Chapter 20
20
PAIGE
I stared in the mirror, flinching when I saw my reflection. I was a shadow of my former self. It wasn’t lost on me that I was letting fear run my life, but I didn’t know how to feel safe anymore. After that night, everything I knew, all the safety I felt, and the confidence I had in myself was gone. I really thought he was going to kill me, and maybe that had been his plan, but he’d been interrupted. I didn’t want him to have a chance to finish that.
The look in his eyes was terrifying while he hit me. I’d never seen eyes go so black and seem so soulless until I stared into the face of evil. There was something very wrong with him, and I couldn’t shake the notion that he wasn’t done with this town or me yet.
Looking behind me at my still made bed, I sighed. I didn’t sleep. Hadn’t really since I left the hospital and came home to my very quiet townhouse. It had never occurred to me before that danger was always lurking right outside my door, especially in my neighborhood. But since the attack, I heard every noise and every creak while neighbors walked up their stairs. Every single sound held a threat that I couldn’t escape.
And if I fell asleep, I would be vulnerable, especially at night.
I’d gotten into the habit of sleeping for a few hours after work, but as soon as it was dark, I’d wake and stay that way until morning. It wasn’t healthy, and I couldn’t sustain it, but I had no idea how to change it. It also didn’t help that I was battling migraines almost daily. I could usually control them with medication, but some days they were so bad, I’d vomit and need to stay in almost complete darkness.
With one last look in the mirror, I smoothed my hand over the sides of my plain blue T-shirt and sighed. I didn’t bother putting on any makeup, and my hair was in a ponytail, but it was the best I could do.
Cole saw me yesterday looking like this, and he still offered me the job, so he wasn’t expecting much. I knew he only offered it out of pity, but I still took it. I didn’t really have a choice. I needed the money for my mortgage, so I had to work somewhere. At least Cole’s office was quiet, or that was what I assumed from what I’d seen.
I grabbed my keys and purse, then looked out the peephole on the front door. When I didn’t see anything, I unlocked the door and moved as quickly as I could to my car. I was in with the doors locked when I finally breathed a sigh of relief. Starting the car, I pulled out and drove only about ten minutes before turning into Cole’s parking lot.
I stared at the building and gave myself a small pep talk before grabbing my purse from the passenger seat. After pushing open the door, I got out of the car and immediately saw Cole standing in the far-right open bay door, cleaning his hands on a red cloth. I started across the lot, only stopping when we were face-to-face.
He grinned. “Morning.”
“Morning,” I answered, squinting against the bright sun peeking through the clouds.
He noticed and pointed at the office door. “Come in, let’s go inside.”
I followed him to the door to the office located on the outside of the building instead of the one leading into the office from the garage. He closed the door behind me and locked it. “Keep that locked during the day. I usually notice if a car pulls in, but just in case I miss it, I don’t want anyone to…”
“Sneak up on me again.” I finished his thought.
He lowered his voice. “I won’t let that happen.”
I only could muster up the energy to nod slightly, and he studied me for a moment before he stepped around the side of the desk and pulled out the chair. “If you want to sit, I’ll show you the setup.”
“Okay.” I squeezed past him, trying to ignore how good it felt to just be near him. I sat down in the chair, and he stood beside me. “Phone. If the light’s blinking, it’s usually a message from a customer. Just write down the message on this pad.” He gestured to the pad sitting next to the phone. “For now, I’ll call them back. When you get familiar with the scheduling, I’ll have you call them back to schedule the job, but that’ll take some time.” I nodded, and he leaned his arm against mine, bent over, and turned on the computer. “Not gonna lie, I hate this thing.”
“You do?” I glanced up at him. “Why?”
“Just not a computer person.”
I smiled softly. “Don’t tell Lanie that. She’ll say you’re crazy, considering she lives on hers.”
Our eyes locked, and for a moment, the sympathy I’d seen when he came into Dave’s and when I got here today was gone. Something else filled them. Something that made me not want to look away.
He cleared his throat and went through some things on the computer, including invoicing. Everything was pretty basic, but I noticed my eyes became blurry after I stared at the screen too long. I knew this was going to happen. It was the same thing happening at Dave’s, but I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to lose my job. Guess there was a chance I wouldn’t have if I’d explained myself. Although maybe it was a good thing I did lose that job. This seemed quieter and more manageable without people constantly coming in and out.
“Alright.” He stood and moved around to the side of the desk near the garage door. “I need to get back to work. Just familiarize yourself with shit today. Nothing is pressing right now, so just answer the phone if it rings.”
“Got it.”
“Come get me if you need anything or have any questions.”
I forced a smile to my lips. “Yes, sir.”
He grinned and turned to the door, walking back into the garage.
I spent the next few hours looking through invoices and his filing cabinet to understand his system. It was all fairly basic, but when I pulled up his schedule, I was shocked to see that every day was full. I knew he was a popular mechanic, but this was beyond what I thought. I even answered a few calls and took messages, but thankfully, nothing was urgent.
“Paige.”
My head turned toward the open garage door only to see Cole standing there. “Yeah?”
“Can you call the sub shop down the street and order us a few subs? Get something for yourself too. It’s on me.”
“Okay.” I suddenly felt overwhelmed, but I had no idea why. This wasn’t a hard task. Turning my chair, I grabbed the notepad, dropped the pen I was holding, bent to pick it up, and swallowed hard, all before I met Cole’s stare. “What do you guys want?”
He took a step inside and squatted down, putting us eye to eye. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” I smiled, but this time, it was obviously forced. “I just…I don’t know what you like.”
He lowered his voice, and the more he talked, the more my nerves seemed to calm. “I like anything, but no onions. Billy will literally eat anything, and I’m not kidding. I’ve seen half the sub fall on the dirty concrete floor, and he picked it up and kept eating.”
I scrunched up my nose. “Eww.”
He chuckled. “It was disgusting.”
I huffed out a laugh that felt so good it almost made me cry, which was ridiculous.
Cole pushed to stand. “Menus are in the bottom drawer if you didn’t already see them.”
“Right.” I looked at the drawer and remembered seeing them in there. “Bottom drawer.”
“Paige.” I glanced up when he called my name. “Thanks. You’re doing a great job. I’m glad you’re here.”
Then he was gone.
I wondered if my fucked-up mind made that up.
But the compliment felt so good, I decided to hang on to it anyway.