Chapter 13
I was a damn idiot. The thought repeated itself over and over again as Stella and I walked down Main Street.
I could have stayed on that dance floor with my hands on her hips forever. She felt so damn good moving with my body. The way she swayed, she seemed so free and happy. And I wanted that for her—I really did. But more than anything I wanted to know her.
I interrupted our dancing to ask her if she wanted a drink so I could talk to her, I felt desperate to hear her laugh.
She ended up winning that feat and we spent the entire time talking about me and my family.
Now, we were walking down Main Street, discussing even more of my family’s history.
I was beyond proud of my family and our story here in Love, but so much about her was still unknown to me, and I craved that information about her like she was the antidote I was so desperately seeking.
After what felt like the millionth question about something in Love, I answered her with an exasperated sigh while still being unable to wipe the smile off my face. She was stunning, and the fact that I had captured her attention for so long made me feel like I had won the damn lottery.
“Enough about me, Stella. I want to know about you. What brings you to Love? And please, not the cliché answer everyone gives of wanting a change of pace to a small-town life.” After spending the past two hours walking around with her under the star light, I felt we could do better than casual surface level conversation.
She looked down at our feet and grew silent as we walked. I was beginning to worry I had pushed too hard and was about to backtrack when she blurted out, “I was in a really bad relationship.”
As if saying it out loud took away some of its chokehold against her, she took in a deep breath that reminded me of the one we shared on the porch after she had dropped the vase of flowers.
“I decided I was done experiencing life in such a negative way. My parents passed away when I was young and I was raised by my grandpa.”
I started to apologize for her loss but she quickly cut me off.
“Don’t worry about it, really. I was so young when it happened and my grandpa gave me an amazing childhood.
And I mean amazing. He was the embodiment of love, if there ever was one.
But I lost him a few years ago, too. It just got to a point where I didn’t really feel like there was anything holding me in Utah anymore.
So, I just got in my car and left in the middle of the night.
The whole drive is a bit of a blur, if I’m being honest. I was going to stop here to gas up anyway, but something about Love really called to me.
Plus, I don’t think Trixie would have let me leave, even if I tried,” she finished with a laugh.
I joined in her laughing, because I could imagine it. It was just like Grandma Trixie to take care of those she saw who needed it. And thinking back to how I saw Stella that first night, clutching the blanket and trembling, she definitely needed it.
I wasn’t sure what to do with this bit of vulnerability she had given to me, but I wanted to hold on to it carefully so I could gain more of her trust.
“You did a really brave thing,” I said truthfully.
She beamed up at me and my heart burst with the spark she lit inside me. “Thank you. Your sister and Olivia said the same thing.”
“Those girls know what they are talking about.” I smiled; happy she had fallen in sync so seamlessly with Melody and her best friend. If she was wanting to make new connections and build new relationships, she was already off to a great start. I only hoped I could be a part of that, as well.
“They definitely do. I had a lot of fun with them today. And thank you for taking me out here.” She looked around thoughtfully. “I have a degree in interior design and I just love the look of these old buildings. So getting to know this history is just the cherry on top.”
I felt starved and every bit of information she gave me about herself was my fuel to keep asking her more. “Interior design? That sounds interesting, did you quit your job when you came here?”
She shrugged. “That’s kind of in limbo, I guess.
I finished the job I was working on before I left and haven’t taken any new ones on my schedule.
I pulled out a bunch of cash before I came here and I have savings to fall back on, but I’ll probably have to get something going again soon if I want to find a place of my own.
My cash won’t last too long. Trixie hasn’t even charged me anything yet.
And I’m sure she won’t want to keep me as a guest forever. ”
“I wouldn’t be so worried about that.” I smiled.
Stella wasn’t the only one who’s demeanor had brightened in the few days she had been here.
Grandma Trixie also had a new found pep in her step every time I saw her recently.
She loved having guests in her home, and Stella was no exception.
“It’s harvest season now, just give her a hand out in her garden and I’m sure she’d call it even. ”
Stella smiled. “I don’t know much about gardening, but I would love to learn. The flowers around here are stunning. I’ve never seen some of these wildflowers before, and the flower boxes outside each storefront…so cute!” She basically squealed the last part, and the sound of it made me chuckle.
“That would all be thanks to Gloria. She owns Love in Bloom and takes care of all the flowers down Main Street. Her and Grandma Trixie are best friends, so I’m sure you’ll get to learn a lot from them both.”
“Amazing.” She smiled wistfully, but it faded quickly as we rounded the bend in the road that came up to the old rail house. The farther we walked from town, the darker it got as the moonlight casted eerie shadows along the trees.
Stella’s hand suddenly grabbed onto mine as she eyed the rail house, obviously remembering her bear encounter. She must have surprised herself with the reaction because she tried to pull her hand away, but I gently tightened my grip to keep hold of her.
“I’m sorry, it’s such a beautiful building in the daylight. I guess I’m still a little spooked at night.”
“You don’t have anything to be sorry for. You have your bear spray, right?” I asked.
She nodded and patted her purse. “Ever since you gave it to me.”
“Good.” I smiled reassuringly at her. “Then we’ll be okay.
Plus, we’re making noise. Right now, it’s very likely that anything out there is more scared of us than we should be of it.
” We spent the next few minutes walking back to the bed and breakfast talking about outdoor and wildlife safety while I relished in the feeling of her fingers laced with mine.
Just as Grandma’s house came into view, and I thought the threat of bears was behind us, Stella gasped and her other hand shot up to cover her mouth as I squeezed her hand clasped in mine tighter on instinct.
“My car,” she breathed out.
I looked to where her car was parked on the side of Whispers of Love and saw red—as bold as the spray paint that still dripped from her car. There were hideous words like whore and bitch and slut scrawled all over it, and as we got closer it looked like all four tires had been slashed.
“What the fuck?” I growled. Stuff like this didn’t happen in Love—it was called Love, for crying out loud—and especially not on my property. I hadn’t the first idea who would do something like this.
“It’s Nick,” Stella whispered, her eyes shone with unshed tears and my heart cracked at the sight.
“Who?” I needed to know. I needed to fix that look on her face and bring her smile back once again.
“Nick, my ex. He’s the one who sent the flowers. The note…” She shook her head. “I knew it was him. I can’t believe he’d go this far, though.”
“How would he know you’re here? It’s only been a couple days.”
“Who knows?” She laughed, on the verge of hysterical now. “He’s always had his connections. He always gets his way. Fuck, he probably had a tracker implanted into me one of the times I was in the hospital or some bullshit.”
She wasn’t making sense anymore with what she was saying, so I did the only thing that made sense to me at that moment and pulled her into my chest. Wrapping my arms around her, I felt her shuddering breaths and made sure to control mine so she could copy them as she had before.
Eventually, her breathing matched my slower pace, and I tilted her chin up to meet my gaze. “We’ll figure out who did this,” I promised.
She nodded, but the magic of the night was already lost. “I’m just going to go up to my room and get ready for bed.
I’ll call a tow truck first thing in the morning to get that moved out of here,” she assured me as she put distance between us.
“I’d hate to have anyone see that outside Whispers of Love.
” Shame filled her entire being as she walked away from me.
That would be the last thing Grandma Trixie would be worried about.
Thankfully, she was at seniors’ bingo tonight and would be spending the night with Gloria, as they did most Fridays.
Unfortunately, we had no neighbours to call on any witnesses.
But nevertheless, I was glad Gram hadn’t been all on her own out here if someone had been on the property.
All I wanted to do was pull Stella back into my arms and hold her against my chest, but I knew that wasn’t what she needed right now. What I could do was move her car, so she didn’t have to deal with it in the morning.
Once she was safely inside, I followed behind and went into the kitchen to use the house phone. I called my buddy Sean, who was an incredible mechanic, to assess the damage. After I explained the situation, he promised me he could come pick it up first thing in the morning.
“Thanks, man, I really appreciate it. I’m going to move it up to my place right now, so that’s where it’ll be in the morning.”
After hanging up with Sean, I called Patrick. Maybe he should’ve been the first one I called, but I wanted to be sure Stella wouldn’t see the car when she woke up in the morning. Everything else we could deal with as it came.
Patrick and I didn’t normally call each other, so he picked up on the first ring.
“What’s wrong?” he answered, his serious tone a stark difference from how he had sounded when we were at the bar together just a few short hours ago.
I explained to him how we found Stella’s car when we came back this evening, and he hung up hastily after he said he was on his way.
Less than ten minutes later, Patrick pulled up to the house while I was rigging up my work truck to tow Stella’s car. He aimed his headlights at me so I could see what I was doing a little better, and I gave him a grateful wave.
“What the fuck, man?” he said as he approached me.
“Yeah, that’s what I said.” I proceeded to tell him what Stella had told me about Nick and how she had left him, saving the more delicate details of how she broke down as those weren’t my bits of vulnerability to give away.
“I don’t know. I just don’t see a grown man coming all the way up here from Salt Lake City to do this to his ex-girlfriend’s car, do you?
” Patrick asked me. There was no ounce of sarcasm or judgement in his tone, he was asking honestly.
That’s something I appreciated about Pat, he always took other people’s opinions into consideration.
“No, I don’t think so,” I admitted, even though it felt like defeat for how convinced Stella had been. “But it’s still someone messing with her and it needs to stop.”
Apart from Stella being the victim, this was my grandma’s home, and it didn’t sit well with me that someone had come onto her property to do something as malicious as this.
“Couldn’t agree more. We’ll find out who did this. If it was some kids playing a stupid prank, we’re bound to find someone with red spray paint on their hands in the next day or two.”
I really hoped it would be that easy, but something told me it wouldn’t.
Patrick helped me get Stella’s car to my house, and after he left I went in my house to give Bernard some extra treats.
I felt a little bad for leaving him alone, but I’d feel even worse leaving Stella in that empty house, even if that meant sleeping on the couch so I could be close to the front door.