Page 90 of Second Chance for Mr. Alden

I tensed. “Just sit here with me while I call.”

“Okay.” Regret simmered in his eyes. He knew how badly I was beating myself up for my stupid mistake.

My fingers tapped out Ruby’s cell phone number. “Hello.”

“Hey, Ruby. It’s Jess.”

“Jess, oh my gosh. Your posts have brought in so many new customers at both our locations. I can’t thank you enough.”

I cringed. Damn, I hated to burst her bubble. “Oh, fuck, Ruby. I’m so happy for you. But...”

Ruby grew quiet. “Are you okay?”

We didn’t talk much about why I was in hiding. Ruby knew about the attempted kidnapping, but not anything else. “I fucked up.”

“Okay, what happened?” She didn’t even know what it was, but I knew she was ready to help fix it. Ruby was a better friend than I deserved.

“I have a stalker. Long story short, I was attacked four months ago, but the police think it was a mugging. We think otherwise, and then things escalated two weeks ago, that’s when we confirmed that it was a stalker and they tried to kidnap me. So, we decided to go into hiding.”

“Holy shit, that’s heavy,” Ruby whispered.

“I know. And Alden’s afraid that my social media posts might bring the wrong kind of attention to you and your grandmother.” I had to force out the next words. “You might be in danger if they associate you with me. I’m so sorry.”

Ruby stayed silent.

In the little time I’d known her I knew she liked to think things over. After a few minutes without her saying a word, I thought I was going to scream.

“I think we’ll be okay. I just got done scrolling through the posts. You don’t directly mention being here at this location and you only talk about finding the bakery at the marketplace.”

“Right, but even if it’s a slim connection and something happens to you—”

“It still wouldn’t be your fault.” She sounded so certain.

“Ruby.” Guilt still crawled up and down my spine.

“No, Jess I’m serious. If this stalker of yours pulls any shit with either me or Granny then that’s on them, not you. I’ll talk to my grandmother, but we’re not shutting down. I’ll be careful and we’ll make sure we have more staff available, but no one is scaring us off. And if they find you because of this, I’ll hurt them.”

I sniffed back tears. “I think we’re going to be the best fucking friends ever.”

She laughed. “I think we will be too. Listen, I hate to run, but I want to call Granny right away.”

“Tell her I’m sorry.”

“She’ll tell you to stop whining. Stay safe my friend.”

I whispered goodbye, and we hung up.

Alden took the phone from me. “Ruby knows the risk, Jess.”

“I know.” I stood up and paced.

Inside a scream built up, right alongside the anger that was now surfacing. How dare this motherfucker make me afraid for my friends. I had already left my life behind, was in hiding, had to tell my sponsors I needed time off for personal reasons, and had completely stepped away from my grandparents’ business.

“I’ve given up my life these past few weeks and I’m getting sick and tired of it.”

“Jess, we just need a little more time.” He grabbed my hand and tugged me in between his legs. His knees held me in place.

I laid my hands on his shoulders, feeling comforted by his touch. “I’ll give you until next Monday.”

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