Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
ERIN
“ E rin!”
“Well, hi there, sweet girl.” I laugh as Holly runs out of the school, obviously excited to see me waiting for her in the pickup line. A few days ago, I decided to start getting out of the car and waiting on the curb, soaking up the sunshine, and I can tell the kids like it when they come hurrying out to join me. “Did you have a fabulous day at school?”
“Yeah. The hamster got loose again! We couldn’t find him for about an hour.”
“Where did you find him?” I ask.
“He was in Miles’s backpack, eating his lunch.”
I snort out a laugh, but Holly’s face turns serious.
“It’s not funny,” she insists. “Miles didn’t have a lunch after that, so we all pitched in and gave him some of ours.”
“Well, that was very nice of you. What did you share with him?”
“My string cheese.” Holly shrugs, as if it’s no big deal.
“That’s your favorite part.”
“I know, but he lost his whole lunch.” Holly dumps her backpack into the back seat of the Suburban and then joins me again on the curb. “I wonder what’s taking Johnny so long.”
“Maybe he’s talking with his friends.”
“Probably. He likes to talk. His teacher told Dad that sometimes he talks too much.”
I grin and push Holly’s hair off her cheek, tucking it behind her ear. “You know what? I had a teacher who told my parents the same thing, and my dad told her that maybe I had something important to say, and she shouldn’t tell me to shut up.”
“Johnny doesn’t have anything important to say,” Holly replies. “He just likes to talk.”
That makes me laugh, and then I glance up when I hear Johnny yell out, “I’m coming!”
“No rush, buddy,” I assure him as I open the back door for him. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, I was just talking.”
Holly and I share a smile as the kids get settled into the back seat, and then I walk around to the driver’s side and open the door. Glancing down at my phone, I see that I missed a call from my dad.
And just like that, all the fear I’d managed to keep pushed down all day comes rushing up to the surface.
I don’t want the kids to hear this conversation because I don’t want to frighten them, so I wait before pulling away from the school and instead, call Dad back, not putting him on speaker.
“Guys, we’ll leave in just a second, okay? I have to call someone.”
“Do you have any snacks with you?” Johnny wants to know.
“Yes, actually, I do. Here are some cookies.”
I pass the cookies back to them and then dial my dad’s number.
“Hey,” I say when he answers. “I just missed you. I was picking up the kids. What did you find out?”
“Well, he is out.” My heart stutters. “But the last we know, he was still in Washington. So, if the flowers are from him, it’s possible that he sent them from Washington.”
“True.” I nibble on my lower lip. “I thought he had five years left inside?”
“He did,” Dad confirms. “And it’s being looked into. All you can do is watch your back and be careful. If anything else weird happens, call your local authorities and then me.”
“I actually have an in here with the cops. Remington’s brother is on the force, so I’ll let him know right away,” I reply, nodding to myself. “Don’t worry, I won’t be careless.”
“I know you won’t. Stay in touch, you hear me?”
“I will. Love you. Talk to you later.”
I hang up and absolutely refuse to have a panic attack right here in front of the kids. I have to hold it together and get them home safely, then I need to have a conversation with Remington.
“Are you okay, Erin?” Holly asks.
“Of course, honey. Why do you ask?”
“It looks like you’re crying,” she replies, and I swipe at my cheek, surprised to find tears there. “Are you sad?”
No, I’m terrified.
“No, I’m just worried. Sorry about that. Let’s go home, yeah? I was thinking about making some homemade pizza for dinner.”
“Can we choose our own toppings?” Johnny wants to know.
“Of course, you can.”
When we pull up to the farmhouse, I see that Chase’s truck is in the drive, and Joy’s waiting out front.
She smiles when we pull in, but I see worry in her eyes.
What now? Did he somehow get out here and hurt someone?
Damn it, I should have talked to Rem last night, but I was just so tired.
“Hi, favorite grandkids,” Joy says, hugging them both tight. “You’re going to come home with me for a while.”
“But Erin’s making homemade pizza,” Holly argues with a frown.
“And she still will,” Joy promises. “We’ll just have a snack in the meantime.”
“They’ve had cookies,” I inform her.
“You shouldn’t have told her that,” Johnny whispers loudly, making us both laugh.
“You and John should join us for dinner,” I offer, and Joy nods.
“That sounds great. I’ll have them back over in a little while.”
With a kid on each side, the three of them walk away, and I head up to the house and push inside.
“Erin?” Remington calls out. “Come to my office, please.”
He doesn’t sound particularly happy that I’m home, and my already knotted-up stomach starts to do the salsa as I walk to the doorway of Rem’s office.
He’s sitting behind his desk. Chase stands at the window, Ryan and Brady sit in chairs, and John leans against the bookshelves. Even Millie watches me with red-rimmed eyes from across the room.
The whole family’s here.
“Uh, hi.”
“Have a seat,” Brady offers, standing from the chair.
“If it’s all the same to you, I think I’d rather stand.” I lift my chin and walk into the room, my eyes on Rem’s.
“I spoke with your father just a little while ago,” Remington begins, and all of this suddenly makes sense.
“Is anyone hurt?” I blurt out. “Did he somehow get to the ranch and hurt someone?”
“No,” John replies and reaches out to pat my shoulder. “You’re not in trouble, Erin.”
“Bullshit,” Remington disagrees. “I want to know why I heard that there’s a stalker who is out of prison and obsessed with you, from your father. Why didn’t you tell me? You’re with my kids. You live in my home. Jesus, you’re… you. I can’t protect anyone if I don’t have the information, Erin.”
“I didn’t know,” I reply as I round on him. “I just found out when I picked up the kids. I didn’t know that he was out of prison.”
Just saying the words makes me swallow hard and close my eyes, taking a deep breath.
“Okay,” Millie says, rushing over to me to put her arm around me. “Now we know.”
“You talked to Millie about it,” Remington continues. “But you didn’t tell me. ”
“You’re right, I didn’t tell you.” I sigh, suddenly so fucking tired. “I’d spent all afternoon worried about it. No one could tell me if he was out of jail until today. Millie helped keep my mind off things all afternoon, and then I came home and was just exhausted. I didn’t know anything for sure, and I didn’t want to talk about it anymore.”
“But he sent flowers to your job.”
“I didn’t know that they were from him yesterday. I suspected. I won’t have you interrogate me like I’m the one who did anything wrong. I went through that once before, and I won’t do it again. I’ll pack my shit and get out.”
“Whoa!” Brady says.
“No, wait.” Chase holds up his hands.
“That’s ridiculous.” Ryan shakes his head.
All the men are on their feet, gesturing for me to stop. Even Remington has climbed to his feet, but his jaw is firmly set as he watches me through those hazel eyes, and I hate how frustrated he looks.
“Why don’t you sit,” Chase suggests, “and tell us what happened? I need to know so I can put out an APB in case this asshole has decided to come here. I’ve already spoken with your uncle Matt in Seattle, and he’s given me some solid information. But it’s always best to get it straight from the horse’s mouth.”
I have to talk about it all over again, is all I can think to myself as I lower into the chair, and someone passes me a glass of water. I pause, take a sip of the water, and play with a string on my dress as I think about where to begin. My gaze finds Remington’s, and I wish that coldness in his eyes would go away.
“I was twenty,” I begin. “In college. I started getting stupid messages on social media. Look, my dad is a famous football player and still works closely with the team. Not to mention, I have all kinds of famous people in my family, so it’s not unusual to get some weird messages or comments from time to time. You learn to ignore it. One thing that’s true is, people are really brave when they’re behind their phone or a computer screen, you know?”
“Sure,” Chase says with a nod. “Sounds reasonable.”
“It evolved into getting flowers where I worked. Blood-red roses.” I can’t resist the shiver of disgust that rolls through me. “And the card always said something like, You look beautiful today, or Wow, you smell great .”
“Creepy as fuck,” Millie whispers, and I nod over at her. “And that’s why when the flowers came for you yesterday, and I said Rem is sweet, you ran out like you’d been stung by a bee.”
“I knew they weren’t from Remington,” I whisper and close my eyes, completely mortified. “I’d told him I like daffodils, and he hadn’t even seen me that day. He didn’t know what I looked like.”
“What does that have to do with it?” Ryan asks.
“This time, it was the You look beautiful today message,” I reply. “We found out much later, after he was caught and was in questioning, that he liked to be nearby when I got the deliveries so he could watch my face when I read the card.”
“Fuck,” Brady mutters, shaking his head.
“He’d worked up this whole imaginary life in his head. He was convinced that I was his girlfriend and that Will Montgomery would be his father-in-law.”
“So, he’s a little obsessed with your dad, too,” Remington adds, and I nod.
“For sure. But I’m the one he’s convinced is his. ” I take a drink of water. “The way he watched me in court when I was giving my testimony was repulsive. He smiled and watched me with heart eyes, as if I were his soulmate.”
“How did they catch him?” John asks.
“I got a text from what I thought was my sister’s phone. She asked me if I could pick her up from a party because everyone else was drinking, and she didn’t want Mom and Dad to freak. I knew she was going to that party, so I said, Of course, no problem. Just shoot me the address .” I lick my lips and have to grip my hands together because they want to shake.
After all this time, I feel like I’m going to lose my shit.
“I put the address into the GPS and drove over there, and all the lights in the house were on. There was even loud music coming from inside.”
“The fucker made it look like there was a party going on,” Brady says.
“Yep. So I wouldn’t question it. I texted her and said, I’m here, come on out . And she replied with, Just come inside for a sec .”
I have to take another drink of water.
“It’s okay,” Millie croons, rubbing my back. “Take your time. We’re not in a hurry.”
“It’s best if I just get it all out.” I sniff and puff out a breath. “So, that was weird to me, that message from Zoey. She never would have said that, and I suddenly got a weird feeling in my gut. It was almost as if someone was yelling in my head, screaming, ‘This is not safe!’, you know?”
“Yeah,” Ryan says, nodding. “I know.”
“I think we all know that voice,” Millie says. “Especially women. Tell me you listened.”
“I called Zoey. I didn’t text her. I just called her, and she picked up. I said, ‘ I’m here, dude. Just come outside already.’ And she was confused. I knew. I immediately knew, and before I could put the car in gear to leave, he was standing in front of me, and he ran around to my door and opened it.”
Rem’s eyes narrow into slits. “He opened the door?”
“Yeah, but I threw it in gear, pushed on the gas, and lurched forward, which broke his arm and hit him in the head with the door. I didn’t stop, either. I drove directly to my uncle Matt’s house, and we made the report. He was arrested that night and went to prison.”
“And now,” John says, “he’s out of prison.”
“I don’t know how or why. He was supposed to have another five years, and we were supposed to be alerted when he either came up for parole or was released. My dad wasn’t notified. Dad said that my uncle is looking into how he got out early.”
The room is quiet as everyone soaks in what I’ve just told them.
“If you need to fire me, I understand. I truly do.” The thought fills me with so much sadness and so much regret that I want to crumple into sobs, but I firm my lip. “It would be nice if I could have twenty-four hours to find another place to live.”
“You’re not fired,” Remington says, shaking his head. “A gate will be installed just off the highway first thing in the morning. We have men setting up cameras all over the property as we speak, as well as motion-detecting lights.”
“They’ll go off all the time, thanks to all the animals around,” Ryan says with a laugh. “But it’ll scare off any psychopaths, as well, so it’s worth it.”
“I have my men patrolling town,” Chase continues, “with photos of the perp. As far as we’re concerned, he’s a wanted man. He’s violated the conditions of his parole if he left Washington.”
“Like I said, he could be trying to dick around with me from Washington.”
“I hope that’s the case,” Chase agrees, “but we’re going to treat this as if he’s in town. We’ll put up wanted posters all over town and talk with the business owners.”
“What do I do?” I ask. “How can I help?”
“Bruiser will be riding with you when you take the kids to school or pick them up,” Remington replies.
“Who’s Bruiser?”
“One of my ranch hands. He’s huge. I wouldn’t fuck with him,” Remington adds. “Of course, he’s a fucking teddy bear at heart, but no one needs to know that.”
“I’m fairly certain that I’m safe in the car?—”
The look Rem shoots me could melt iron. “You’ll have my children . And in case I haven’t made myself clear to you up to this point, you mean something to me, too. If you think I won’t do whatever it takes to keep the three of you safe, you don’t know me as well as you think you do.”
“Okay, that was sweet,” Millie says to me, making me laugh for the first time. “Seriously, let these guys protect you. No one will be able to touch you with my family standing guard, I guarantee it.”
“I do feel safer already,” I admit with a small smile. “But I also feel immense guilt. You shouldn’t have to go to this huge expense because of me.”
“We should tighten up the security around here anyway,” Brady says. “We have expensive horses and equipment.”
“I’ll also get in touch with the sheriff and the highway patrol,” Chase continues. “We’ll have plenty of patrols out this way, too.”
“Thank you.” I shake my head. “That feels way too small for how grateful I am, but thank you. I’ll let Bruiser ride with me. I’ll agree to a curfew, and if you’d like a location app put on my phone, that’s fine. I’m not too proud to admit that all or some of that might be needed. I won’t put up a fight when it comes to safety for not just me, but for your entire family. I’ve come to love your family, and I would never want anyone to be harmed because of me.”
“It’s not because of you,” Chase says. “It’s because of a psychopath who shouldn’t be out of prison. You haven’t done anything wrong.”
Those words are like a balm to my heart.
“I think we should go start overseeing some of the work,” John says as he moves to the door. His gaze falls to me. “I told you before, you’re always welcome here. That hasn’t changed.”
He winks, and then he’s gone, and I have to swallow to control the emotion that wants to boil up and out of me.
“I love you,” Millie says, hugging me. “We’ve got this, babe. I’ll call you later.”
“Thanks.”
One by one, they offer words of encouragement before leaving, and then I’m left alone with Remington.
He watches me quietly for a moment, and then he stands, walks over, and closes the office door.
He doesn’t return to his seat behind his desk. Instead, he scoops me up, sits down, and settles me in his lap.
“What would I do if something happened to you?” He buries his nose in my hair and kisses the side of my head.
“I thought you were mad at me.”
“Oh, I was. I might still be a little, but damn it, I was scared. Not just for my kids, although that’s in there. He won’t touch my children.”
“No, he won’t.” I have to pull in a breath as just the thought of either of those precious kids having even a hair on their head out of place fills me with absolute horror.
“And he won’t fuck with you, either. I’ll kill him first.”
I pull back and stare up at him in surprise. “Rem?—”
“I mean it. He doesn’t know who he’s fucking with.”