Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
Hannah went downstairs. She took the two pizzas from the delivery guy and gave him a cash tip.
She had no idea what food to serve when your friends came over to discuss how to cope with stalking.
Pizza was good in any circumstance, and besides, she had a craving for it.
And that just reminded her that her period was about to show up at any moment.
Given her luck lately, both would show up on the same day.
Now she was extra glad she’d gone ahead and gotten two pizzas instead of one.
She hoped she had ranch dressing in the refrigerator.
She put the pizza on the counter and pulled out plates, glasses, and silverware.
Once everything was set up buffet style, Hannah fluffed up the pillows on the couch.
Sitting on the couch did nothing but ratchet up her anxiety.
She got up and paced the living room. The entire apartment was neat as a pin from the frantic energy she’d poured into trying to push Chad out of her mind.
Of course, that hadn’t worked, and to make things worse, whenever she could get a thought in her head that wasn’t about Chad popping up around every corner ready to drag her back to their hometown, it was Kate she was thinking about.
She laughed out loud to her empty place, “The wrong one wants me, and the right one doesn’t. ”
Her phone pinged with a message from another new account on Instagram.
This one said: Stop blocking me. You know you can’t wait to see me.
Hannah pushed her glasses up and rubbed her makeup-free eyes.
She took a screenshot and willed her heartbeat to slow down.
Did twenty-eight-year-olds have heart attacks?
Hannah blocked this account just as she had the last one Chad used.
Nervousness made her feel like every cell in her body was vibrating.
Could Brandee and Zaina get here already?
She sat down on the couch, pulled out her cards, and shuffled.
She wasn’t in a good mental state for giving herself or anyone a reading, but the steady motion of handling the cards had become the best way to soothe herself.
The quiet snick of the cards sliding against each other began dropping her blood pressure, and soon she felt almost like herself.
The intercom buzzed, and she jumped. She ran and checked the window to make sure it was Brandee or Zaina.
She saw Brandee’s car. Relieved, she pressed the button to let her best friend up.
Hannah opened the door and watched the stairwell.
Laughter floated up to her; even better, Brandee must have picked up Zaina.
She didn’t have to carry this worry by herself anymore.
At least that had changed since the first time she’d escaped Chad.
This time, Hannah had friends, and she wasn’t going anywhere.
“Come on in. I may be more stressed out than I have been since I came to Marley Creek, but I’m still PMSing and I’m starving!” Hannah felt herself putting on a happy face, but she couldn’t help it. She didn’t want to look like a total wreck in front of her friends.
Brandee threw her arms around Hannah. “Han.” She said as she gave Hannah a big squeeze.
“Thanks for coming over at the last minute.”
“Girl, don’t even. This is some major shit. Of course I’m here.”
Zaina barreled past the two women hugging, toed off her shoes, and hung up her coat. “I’m starving. You would not believe how hungry breastfeeding makes me.”
Hannah looked at Brandee and rolled her eyes. Zaina could be so dramatic.
“Is it alright if I go ahead and make a plate?”
“Totally, help yourself.” Hannah said.
“You’ve got ranch, right?” Zaina asked as she piled pepperoni pizza on her paper plate.
“Yup, it’s in the door of the fridge.”
Hannah closed the door and locked it. Brandee took off her boots. She wasn’t wearing a coat, just a hoodie and a pair of leggings.
“I don’t know how you can go without a coat. It’s below freezing out there.”
Brandee gathered her long blonde hair at her neck and twisted it into a messy bun. “I guess I run hot. When I was pregnant with Chris, my winter coat stopped fitting, and I never replaced it. As long as I have a hoodie and maybe a vest over it, if it’s really cold, I’m good.”
“Too bad you work during the day. I could use you at the Mistletoe Market. I have been freezing my butt off.”
Zaina held up a finger. Brandee and Hannah waited as Zaina finished chewing her mouthful of pizza. “You should have told me! I’ll have Jasper drop off a heater tomorrow.”
“Oh my God, you don’t even know how happy that makes me.”
“Hannah, you are doing a fantastic job at the market. Our sales have been so good! There will be a nice Christmas bonus for you.”
“Really?” Hannah gave Zaina a side hug while Brandee put pieces of the veggie pizza on her plate.
“Of course! You are killing it out there.”
“It’s because I love Christmas.” Hannah said, “Well, that and the fact that I really need distraction right now.”
Brandee sat down on the couch. Hannah put pizza on her plate along with ranch dressing and sat down on the opposite end. Zaina sat at the kitchen table facing them.
“So, what’s going on? Brandee brought me up to speed on what happened on Thanksgiving on the way over here.”
“Now he is messaging me on Instagram. My personal account is private, but a while back I set up a public account for tarot card reading, and he found me.”
“That’s awful. I’m so sorry,” Zaina said. “I remember how things were when you first came to Marley Creek. It used to startle you every time I came in the back door of the shop.”
Hannah leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes. “I feel like maybe the last couple of years have just been a dream and now I’m waking up. I can’t go back with him.”
“Never!” Brandee growled. “I—we will never let that happen.”
Hannah’s eyes stung, and she sniffed as her nose started running. She knew she was about to cry. “I’m trying to keep it together here. But I’m scared. He keeps messaging me from different accounts. Look, he sent this one a couple of hours ago.”
She opened her phone and showed them a screenshot of Chad’s latest threats. “You can keep blocking me, but you can’t stop me from coming. Maybe I’m already in town. Maybe next time you’re at that brewery, I’ll meet you there.”
Zaina gasped. “How does he know about Hop’s Heaven?”
“He could have Googled places in Marley Creek and is just trying to scare you?” Brandee offered.
Hannah swallowed hard. She swiped to the next screenshot. It was a picture of her at Friendsgiving.
“Crap, how did he find that?” Brandee said.
Hannah sighed. “From a couple of pictures my public profile was tagged in at the pet psychic event. He must have gone from there to Kate’s personal account, which is public, and then looked through her posts. That’s a post she made.”
“She must feel terrible,” Zaina said.
Brandee scoffed.
“What’s going on?” Zaina asked.
Hannah set the rest of her food on the coffee table. She wasn’t hungry anymore. “Kate and I aren’t seeing each other anymore.”
“Nah, that can’t be.” Zaina shook her head, and her jingle bell earrings tingled, which made Smoky run over and hop into her lap. “Ope!” She said and then started petting Smoky.
“That’s some bullshit. Kate’s a fool,” Brandee said.
The Fool card from Hannah’s tarot deck popped into her head with Kate’s face transposed on the card’s face. The thought tickled her, and she giggled which turned into a laugh, and then she couldn’t stop laughing, and then tears started. “I’m so sorry, I’m such a mess.”
“You’re doing great,” Zaina said. Brandee rubbed Hannah’s back as Hannah’s sobs turned into big gasping breaths as she regained her composure. “Now, how can we help you? We should go to the police. This has to be cyberstalking, right?”
Hannah shook her head vigorously.
Brandee tapped away on her phone. “It says all you can really do is file a police report. Then if anything happens…” She trailed off.
“Are you serious?” Zaina asked.
“Yep. They can’t really do anything.”
“Dammit. You should still file a report. At least let them know what’s going on?”
Exhaustion was making Hannah’s limbs heavy. “I appreciate you two coming over and trying to help.”
“We can’t just do nothing! Come stay at my house. We have plenty of room!” Zaina entreated.
Hannah’s chest tightened. She took off her glasses and rubbed her face. “I get that I sound crazy, but I just can’t. I am not going to let him chase me out of my home.”
Brandee nodded. “I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it.”
“I got a Ring camera. So, I can see if he manages to get into the building and come up here. I’ve got another camera that shows the street.”
“How does that help?” Zaina asked.
“When I leave work or wherever, I can check the camera app and make sure I don’t see his stupid truck.”
“How do you know what he’ll be driving?”
“Trust me, there is no way he got rid of it. That truck is the only thing he truly loves.”
“Okay, well, I guess that is something.” Brandee sighed and then she brightened. “But we can help too.”
“What do you mean?” Hannah asked.
“Yes, I want to know too,” Zaina said.
“We’ll make sure people are keeping an eye on you.”
“I’m not a basket case.”
“Listen, I’m not saying we set up an armed guard. I just mean we’ll check in on you more. Make sure we don’t see Chad around, and if we do…”
“Yes, if you do, then what?” Hannah interrupted.
“Step one will be to tell him to stay away from you and let him know he isn’t welcome in Marley Creek.”
“God, I hope he is just full of shit and has no intention of really coming here.”
Zania patted Hannah’s knee. “We do too. Seriously. And I’m going to start rotating the temp employees out to the market to work with you. I’m not leaving you alone.”
“I hate that you’ll have to spend all that money on staff.”
Zaina held up a finger, “One, it’s just money, and it’s a business expense. Two, I’m sure everyone will be happy for the extra hours, and three, you mean the world to me, and if you won’t let me wrap you up in bubble wrap to keep you safe, this is what I need to do. Got it?”
Hannah bit her lip to stop from smiling. Warmth filled her chest. Her friends had her back, more than her own damn parents. She was so freaking lucky. “Group hug?”
The women stood up and hugged. Then they pulled apart.
Zaina held her arms across her chest. “I need to go; my boobs are killing me. Time to go feed Lily.”
Brandee yawned, and seconds later Hannah caught it. “No worries. I’m exhausted, I do feel better though,” Hannah said.
Brandee and Zaina got their boots on. “I’ll text you as soon as I have someone to work with you tomorrow.”
“Sounds good.”
“And post in the group chat to let us know when you are out and about. Just to be safe.”
“I will.”
Brandee and Zaina gave Hannah final hugs and then they left.
Hannah threw out their plates and put away the few pieces of pizza that were left. “I hope I get lucky, and the jerk doesn’t show up. But if he does, at least I’ve got people looking out for me,” she told herself.
Feeling calmer than she had in days, Hannah double-checked that the door was locked, and then she headed to bed. If only Kate were here. She sighed and climbed into bed.