartment, even with all of my uncertainty. Rentals above the shops on Main Street didn’t become available often, I had learned. I searched the listing for the number and dialed.
A woman answered after several rings. “Evergreen Realty.”
“Hi, I’m calling about the available apartment on Main Street?”
“That was fast,” she mumbled, a bit of surprise in her voice.
I sat on the end of my bed. “I hope this is a good time to call. I just know that Main Street rentals get snapped up quickly.”
“Usually, they do. But it seems like there may be a lot more available space in town soon,” she said ominously.
I did not want to start talking serial killer with this stranger, so I kept us on topic. “So, it’s available?”
“Yes. The current resident spends winters in Florida but has recently decided not to return to town, so she’s ending her lease.”
I didn’t have to wonder why. “Could I come by and take a look?”
“Only if you can meet me there right now. I’m Donna, the real estate agent handling the listing. And I’d like to get back to my house before the storm starts.” She paused. “And before it gets dark.”
Understandable. In fact, I’d been thinking about asking Holly to come with me. Both for her opinion on the place and for safety in numbers.
“I can do that,” I said.
“Great. The entrance is next to Candy Cane Dreams. Second floor, apartment 2B.”
“S-sure,” I stuttered. I hadn’t realized from the address in the listing that it was the apartment beside Ellison’s. The one he’d jokingly wished I could move into and become his neighbor. Only a few hours ago, that would have seemed like a dream.
Now I wasn’t so sure.