There’s a knock on the door. Julie hops up to answer it. A person on the other side hands her a package, which is odd because it’s late to be delivering, but they must have been running late. Then I notice Julie is frozen in the doorway. Her head is bowed, eyes on the package.
“Julie?”
She jumps a mile high and drops the package.
“What’s the matter with you?” I ask, standing and picking up the box for her since all she can do is stare at it.
“Nothing. Sorry.” She snatches the delivery. “It’s just from my parents. I need some privacy to open it.” And then she runs into my bedroom and slams the door behind her.
Well, that wasn’t weird at all.
No. No, no, no, no. This cannot be happening! How did he find me? And so quickly! This is disastrous. I left Florida because of this crazy asshole and now he’s come to North Carolina for me. The box sits in my lap, taunting me with what is likely a sickening item that is supposed to be a gift. This is going to ruin everything.
Do I open the box? What good will come from it? Can I even stay in North Carolina now? Should I tell Collin the truth about what really happened? Now is obviously not the best time to tell him that I left home because I was trying to escape a stalker. He got his hands on me once, I shudder at the memory, and I don’t need that to happen again.
The timing sucks for me to tell Collin. Not
to mention the fact that I’ve already lied to him. More than once, too, because I didn’t tell him about the issue in the first place. I’ve been lying to him for a year. That will not go over well.
In the end, I decide to stuff the box in the closet. I don’t need to know what’s in it. Plus, I’m supposed to have dinner with Deanna tonight. Collin did actually set me up on a playdate. Good heavens. What if we go out in public? I’ll have to constantly look over my shoulder for him. Dwight. Thinking his name causes me to shiver. I don’t know what I did to deserve this. To have some horror story come to life like it’s right out of a Criminal Minds episode.
Only I’m not dead.
Yet.
The light knock on the bedroom door startles me so much I gasp and my heart races. “Jules? Deanna is here.”
With a deep steadying breath, I open the door and force a smile. “Great. Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?” I ask, though it’s a bad idea knowing Dwight is out there.
“I’ll be fine here.”
He nudges me to where Deanna awaits with a smile. We exchange hellos and then are on our way. My gaze flits to every crook and nanny as if Dwight might stuff his body there, waiting to jump out and grab me.
“Is everything okay, Julie?” Deanna asks once we get into her car. “You seem tense. You don’t have to go if you don’t want to. Collin just said he wanted you to make friends and I had a leg up.” She laughs a little as she backs out of her parking space.
“I’m fine. Sorry; there’s a lot on my mind.”
“How is he doing, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“He’s making progress. I think he’ll need to be back on the ice soon for him to truly feel better.”
She nods as if she understands. “Brayden had a concussion not too long ago.” Deanna shakes her head. “He was such a grump. It’s like they lose part of themselves when they can’t play. It’s harder for Brayden because the r-word comes around him every so often.”
“The r-word?” I ask with confusion.
“Retirement,” she explains. “At one point, he couldn’t even see himself retiring.” Deanna shrugs. “He’s realizing it’ll happen, though.”
At least I know this is normal for Collin. I ask Deanna about her business, catch up with that, and by that time, we’ve arrived at a restaurant.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I invited Sydney. I thought about inviting Raelynn, I like her, but you seemed to like Sydney a little more. Plus, she can get a babysitter a little easier than Raelynn.”
“That’s fine.”
Sydney sits at the table already. I like the place they’ve chosen. It’s a casual restaurant that serves Southern comfort food, exactly what I need tonight. We spend the first few minutes deciding what to eat and placing our orders. All I can think about is Dwight and whether I should tell Collin.
It’s no surprise that I blurt out, “Do you keep secrets from your boyfriends? Husband?” I correct when looking at Sydney.
Their eyes widen. Sydney is the first to speak.