Page 51 of Only Forever

My heart pumped rapidly, but I tried to push down the memories. I had to do this. The only alternative was explaining to Jason why I was afraid, and that definitely wasn’t going to happen.

The first step outside was the hardest, but I gritted my teeth and continued walking into the backyard. I heard the chirping of birds, and a slight breeze ruffled my hair. I breathed in deeply, concentrating on the verdant green of the tree leaves, and the sun breaking into the shade of my backyard. I sat down at the patio table, focusing on the physical things around me. The fear and memories of the intruder started to recede, and I could finally breathe easily. I was relieved that I was able to be in mybackyard again. I just wished I could as easily conquer going beyond my backyard.

I shook off my thoughts. I was happy enough that I could be in my backyard again. I would worry about the rest later. I stayed in the yard, enjoying the weather, until Jason came back with the groceries.

“You know it’s just the two of us, right?” I said, with a raised eyebrow. Jason had bought enough food to feed a party.

“Leftovers,” Jason said simply as we unpacked the bags. “We can have it during the weekend, and we can make sandwiches for lunch next week.”

My heart warmed at the way Jason just assumed we’d be together all those days. As far as I concerned, I would be happy with him staying here permanently.

Jason had bought steak, hamburgers and hotdogs to grill. I went into the kitchen to prep the sides I had told him to buy ingredients for. I made an easy tomato, basil and mozzarella salad, as well as garlicky green beans and baked potatoes with all the fixings. It wasn’t long before we were sitting in front of a feast outside.

“We’re going to need to freeze some of this,” I commented as I fixed myself a plate. “It’s so much that it’ll spoil before we get to all of it for leftovers.”

Jason opened a beer and put it next to my place setting before getting his own plate. “Good idea. Maybe I did get a little carried away with the food.”

I smiled at him affectionately. “No, it’s perfect. We won’t have to worry about food for a week, at least.”

We both made sounds of appreciation as we ate. The weather was perfect, warm with a slight breeze. It made what had happened before seem like a faint nightmare.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

After we ate, we enjoyed being outside until it started getting dark. Even cleaning up and doing the dishes was a fun task because we were doing it together. I was finishing cleaning up the kitchen while Jason went to his car to get the clothes he had picked up from his place on his way to the grocery store. Since he was planning on staying over for a while, what he had brought over in his overnight bag wouldn’t cut it.

I was wiping the counters clean when Jason walked into the kitchen with a strange look on his face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, crinkling my brow. That’s when I glanced down and saw Jason holding a bunch of envelopes. “What’s that?”

Sudden realization dawned that he must have grabbed my mail for me while coming back into the house. I quickly walked over and took the mail from his hands. On the top was an envelope with no return address, and my name and address typed out exactly the way the other threatening letters had been. But that still didn’t explain the odd expression on Jason’s face. There was no outward evidence that the envelope contained a threatening letter inside.

“Wait,” Jason said. Before I realized what he was doing, he had grabbed the top letter back from me. He turned it over and showed me the back of the envelope. My stomach dropped when I saw it.

In block letters, the wordwhorehad been written across the back of the envelope. I quickly snatched the letter back from Jason. “It’s probably just some dumb kids writing crap on people’s mail. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

Jason shook his head. “You should open it and see what’s inside. There’s no return address. You should make sure it’s not from some weirdo.”

“I’ll open it later,” I said, hurriedly opening a kitchen drawer and shoving the stack of mail inside. I should have gotten my mail earlier, so there was no possible chance of Jason seeing anything.

Jason frowned, his expression growing suspicious. “You’re acting like you’re trying to hide something.”

I made a sound of disbelief. “Why would I be hiding anything?” I bit my lip, trying to think of a way to dissuade him from insisting I open the envelope in front of him. I took a quick breath, trying to seem irritated. “Besides, it’smymail. It has nothing to do with you.”

Jason’s expression darkened. “I know something’s wrong. It’s felt like you’ve been hiding something for the past few weeks, but I didn’t want to bring it up because I didn’t want to rock the boat. But now you’re clearly trying to hide that letter.”

I panicked, not knowing what to do. The more I insisted the letter was nothing, the more suspicious it would seem.

Jason’s expression softened. “Daphne, let me help you. I know something has been bothering you.”

I took a deep breath. The last thing I wanted to do was to confide in Jason, but I didn’t know how to get out of opening the letter in front of him. I decided to try to tell a half-truth, and hope it would settle his concern.

“I’ve gotten a letter before from someone anonymous,” I explained, speaking slowly as I tried to figure out exactly how much to tell Jason. I needed to make it believable but not so threatening that he would be too concerned. “I think it’s just someone playing a prank. The letter was pretty lame, just telling me I was a bad person and I needed to repent. It’s probably some teenager that’s watched too many horror movies.”

“Open the letter and see what it says,” Jason said, frowning. “We’ll find out who sent it and set them straight.” Unfortunately,Jason didn’t seem to think what I had just told him was innocuous. He looked pissed.

I opened the drawer and took out the letter. I didn’t know how to avoid opening the letter without arousing Jason’s suspicions even more. But if he saw the contents of the letter, there was no way he was going to dismiss it as a harmless prank. The letters had gotten progressively more crude and aggressive, and I was sure this one would follow suit.

I tried to stop my hands from trembling as I opened the envelope. Before I unfolded the letter, I put a hand up. “Wait, let me read it first.”

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