Page 41 of Beaten

Meg and I talked until her lunch hour was over. When she stood, she said, “I’m glad we did this. I can’t wait to spend the day with you, and Ashley. She sounds like a hoot.”

“Me too.” And I meant it. “Ashley can be crazy but she has a heart of gold.”

When we got to the door, Doug went out first and scanned, then nodded. Jack held the door for me and Meg, then followed behind us. The three of them escorted me to my car. Total overkill. My face must have given me away because Meg said, “Sorry, Jack doesn’t want to leave me alone, just in case, so you get a full escort.” I might have thought she was annoyed based on her words, but her face was all smiles when she looked at Jack.

“No worries. Thanks again, Meg.”

Jack waited with Meg until Doug got in his truck, then waved to let me know I was free to go.

God it sucks that this is my life.

On the drive home, I couldn’t stop thinking about the car I saw. The one I thought was Asshat Craig’s. It had been in the back of my mind while I had coffee with Meg, but was easy enough to ignore while I had someone to distract me.

I told myself there was no way it was him. I didn’t think he’d take a day off of work just to drive around Weatherford, hoping to see me. If it had been him, he would have saidsomething, or at least honked at me to scare me. He wouldn’t have seen me and kept going without trying to hurt me, verbally or physically.

I’d finally convinced myself I was just being paranoid as I parked. I grabbed the bag of muffins I’d picked up for my parents, and glanced across the street to see if Doug had parked yet. Of course he had. I felt stupid for taking comfort from seeing him there, when I’d been telling everyone I didn’t think I needed protection.

After getting out of the car, I made sure my locks clicked before walking to the front door. I noticed something on the porch, it looked like flowers but the colors seemed off.

When I got closer, I could see they were flowers and the reason the color looked off was because they were dead. My breath caught in my throat as I looked over my shoulder, expecting to see Craig. He wasn’t there. Taking a deep breath, I looked around to see if someone was watching, waiting to see my reaction, but the only person I could see was Doug. I thought about calling him, but didn’t want to over-react twice in one day.I’m sure it’s just the neighborhood kids playing a prank. The last thing I needed was for the SSI guys to think of me as the girl who cried wolf.

I picked up the bouquet of dead summer flowers and carried them inside, hoping Doug hadn’t noticed me or, if he had, didn’t think it was worth his attention.

He had. When I got inside, I had a text from Doug asking if everything was alright. Not wanting to make a big deal out of what was most likely a prank, I told him everything was fine.

There’s no way I saw Craig near Grannie’s today.

There’s no way he thought to buy flowers and let them die.

There’s no way he drove five hours just to leave them for me to find on my parent’s porch without making contact.

Right?

My hands were shaking, and my breath came in ragged spurts as I put the prank flowers in a garbage bag, then took them out to the trash bin in the garage. I didn’t want anyone to find them.

Because it was just a prank, and nothing to worry about.

If I say it enough, I’ll believe it.

Chapter 18

Emily

Afew days later, everyone met at my house for our day at the fair. Then, after introductions and a few small pleasantries, Jamie explained the game plan. I knew this wasn’t a date, but hearing him discuss protocols and game plans hammered it home. Technically it was Jamie’s watch so he was the only one who couldn’t drink, but they all agreed it’d be better, safer, if they all stayed sober. Before leaving, Jamie made us all promise to stay together as a group.

Ashley and I rode with Jamie. Jack, Meg, and AJ followed us. Chris and Vicky were meeting us there later, after dropping Zoe off at Vicky’s parents.

Ashley practically drooled all over herself during introductions because she thought AJ was seriously hot. I’d be too embarrassed to be act like that, but Ashley was fearless and unapologetically herself, and AJ didn’t seem to mind theattention.I wish I was half as confident as Ashley.Then maybe I wouldn’t have gotten myself into such a shitty relationship.

Ashley and I sat in the back seat, not that we had to, but she said she wanted to. She said it’d be more fun for us, plus it’d be easier for us to talk. Jamie chuckled, and said there was no point in arguing.

When Ashley asked Jamie if AJ was seeing anyone, I blushed. God only knew why, she wasn’t asking for me.

“Why, you interested?” Jamie teased.

“I might be. I mean, everyone’s got a date except me, and him, so it seems like a good idea to partner up.”

Damn it! I told Ashley last night this wasn’t a date. She told me I sounded disappointed.

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