Chapter 20 – Kenzie
Chapter Twenty
Kenzie
The second Jensen closed the bedroom door behind him, I curled into a ball. Covering my head with the blanket, I tried to cry as quietly as I could. The cabin was silent, and I didn’t want them to hear me break down.
I’d seen the men glancing at one another. They wanted to talk about everything and figure things out, but my brain just couldn’t keep up. They wanted to know about Alan, someone in my past who was locked up and unable to get to me. Whereas I was stuck in the present. I was locked in darkness in that bathroom, perched on that sink, desperately listening for rattles.
Trying to make myself as small as possible, wondering if I would die.
All I wanted to do was vent. Scream, even. As loud and as long as I could. Release all the built-up anger, fear, and frustration. Crying didn’t help. It just made me feel weak and helpless. Like I was letting my fear take over.
The low hum of their voices in the next room reminded me that I wasn’t alone. Even after Lucas and Liam left, Jensen would still be here. But I needed someone right now.
I turned to my side and freed my phone from my back pocket. I’d been too numb to register Jensen handing it to me at my apartment before we left, but I was glad he’d given it to me.
Now, at least, I could hear a friendly voice. I called Zoe first, but she didn’t answer. As soon as I hung up, my phone rang in my hand.
“Leah? I just called Zoe.”
“I know. I’m over here with her,” she replied chirpily. “We’re so glad you called!”
“Miss you, Kenzie!” Zoe hollered in the background, clearly with her as the call was on speaker.
“I miss you guys too.” I sniffled, trying so hard to keep it all in. Just hearing their voices threatened to break the tears. I missed my friends so much. It seemed like forever since I’d seen them.
“Oh, honey…” Zoe cooed, the sympathy clear in her voice.
“What’s wrong?” Leah asked, more direct and mother-hen-like. “I mean, I know what’s wrong, but something else happened, didn’t it?”
“I—” I wasn’t sure what to say.
I couldn’t tell them specifics. Both Detective Watters and Charlie had asked me not to discuss the case with anyone as much as possible, for everyone’s safety. And it felt doubly true since the stalker had stolen my mother’s phone.
“I can’t really say.” It was all I could manage.
“Are you hurt?” Leah asked.
“No. I got another…” I struggled with how to word it. That snake wasn’t a message. It was a live, viable, and real threat. “Another present . But no, fortunately, I’m not physically hurt.”
“Thank God,” they breathed in unison.
“Wait.” Leah’s voice hardened with suspicion. “Could you have been hurt?”
“I— Yeah, but I wasn’t.”
Zoe scoffed. “And how ironic. I just got an email from that prison number. Updating me that Alan-the-asshole would be released soon.”
I nodded, even though they couldn’t see me. Both of my friends had been witnesses in the case against Alan. I hadn’t needed them. My bruises and injuries had spoken clearly enough for themselves as evidence.
“I just found out about it too.”
“Came much sooner than I thought it would,” Leah said. “I figured he’d get in so much trouble behind bars that he would be stuck there for a lot longer.”
Those had been my thoughts too.
“I hate to think of him being out at all. I mean, no one wants to run into an ex, but especially not yours.”
As the girls went on about how awful Alan was and then switched to everything happening at the office, I just lay there and listened.
Talking with them calmed me. They were the sisters I’d never had. I was about to hang up and get some rest when the topic changed again.
“Okay. Okay. Let’s talk about him ,” Leah said.
“Him who?” I asked.
“Don’t even start with us. I stopped by your parents’ to drop off some mail,” Leah said. “She mentioned that you’re working with a mechanic.”
“A hot mechanic,” Zoe added. “Something about being on the cover of a magazine?”
I let out a groan. Mom knew I’d been joking about that. “His name is Jensen, and yes, he’s a mechanic.”
“A hot one?”
“Yes, very hot.”
Hearing my girlfriends wolf-whistling about the man who’d been so sweet and was taking care of me brought out a smile despite everything that had happened today .
“Jensen is…” I sighed, and that prompted them to giggle and laugh in reply. Girl talk wasn’t something I’d planned on today, but if I needed a distraction, this was the best one I’d get. “Jensen is a surprise.”
“What, you didn’t think some sleepy little town would have any sexy men?” Zoe asked.
“I came here to hide and lie low, not find romance. I’ve put a lot of faith in the police chief, and he’s enlisted the help of Jensen and his friends, who are former Navy SEALs.”
“Are they hot too?”
“Well, actually…”
“Taking notes,” Leah said. She exaggerated her tone as though she were writing. “Hot mechanic is friends with hot former Navy SEALs. Maybe we need to figure out where you are and move there.”
I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t picture either of them in Garnet Bend. They were both cosmopolitan, too used to the city life.
“Just so you know, all the hot SEALs are married or engaged. So, you can stop your wayward thoughts. Their significant others are lovely too.”
That caused grumbling all around.
“But seriously,” Leah said. “We’re glad you’ve found some people to help you during this time. Especially if something else has happened. You deserve a break, Kenzie. Tell us more about Jensen.”
“I like him a lot. I came here for temporary security, but now that I’ve met him and we’re…getting closer, I’m beginning to realize, when this is all over, I’ll be leaving him and coming home.”
“Dayum, girl,” Zoe gushed. “Sounds like he’s more than just a hottie.”
“He’s so attentive to me. So sweet and gentle and patient.” I sank back against the pillows. Thinking about Jensen was much better than thinking about being trapped in that bathroom with the snake. “He’s gruff, but with me, he’s so tender and lo?—”
I stopped before I could say the word, but it was too late. My friends both gasped.
“Loving?” Zoe finished for me. “Were you going to say loving ?”
I rubbed my face at that slip of the tongue. It was so hard not to hope that Jensen’s feelings for me ran deeper than just scratching an itch. The way he treasured me and saw to my every need…that felt like more .
“He’s really getting to you, huh?” Zoe asked.
I nodded, again aware they couldn’t see, but it felt like something different to say it out loud. Like, once the words were out there, they couldn’t be taken back.
“I think he is,” I finally said. “But I just can’t see how it would work. I didn’t come here with any plans to start a relationship. That wasn’t part of the lie low and hide plan.”
“Why can’t you have both?” Zoe asked. “After all that hell with Alan and then the stalker, you deserve to be treated as special.”
“Yeah,” Leah added. “This guy isn’t going to have a crazy ex or anything in his past, right? No competition? No jilted lover he’s leaving to pursue you?”
“No. Nothing like that. He’s a loner, not much into relationships in general, I don’t think.”
“But no red flags?” Zoe checked.
“No. Nothing to show he’s anything but genuine.”
“Would he move back to Denver for you?”
I couldn’t imagine Jensen in Denver. Not when everything he knew and loved was in Montana. “I doubt it. His life is here. His business, his friends. This place is part of him. And I have to admit, I can see the appeal. ”
“ You seeing the appeal of a small town?” I could hear the shock in Leah’s voice.
“Garnet Bend is different.” It wasn’t the town itself, but the people—all 2,518 of them—who made up the town, that made it so special. “It’s gorgeous, but the way everyone is helping me has been nothing short of amazing.”
“And Jensen is too.”
“He is.” It was true. I rubbed my hand over my face again, so tired still. “But it doesn’t matter. I’m sure I’m looking too far into it all.”
“No!” Leah shouted so loudly I had to pull the phone from my ear. “Don’t go being all negative and doubtful.”
“He and I are just so…different. He’s quiet, a loner, small-town. I’m more of a people person, like to be on the go, like the city.”
“But being different isn’t so bad,” Leah said.
Actually, Jensen and I kind of reminded me of my parents. They were polar opposites, but the love between them was fierce and strong and true.
Being similar had nothing to do with it.
Would it be possible that Jensen and I could find that same sort of happiness and connection?
I knew he made me happy, made me feel safe, made me feel cherished. Could the rest be figured out?
I hung up with the girls, and as I drifted off to sleep, it wasn’t that snake on my mind, but the man who had carried me out of that bathroom in his arms.