Chapter 20 #2
“The wedding is the main event. I can’t miss it.
And I won’t be alone. The guests that are here now are only a fraction of the over two-hundred and fifty that are coming to the wedding.
I’ll be lucky to get a moment to think tomorrow let alone worry about Clark.
Besides, with all those people there, Clark wouldn’t dare… ” She saw Josh walking toward them.
“Clark wouldn’t do what?” Dylan asked.
“Hey, Josh.” Raleigh gave him a small wave. “How are you?”
“Calvin has been keeping me pretty busy but I’m good,” he said as he came to a stop in front of them.
His skin looked a bit red. Raleigh asked, “Everything okay? You look a bit flushed.”
He smiled slightly while he brought a finger to his collar and pulled a bit. “This shirt and tie are a bit hot. I’m on my way to my room to change for the barbecue.”
“I hope you’re going to have some time off tonight. You look like you can use a break.”
“I’ll be free most of the night. Maybe we can grab a drink?” He glanced over at Dylan to include him in the invitation.
Dylan dipped his chin. “Much obliged, but we’re actually heading out.”
Raleigh nodded as she put her arm through Dylan’s. “We decided to take the night off, too. Phil promised to take notes and tons of pictures. I have the outline done for the next article, so I’m good to go.”
Josh’s smile lost some of its wattage. “Uh, so you’re skipping the whole barbecue?”
“Yes, but I’ll be around tomorrow for the wedding.”
“We should be going.” Dylan tipped his chin again. “Have a great night, Josh,” he said as he steered Raleigh around Josh and out to the parking lot.
“Do you think that was a good idea?” Raleigh asked.
“What? Telling Josh we’re leaving? I think luck is finally turning our way.”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Well, chances are good that Josh will mention it to his boss and with any luck, Clark will drop by the cabin—”
“Where we’ll catch him on camera,” she finished for him.
Dylan helped her into his pickup. “That’s the plan.” He closed her door and went around to his side and climbed in.
“Wait, did you plan that? Bumping into Josh?”
“No. I did ask Cosgrove to make sure one of her people mentioned in front of Clark that you’d asked them to keep a close eye on things as it was getting closer to the wedding, but that you wouldn’t be at the barbecue tonight. Bumping into Josh is just a bonus.”
The landscape zipped by as they drove back toward New York City.
Worry settled in the pit of her stomach at the thought of not covering the barbeque.
This date was exactly what she needed personally but career-wise it was another thing entirely.
Still leaving everything behind felt great, freeing almost.
Hopefully Lydia and family would have an uneventful evening.
They wouldn’t want the bride to be up late or doing any real partying the night before the wedding and there was no way Lydia would let Andrew do anything either.
Raleigh could deal with whatever was waiting for her when they got back to the hotel.
She trusted Dylan to keep her safe, and she knew he would do whatever was necessary to catch her stalker.
Clark. Fire burned in her stomach when she thought about how many times she’d spoken with him, been nice to him, even written about him as part of her job. She was sure as heck going to blast it from the rooftops as soon as she had proof that implicated him as her stalker.
“We’re here.” Dylan’s voice broke her reverie.
“Already? That was fast.”
“You were lost in thought. What are you thinking about?”
“Stuff I shouldn’t be.” She smiled at him. “Let’s eat. I’m starving.”
He laughed and pulled to stop in front of the restaurant. The valet opened Raleigh’s door and then ran around and took the keys from Dylan.
Raleigh smoothed down her shirt and then took Dylan’s proffered hand. “Thanks for suggesting this.”
Dylan winked and led her into the restaurant. Two minutes later they were seated at a table that overlooked the East River. “This is great. I’ve never eaten here before.”
“My old partner told me about this place. It’s kind of hidden away but the food and the view are killer.”
She smiled and sat back in her seat. “I don’t think I realized how much I needed this.”
Dylan nodded. “This wedding weekend has been a bit of a nightmare for both of us.”
That was an understatement if she’d ever heard one, but then again, her whole life had been a bit of a nightmare lately. At least it would be all over soon. She felt that in her bones.
The waitress come over to deliver menus.
She took their drink orders and disappeared again.
Dylan leaned on the table. “I think we’re on the right track with your stalker.
With that note as evidence, your local precinct will have to believe you.
Hopefully, Connor, the tech wiz at Risk, will find evidence of someone tampering with your security system, too.
People are working to figure this out. It’s not just you anymore. ”
She blinked hard and tried to swallow the huge lump in her throat. It had been so long since she’d actually felt safe. To have people believe in her and support her made her entire body shudder with emotion. It meant the world to her.
Dylan must have noticed because he grabbed her hand again and held on to it. “Let’s make a pact to relax and enjoy the next few hours. I think we both deserve it.”
She nodded because she was still incapable of speech. After a few moments, she asked, “You said you grew up all over the east coast. How come?”
He was silent for a while, and she started to think he wasn’t going to answer the question.
Finally, he spoke. “My dad took off as soon as I was born.
My mom was left with me and twenty-eight dollars.
She went back to waitressing as soon as she could, but it was hard to find people to watch me while she worked.
She ended up getting fired more often than not.
“We bounced around, living on friends’ couches or at shelters.
Eventually, she got a job as an office clerk.
Then we got to live in a trailer. It was good for a while, but the boss took a liking to her, and when the affair went south, so did the job.
” He let go of her hand to rub the back of his neck.
“That sounds rough.”
“It wasn’t all bad. I made a few friends and got to see all different parts of the coast. Anyway, after the office job, Mom just kind of gave up.
She’d always had some mental issues but she just went off the rails.
Bipolar Disorder they called it. Life was tough.
We lived off whatever we could scrounge.
I tried to get her help when she’d let me, but she wouldn’t always recognize that she needed help.
And I was just a kid so I couldn’t force her.
“We went back to moving around a lot. I didn’t want to be put into the foster system because I knew no one would look out for my mom.
I took jobs after school at the local diners and things like that.
Once I graduated from high school, I joined the army.
I figured it would bring in more money than the jobs I’d been working, and Mom was stable at that time.
She had made some progress. If I sent money back, she wouldn’t have to scrounge so much. She died while I was overseas.”
“Oh, Dylan, I’m so sorry.” She squeezed his arm.
The waitress arrived with Raleigh’s wine and Dylan’s beer and then she took their food order.
“Anyway,” Dylan said, “it was hard, but when I came back, Lauren tracked me down. Her father and mine are brothers. She welcomed me and gave me a family to be a part of, so I guess it all worked out.” He looked over at her. “What about you? What’s your family like?”
She gave a half-laugh and a snort. “My family? My parents are born and bred Connecticut blue bloods. It was practically a royal wedding when they got married. I went to all the best schools, belonged to all the right clubs, learned to play tennis and horseback ride, and generally excelled at everything. Not because I liked any of it, mind you, but because my parents cared about appearances. I had to look like an asset.” She leaned forward and lowered her voice.
“I hated every minute of it. I was what I now think of as an ‘accessory child.’ You know, purse-belt-shoes-child. They all had to match perfectly.” She took a sip of wine.
“My parents were flat-out horrified I wanted to become a writer. A doctor or a lawyer, either was acceptable. A trader on Wall Street, better yet. But a writer? My father threw a fit when I told him. He even suggested I become a social media influencer like all my other friends were doing. Why didn’t I go out and get millions of followers and take selfies all the time? It just wasn’t me.”
Dylan leaned forward as well. “I just can’t imagine that life. It must have been a hard decision to make to leave it knowing what your parents’ response would be. Pretty brave but what made you do it?” He gave her a quick smile and then glanced out the window at the river.
“The private school I went to required us to do community service because it would look good on our resumes. I volunteered at an assisted living home. The people there were from all kinds of backgrounds and places. I got to know a few of them and hear their stories.” She recalled the feelings she got while listening to what they’d faced in their lives.
Not everything had been roses and bonbons.
“It sparked something in me. I wanted to see the world, not just the tourist places but the whole world. I loved hearing their stories. Life wasn’t all about being a socialite for them and I didn’t want it to be that way for me.
I wanted to actually work at something I enjoyed not just because it made me money.
I mean if being a doctor would have made me happy, I would have done it but talking to people and hearing their stories makes me happy.
Writing makes me happy. My goal is to be a journalist. I want to see the world and report back on what’s happening. ”
She raised her chin a bit. Dylan was right.
Telling her parents her career choice was the toughest conversation, more like screaming match, she’d ever had.
“Anyway, I studied journalism in university.
My parents hated it, but they eventually grudgingly accepted it as long as I did well.
And I did do well. I graduated top of my class in undergrad, and again in graduate school.
“Then I told them I wanted to pursue journalism as a career, and they said I’d be cut off without a penny if I didn’t come to my senses.
Being a journalist isn’t exactly a high-paying job, and I was living in New York at the time, so they were still helping me out.
That’s how I ended up at the PR firm. I needed a job so I could eat and pay the rent. ”
Dylan shook his head. “No offense, but your parents seem pretty intense.”
“None taken, and you’re right. It was always their way or the highway.
That was two years ago. I still go home for the odd family event, you know, like weddings and funerals.
Things lately have been getting a bit better with them.
The daughter of one of their friends died of a drug overdose last year.
She was an influencer and into the whole scene.
I think that shook them up. The reality of that lifestyle kind of settled in.
They’ve started softening towards my career choice.
Hopefully they’ll stay that way when I finally get a journalism job but we’ll see. ”
Dylan asked, “So writing about socialites and their rich and fabulous lifestyle isn’t your dream job?” He grinned, as if he already knew the answer.
“Uh…no? I still get to write, although not what I thought I would be writing, and I also get to eat. It’s a compromise for now until I can make the switch to being a full-time investigative journalist. I’ve been submitting articles on the side to online sites for a while now and a lot of the articles have been published.
I’m building a by-line, which is as important as building a following.
So, hopefully one day soon, I can quit public relations and make the permanent career switch to full-time journalist. Someday I want to write hard-hitting stories.
Ones that will expose a bad guy or change the world.
I know it sounds silly but that’s my goal. I just have to find the story first.”
“I don’t think it’s silly at all. Cheers to your dream.” Dylan raised his beer and touched it to hers.
She smiled and took a sip. Maybe life wasn’t so bad after all.
Dylan shot her a warm glance. “I’m sure you’ll make it happen if it’s what you want. You don’t strike me as the type of person to let anything stop you from reaching your goals.”