Page 7 of Tilly's Tutus
Carter clocked out in the security office and spent a few minutes talking to the men coming on duty. Once they agreed to call the police about anything problematic instead of trying to handle it themselves, he headed down the hall toward the ballroom.
The convention attendees were gone for the day, and by the time he stopped at the open door leading into the vendor’s room, he saw most of the vendors had already left as well.
Tilly and her sisters were huddled together talking, so he waited before trying to catch her eye. She saw him and gave him a smile that had warmth pulsing through him. Yes, she was indeed the woman he wanted to claim as his own. When he took a step in her direction, her eyes widened and she shook her head and tilted her head toward the parking lot.
He nodded and headed outside. He went to his car and stood beside it as he watched the back door of the convention center, waiting for Tilly to emerge. She and the candy-making sister emerged a few minutes later. They looked tired as they headed across the nearly empty parking lot to their SUV.
Carter frowned when he saw Bob approaching them. The homeless man had become more of a problem lately with his panhandling. Maybe it was time to do more than just shoo him away from people with threats.
Maybe it was time to actually put him in jail for a day or two.
Carter started walking toward the man, but when Bob grabbed Tilly’s arm, he ran.
“Give me money!” Bob demanded, roughly shaking Tilly.
Since he was a good half-foot taller than she was, and had a good thirty or more pounds on her, Tilly was having a hard time trying to escape his hold.
Carter reached them as fast as he could and forced his way between them, forcing Bob to release her. “What the fuck are you doing?”
The man smelled worse than usual, and his skin looked more sallow than normal. Was he getting sick?
“She owes me twenty bucks and I want it now,” Bob said as he tried to reach around Carter to get to Tilly.
Carter took several steps forward, forcing the man to move back, away from Tilly and her sister.
“I’ve called the police!” one of the security guards called, waving his phone as he approached. “They’ll be here in a couple minutes.”
“No!” Bob said. “No more cops. I ain’t going to jail. All I want is the twenty bucks she owes me.”
“Bob,” Carter said, holding tight to his patience, “she doesn’t owe you twenty dollars. You didn’t do anything to earn it.”
“I helped her.” Bob pointed at Tilly. “Didn’t I, missy? I helped you this morning.”
Carter kept his eyes trained on Bob as he continued slowly moving him away from the women and their SUV. “No, Bob. You didn’t help her. I helped her put her rack together.”
With that, Bob blinked and frowned, clearly confused about the morning’s events. Before he could try and argue his way out of it, two police cars pulled into the parking lot behind him. Carter waved the officers over and in just a few minutes Bob turned his attention from getting money from Tilly to trying to figure out why they were putting him in the back of one of their cars.
“Book him on the usual vagrancy charges, and see if he’ll go to the hospital for another evaluation. If not, keep himin holding for the weekend,” Carter said to the officers. “And someone needs to collect his gear from under that tree. We don’t want him accusing anyone of stealing from him.”
“Yes, sir,” the senior officer said.
With that taken care of, Carter was able to focus on Tilly and her sister.
“Are you two all right?” he asked as he approached them.
“Tilly? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Thanks for rescuing me again.”
“I’m sorry about Bob. He’s been diagnosed with early onset dementia, but refuses to allow anyone to help him. We’ll keep him secured for the weekend so hopefully he won’t bother you again.” He frowned, then added, “The convention center and your hotel aren’t in the safest part of town. You’re lucky I was here. Please be careful, and try not to be outside the either of them alone if you can help it.”
Tilly nodded. “We are so lucky you were here, and we’ll be careful, and try to use the buddy system from now on. Thanks again. Oh, and this is my sister, Lottie. We’re going to that new restaurant, Comfort Food, for dinner. Would you like to join us?”
Before Carter could answer, Lottie stepped half in front of Tilly, crossed her arms and glared at him. “Are you stalking my sister?”
“Excuse me?”
“You apparently stepped in this morning with this Bob person. You stopped by her table a half dozen or more times during the day and you don’t appear to have a Little girl. And now you’re saving her again from Bob, so I have to think you’re stalking her so you can be her hero or something. So the question stands: Are you stalking my sister?”
