Page 6 of Don't Leave Me

I can’t wait to call Charlie and tell her about Pecker. I wonder if I can find one of his social media pages so she can see what he looks like. He’s totally the type of guy she’d find cute, though I'm not sure her husband, Wyatt, will be thrilled with her gushing about how cute another man is.

Most of dinner, Pecker asks me one question after another. He’s attentive and truly listens when I tell him something. He’s so much nicer than the guys I'm used to hanging out with. He doesn’t act like I should be honored to share a meal with him, he’s happy to just be in the same room as me.

Most of the guys I hang out with are typically professional sports players. It’s a hazard of having two brothers who play professional hockey, and a brother-in-law and friend who play professional baseball. Most of the men I meet through them are getting paid the big bucks to play a sport and most of them think they’re God’s gift to the opposite sex.

Pecker is like a breath of fresh air. Completely different from everyone I'm used to and I love it.

“What made you want to be a police officer?” I ask him as I take another bite of my steak and chew slowly.

“A lot of things. My dad was a cop so I grew up around it. I saw how much he could help people in need and how he was willing to risk everything to be there for a complete stranger.”

“Is he still a cop?” Leslie asks.

“No, he was killed in the line of duty.” Pecker gives her a sad smile.

“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry!”

“It’s ok. He died a few years ago. Before I even went to the police academy.” He’s lost in thought and looks so sad. It makes me want to wrap him in a hug. “He was an amazing man. A great father and husband. I’ve always strived to be just like him, so being a cop just made sense to me. He was always fair and understanding with everyone. That’s the type of cop I want to be too.”

“I think you already are that cop,” Colt says softly.

“Thanks, Colt. That means a lot to me.”

A phone call interrupts our conversation. We quickly find out there was a strange man seen in town. Leslie immediately starts freaking out and Pecker looks confused.

Instead of trying to figure out if this is or isn’t Jimmy, I tug out my phone to call Uncle Mason. I know he’s the most likely to have accurate information and I want to know what he thinks. Before I can pull up Uncle Mason’s contact information, Colt has his phone on speaker in the center of the table and Uncle Mason’s voice fills the line.

He rattles on and on about all the technical things, mostly talking to Colt. I see the moment Pecker puts the pieces together and realizes what’s going on.

“… but I think I'm going to have to come to Maple Springs,” Uncle Mason sighs.

“Why?” Leslie and I ask at the same time with frowns pinching both of our brows.

“Sophia, have you met your father? If he finds out you could be in danger, he’ll kill me. Hell, he’ll make me look like a teddy bear. Plus, let’s not even start on how pissed my wife will be. Aunt Kelsey is cute and sweet, until she thinks someone in this family is in danger, then she’s a mama bear and she’ll rip out your jugular. I’m not trying to be on the receiving side of either one of their anger. And I don’t even know what your parents would do, Zoey. Your mom does share DNA with Wesand Kelsey. They’re wild cards and I don’t want to find out how they’ll respond.”

Colt takes over the conversation again as they run the license plate of the person spotted at the gas station. They go on for a few minutes before the conversation turns back to something I can be a part of.

“Uncle Mason, don’t come yet. If we see any sign of him, I’ll call you right away, but I don’t want you to come here for nothing,” Leslie says quietly.

My heart breaks for her. She’s always been such an amazing person, but Jimmy broke her. He destroyed her entire life and it pisses me off that he’s trying to do it again.

“I’ll stay here for now, but I want to know if anything happens. Anything at all,” he urges.

“I’ll call you every time I need to pee,” I grin.

“And every time you sneeze,” Uncle Mason doesn’t skip a beat, he teases me right back. “I love you, Soph and Zoey. Listen to Colt and do what he says… especially you, Sophia.”

“Hey! Why am I being called out?” I frown at the phone like Uncle Mason can see me. If he were here, I’d be glaring at him.

“Because you’re a handful and don’t like to be told what to do.”

“I take offense to that!” I fold my arms over my chest and a little pout settles on my lips.

“Good. Learn to listen and I won't have to call you out anymore.” He chuckles. “What happened when you thought someone was following you home from the Pit Bulls game a few weeks ago?”

“I didn’t listen and drove straight home,” I grumble under my breath.

“And what did I tell you to do?”

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