Page 34 of Runaway
Pine. Outdoors. All the manly things.
All fear of the mountain lions disappeared, even when my computer chimed with a new email. When I clicked the icon, my stomach soured.
Stella Marie,
Had some news from work today, my love. Your normal love of detail has failed you. Each business application for government support has been rejected. Yet, when I look over the paperwork, I find no fault with your work.
I do wonder what may have caused that?
See you soon.
My eyes darted back to the door as I slammed the computer shut, breathing fast. The wordsmy loveran through my mind like a ticker tape. The clearly sinister-sweet tone of his response. Of course, he had my old email—I should have anticipated that. Didn't think it was worth getting rid of that because too many important things came that way. Now I’d need to get rid of that, too.
The terror of the night pressed back around me, but when I caught a whiff of Mark on the air, I felt better. Joshua had received word of the rejections, which meant he was probably still in Cincinnati. He wasn't here.
Safe,I thought.I'm safe.
But it didn't feel like it, alone in the dark mountains. Banishing the fear of Joshua, I scrolled through Mark's list of stored movies, sighed in relief when I saw one of my favorite light-hearted romantic comedies, then started it. Then I pulled one of his jackets all the way around me and settled into the smell of Mark with a relieved sigh.
14
Mark
My thoughts were a jumble as I slipped out of the Zombie Mobile that night and headed for home. A breeze blew leaves around my feet as I crunched down the footpath, past trees, and toward my cabin. Shanti had been a refreshing change. Bright-eyed, filled with humor, and a sparkling wit I couldn't help but love, she was a date I'd been hoping to find a long time ago, but never could.
And now, as all good candidates went, she was out of my life. On her way to see a friend in Seattle, and staunchly non-committed.
Just like JJ and I had been once.
“I'm a mover,” she'd explained with a wide, unapologetic grin that betrayed white teeth around her spiraling black hair. “I get itchy feet after just a few weeks, you know? But I figure I want to meet people as I head around. Want to see the world and all the people in it. A dating app is a great way to do it.”
To my surprise, I wasn't as disappointed as I'd expected. Just as I wasn't as heartsick over seeing Lizbeth today as I thought I'd be. Tonight, I was more pained seeing their happiness together rather than her response to JJ instead of me.
It felt like . . . something.
The porch light was still on—I always forgot to turn it off—when I reached for the doorknob, then stopped. It wouldn't twist open.
Locked?
Blinking, I tried again.
Definitely locked.
Had I locked it on my way out? No. I didn't even lock it when I went out of town because who would come here? But it was definitely locked. Startled, I reached into my coat pocket to pull out my keys, letting out a breath of relief that I still had a house key on here.
When the door swung open, I stopped a second time.
A pile of short, golden hair spilled across the end of my couch. Stella. A blanket appeared to be snuggled up over her shoulder. Although a movie flickered across the TV, she was clearly missing all of it. My eyebrow lifted. Ah, one of Lizbeth's romances. She bought waytoo much of that garbage.
I quietly shut the door as I puzzled out what had happened, then felt a stab of concern. She'd locked herself in my house. Had she heard from Joshua? Had that jerk of a boss called again? No, she had no phone, which we also had to fix. We'd get her a line under my family's plan. He couldn't trace that. Before I charged in there to demand answers, I forced myself to cool down. Waking her up wouldn't change anything.
And I definitely didn't mind that she came here.
My keys were silent as I pushed them back in my coat to keep them from rattling, and peeled it off. Stella didn't even stir as I carefully built the fire back up to warm up the chill in the air. Wind huffed by outside, bringing in a pile of clouds that could spritz overnight.
Once the fire started rolling, I sat on the floor and leaned my back against the end of the couch while I logged back into theHearts on Fireapp to type Shanti a quick thank you. Two more potential dates—what a weird way to look at people in the world—had sent messages, but I ignored them for now.
After I sent it, I glanced back to Stella.
