Page 10 of Knight's Desire

“What happened?”

“I told her I wanted to have another baby. Aidan’s five, and I like the idea of him having a sibling to grow up with. I like the idea of growing our family. She got angry. She asked me why I was so hell bent to change things when everything was perfect as it was. So I backed off. Everything seemed normal, but I can’t help wondering if I scared her off. What if she’s more of a commitment phobic than I knew? I admit I never thought about marriage before. But I see Jay with Payton, Sydney and Cole, Tryst and Kat, and I thought that could be us. I don’t get it. Usually women want marriage and babies, right?”

“Most of the ones I know do, but I guess there could be some who don’t want a traditional life. Even so, that doesn’t mean you’re wrong for wanting more. You’re not wrong for wanting more with her after the two of you have been together for so long. If she got freaked out now after all this time, that’s on her, man. Not you.”

“I know. My head says you’re right, but I can’t stop blaming myself. Well, I blame her too, but I go back and forth being angry at her and then at myself. I’m all twisted up, and I don’t know what to do. Where do I go from here? Do I try to get over her, or do I wait for her to change her mind?”

“I wish I had the answer, man, but I’m not even sure there’s a right answer here. I think you just have to handle it the way you would a case. Take it one step at a time, and eventually, you’ll figure it out as best as you can.”

Sam looked up at him with a smirk. “You really suck at this advice stuff.”

Brick chuckled. “Yeah, this isn’t exactly my strong point, but I’m here for you. For whatever you need.”

“Thanks, man. I appreciate it. I’m not sure what I need right now. Well, except maybe a shower.” He lifted his shirt to sniff underneath the crew neck, making a face at the body odor he was putting off after their workout.

“Go then. I’ll see you at the office. I want to talk to Travis before I hit the showers. I’m up to help with his next self-defense class.”

Part of the deal for letting the KSI employees use the gym included the team members and investigators helping with the regular self-defense class held at Knight and Day Fitness Center. Travis offered the class at no charge to anyone in the community who wanted to learn how to protect themselves against potential attackers. He offered classes for all ages and genders, though his students were mostly females. He even had some to take more than one class to make sure they stayed sharp.

Sam nodded but hesitated. “Thanks,” was all he said before he left the juice bar.

Brick watched his friend leave, abhorring the helplessness he felt. Now that he knew what was going on with Sam, he wanted to support his friend, but he had no idea exactly how to do that. He just hoped his lame advice would prove to be true — eventually they would all figure it out.

Chapter Five

Hope unlocked the door to the Bridal Shoppe, humming the tune of “Take a Chance on Me” by ABBA. The classic ‘70s song by the Swedish pop group was one of her favorites, and when she set her playlist to random for the ride to work, it had been playing when she parked in her usual spot.

She woke feeling refreshed with an idea for a new design on her mind. She made quick work of readying for her day because she was anxious to get to her drafting table before the inspiration disappeared.

She bypassed turning on any lights, and instead, she went straight to her office, deposited her purse on her desk, and sat in her chair. Opening her sketchbook, her hand gripped a colored pencil and froze over the blank page. Her imagination pushed her to put the graphite tip to paper, but something nagged at her, stopping her from doing what she’d come in early to do.

When her mind finally made the connection it was seeking, she gasped and pushed her chair away from her table. As the wheels glided over the floor, her eyes darted around the room. The fine hairs on her arms stood on end. Nothing else seemed out of place or disturbed, but there was a sketch she left on her drafting table that was no longer there.

Still grasping her pencil, she stood and carefully retraced her steps to the front door. She flipped the switches to illuminate the Shoppe. Her gasp echoed in the empty boutique.

More flowers, this time a bunch of bright sunflowers, sat on the receptionist desk that had been left cleared and tidy the night before. The decorative calendar in the corner had been turned to show today’s date, something Kayla did when she arrived to work. She stepped lightly until she stood in the doorway to the main salon. The pillows on the sofa were fluffed and arranged, but in a different way than she preferred. The glass dish on the table beside the couch were no longer filled with the peppermint candies she set out each day for clients. Instead, butter rum candies that she hated rested in the dish.

Then she spun around the room like she was a wind-up toy. The dresses on the mannequins were not the ones she’d had on them yesterday. She had her new shipment of dresses, including her fitted dress, on the mannequins to get the clients’ attention as they came in to shop. Now they were all replaced with full ballgowns, old fashioned in design with lots of lace and long trains.

“What the…”

She forced her feet forward until she reached the tiny kitchenette. Flipping on the light switch, she saw the fresh pot of coffee percolating. She opened the refrigerator and saw it restocked with bottles of water that were given to clients during appointments. The plastic container of leftover chicken salad that had expired had been tossed.

Hastily removing her phone from the pocket of her slacks, she almost dropped it while she dialed Kayla’s number. Her assistant’s groggy greeting told Hope she’d woken Kayla up from a sound sleep, but at the moment, she couldn’t feel guilty about that.

“Hey, Kayla, did you come back to the Shoppe last night after we closed up?”

“What? No, I met up with some friends for drinks and then came home to crash. Why do you ask?”.”

Hope’s eyes closed, but she managed to hide the panic she felt from her tone. Days had passed since her paranoia over the mysterious flower delivery and the feeling of being watched. She’d let her guard down, believing she overreacted. But the evidence that someone had broken into her Shoppe stared at her in the face. On the surface, it seemed harmless, but breaking and entering was still a crime. If she’d walked in when the person was playing around in her Shoppe, what would have happened? Would the criminal still be harmless, or would he attack her?

“I’m sorry to bother you, Kayla. I’ll talk to you later.” Hope hung up absently, her mind trying to make sense of what she was seeing.

Then she moved from the kitchenette back to the salon and smelled what she missed during her first pass. Cologne. The same sandalwood scent that was in the Shoppe yesterday, the source of which she’d never identified. Did it belong to the criminal? Had he been in her Shoppe once before?

Her steps were slow at first, but then she ran back into her office. She slammed the door and twisted the lock in place. Backing away from the door until she bumped into her desk, she panted, her heart racing until she thought it would explode from her chest. She still held her cell phone, and her fingers poised over the keypad, reading to dial 9-1-1, when logic burst through the panic.

She couldn’t call the police. What would she tell them? Someone found their way inside her Bridal Shoppe and did nice things for her? They would laugh at her, and she couldn’t blame them.

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