“In the meantime, I’m gonna talk to my friend in Jersey and tell him about what happened today.” I can hear the frustration in Asher’s voice.
I walk out of my hiding place in the hall just as Mr. Mayson is opening the front door. He tips his head in my direction, his eyes soft on me. “I want you to be extra careful.” I can tell that his tone is not that of the sheriff, but as a man who cares about me like a daughter. “If you’re out, you need to watch who’s around you. If anyone makes you feel even the slightest bit of unease, you go somewhere where with a lot of people and call me or one of my boys. As I told Asher, this whole situation is a mess. I just need to see if I can dig anything up that will straighten everything out. In the meantime, stay safe.”
“Thanks for everything.” I walk to him and hug him around the waist. He gives me a one-armed hug, his other arm full with his notebook, his plastic bag with the card inside, and a coffee cup.
“I’m sure Susan is going to be stopping by soon and will want to see for herself that you’re safe.” He was not wrong. Susan was a momma bear and very protective of her cubs. Since being brought into the family, she has taken me under her care and made it known far and wide that if you messed with me, you would have to deal with her.
“Okay,” I murmur. My real mother might not want me, but Susan loves me and she is better than anything I could ever ask for in a mother. Asher’s brothers are always giving me a hard time, telling me I am a suck up but I don’t care.
Asher hooks me around my waist, pulling my back to his front. “Talk to you soon, Dad,” Asher says, shuffling us to the door as his dad closes it behind him. He locks it and turns me around, his hands framing my face. “You okay?” I can see the worry in his eyes.
“I’m fine. I just want to know who is doing this and why.”
“Me too, baby,” he says, laying his forehead against mine.
“Is it me, or is that poem totally creepy?” I whisper.
“It’s not just you.”
“What do you think it means?”
“I don’t know, baby,” he says quietly. I wrap my arms tighter around him and hold on. I can tell he hates this more than I do.
Chapter 9
“Bye,” I call over my shoulder as I walked out of Temptations.
“Bye, honey,” Liz calls through the open door of her shop. I got up early to meet Liz for coffee and to explain to her about what happened yesterday. She knew I received flowers yesterday because I had called her, and everyone else I knew, to see who sent them. She, like everyone else, said she didn’t send anything and wondered why I was asking but I couldn’t explain the situation at the time. Plus with each phone call I made, I got more and more scared and was too freaked out to talk to anyone about what happened. Then Mr. Mayson showed up and we found the card. So, I knew it was more than just a nice gesture from a friend.
After Mr. Mayson left, Asher dragged me into the office, sat me at the desk, got my phone book and had me log onto the online dating site. He dragged me out of the chair, sat down, and pulled me into his lap. I poked around on the website and looked at any messages I had received from guys. I clicked on my profile and the picture I used was not my favorite. He grunted a few times while reading some of the information I posted. I was surprised by the amount of inquiries I received. Some were normal, others disturbing. The normal ones were just, would you like to have dinner with me questions. Others were, would you like to meet to have sex? Those surprised me. I never knew people used the internet for one night stand type of situations.
Once he was satisfied that no one from the website was stalking me, he canceled my account. I sat quietly in his lap the whole time, fighting the laughter that was getting ready to explode out of me while he was clicking away on the computer. When he was done and the computer was shutting down, I turned to look at him. “All mine.” He grunted and I could no longer hold it in. I started laughing.
“You’re such a caveman,” I said, kissing him.
“Oh my God. I’m so sorry,” I’m apologizing to the person I just bumped into.
The woman mumbles and her body bends down to pick up a file. “You need to watch where you’re going.”
I know that voice. My body freezes.
“Mom?” I whisper in complete shock as her head comes up. Her hair is different, a little longer and I can see a few new wrinkles around her eyes. She probably had to cut back on her Botox treatments now that I’m not there to help her with money.
“November,” she says and gives me a curt nod, but she doesn’t say anything else. She is wearing her usual gear. Black, wide leg slacks, a lavender blouse that I know is real silk, and shiny, black dominatrix shoes. Well, that’s what I call them. The heel looks like it can be used as a weapon. I also know that those shoes have a red bottom.