Page 20 of Shielding His Heart
I go through all the clothes and decide on a simple pair of jeans and a fitted T-shirt. Low-key, that’s the new and improved Tana Dorran. She likes spaghetti and cheesecake and prefers shorts and a T-shirt to fancy dresses. There. At least I’m getting to know after-me. It’s about damn time.
I spy a box with my name on it, but I don’t want to invade Alec’s privacy anymore, so I leave the bedroom and go downstairs to relax with some TV. I don’t recognize any of the shows I see. There are dozens of apps to choose from, and I settle on some sort of crime show. After six episodes, dark has fallen, and I realize most of the evening has passed me by. Well, screw it. At least I learned something else about after-me. I like true crime. Now that I’ve been through my own horror story, it helps to see some of them tied up neatly with a bow. It was comforting that most of them were solved at the end of a half-hour. I wish my own problems could be solved as easily as those on TV.
I contemplate what to make for dinner when I hear a knock at the door. Thinking it may be Tracy, who Alec said might stop by, I cross to it shouting, “Just a second,” before I look through the peephole and see a scruffy man I don’t recognize. I shift from foot to foot as I consider what to say. The man gives an impatient huff and bangs his fist on the door again when I don’t open it immediately.Thump thump thump. Dammit, I shouldn’t have said anything.
My heart slams into my chest. It doesn’t seem like this is a friendly visit from a neighbor. The scowl on his face makes deep grooves in his cheeks. His eyes are hazy red and unfocused. I imagine if there wasn’t a door between us, the scent of alcohol would be noxious and overwhelming.
Nope. No way in hell I’m opening that door. Probably some guy who had too much fun on his Friday night and is looking for trouble.
Well, I’ve had enough trouble for a lifetime. I don’t need any more.
“Open the door!” he shouts. Like that’ll happen. What kind of delusional psycho thinks that would actually get someone to open the door? “Open the door, bitch. I heard you and know you’re there.”
Lovely. I throw the bolt and hook the security chain for good measure. He’s still banging away, so he doesn’t hear me. While he’s distracted and hollering at the front door, I preemptively lock the back door, too. I give a passing thought to calling Alec, but he’s busy at work. If worse comes to worst, I'll call the cops. For now, I barricade myself in the closet in my room and wait until it’s quiet.
Thankfully, the drunk gives up after a couple more minutes of hollering. I come out of the closet and peer through the peephole, but the front porch is empty. What a freak show.
What I really want is a beer—do I even like beer?—but I don’t find any in the fridge, so I settle for a glass of ice-cold sweet tea and bring it with me to the shower. The heat feels amazing. I swear the water never got quite warm enough at the hospital. I stay under the spray until the ice in my tea melts. I’m putting on a robe and thinking about vegging on the couch with more episodes of my latest true crime obsession when I hear another knock at the door.
Oh god, not again. This guy really needs to lay off the booze.
I peer through the peephole and find not the drunk but a woman on the other side. Relieved, I open the door and only remember I’m in a robe at the last second. “Yes?” I ask.
She’s about my age with soft brown hair and thick-rimmed glasses. “Hey, Tana. I’m sorry to come over so late.”
Squinting at her, I tug at the lapels of my robe. “That’s okay. Um, I’m sorry, but what’s your name?” I give her a sympathetic smile.
The woman smacks her forehead. “Duh, I’m sorry. I’m Angela, your next-door neighbor. I heard all the yelling and thought I’d check on you. I think my dad’s been drinking again. I wanted to apologize if he scared you.”
Relieved to have an explanation, my shoulders relax. “That was your dad?”
Angela leans against the doorjamb, sighs, and swipes some hair away from her glasses. She radiates the harried kind of anxiety I remember feeling after waking up in the hospital. “Yeah, Leon. He’s had a rough week at work. You know how it goes.” She lifts a shoulder.
“Thank you for letting me know.”
Angela replies, pushing away from the door, “We’re next door if you need anything. I’ll keep a muzzle on Dad next time he gets into the beer cooler.”
I laugh awkwardly and wave at her as she crosses the yard to a brick house on my left. The yard needs a serious trim, and there are two broken-down cars in the driveway. But who am I to judge? I can’t even remember my own name sometimes. Closing the door, I push the interaction from my mind. I won’t let one weird guy ruin my first free weekend.
I’m going to spend tonight binging more crime shows, and then tomorrow, I’m going to find an empty hiking trail to explore.
Of course, the true crime peeps on the show would probably tell me not to go hiking alone but screw that. I’ll pack a can of hairspray or something for protection.
By the time I fall asleep a couple hours later, like so many other things, the whole interaction is forgotten.
CHAPTER11
ALEC
The weekend without her is torture.
It drags on until I’m snapping at all the other guys, and I’m pretty sure they’re scheming to tie me to the top of the ambulance by the time my shift is over.
Finally, Walker snaps. “Dude, if you don’t sit down and stop pacing, I’m going to deck you.”
I clean the kitchen for the second time. “Please. If it was Avery, you’d be doing the same thing.”
He swings an arm over the back of the recliner he’s sprawled in. “I’m not saying I wouldn’t be going insane at leaving my woman alone. Hell, I moved back to Battleboro for Avery because I couldn’t stand a few days without her. So, I understand. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t balls-out annoying.”
