by J. H. Croix
Trey took in the details of the man in front of him. He was average height and build, shorter than Trey. He had light brown hair and brown eyes. His mouth was flat, his eyes cold. Anger and resentment hung in the air around him.
The man finally spoke after staring at him for a long moment. “Here’s the deal. Emma’s mine. You think you’re slick answering her phone for her. You’re not. I’ve known where she was ever since she left. If you don’t leave her alone, I’ll make sure you do.”
Anger whipped through Trey. Being face to face with the man who made Emma’s life a living hell for two long years and continued to keep fear lodged inside of her every day since infuriated him. He wanted to forget trying to handle this through legal channels. That was a slow, methodical process when what he wanted to do was slam the man to the ground. Trey flexed his hands and forced himself to stay calm and breath slowly. “Emma doesn’t belong to anyone, certainly not you. You must be Greg.”
Greg nodded. “You got it. Think you’re clever? You’re not. All it took was a little digging and I figured out who you were. Think you’re all tough because you’re a pilot and used to be a high and mighty prosecutor. Whatever. Emma only divorced me because I let her. If you want me to keep my distance from Emma, you’re gonna have to keep your distance from Emma. Are we clear?”
His fury simmered. Trey didn’t think and stepped close to Greg, looking down at him. “How about this? If you dare get anywhere near Emma, you’ll regret it.”
Trey itched to haul off and punch Greg, but the frail hold he had on his rationality was just enough to keep him in check. He stepped back. “If you’re hoping I’m the only person around that will make sure Emma’s okay, think again. Get the hell out of town. We’ve already talked to the police about you and trust me, they’ll hear about your threats right away.”
Trey swung away and slammed into his car. Before pulling out, he took a quick glance at the car license plate, repeating it aloud to memorize it. In seconds, he was looking at Greg in his rear view mirror. He hadn’t waited to hear what else Greg had to say. He knew he needed to get out of there fast. His mind spun. He wanted to call Emma and warn her, but he knew that would send her into a panic. But she had to know Greg was nearby. Trey swore to himself thinking about the fact that she wasn’t with him right now. She wouldn’t be back from Anchorage until tomorrow night. Though at this very moment, Greg was here in Diamond Creek, he could leave at any time.
Trey called Jared immediately and asked for Darren’s direct line. During the call, Jared repeated what Trey told him to Susie, at which point, she grabbed the phone from Jared. Trey fleetingly pondered that Jared seemed to spend a lot of time with Susie, but he didn’t have time to wonder what it might mean.
“What the hell! Emma’s ex is here?” Susie demanded.
“That’s what I just told Jared. I want to call Darren right away, so I can make sure they have his plates. What do you think we should tell Emma? I want her to know, so she’s on her guard, but I don’t want to freak her out.”
“She has to know. How about you call her and I’ll call Hannah? That way, Hannah and Tess will know what’s up and can maybe keep Emma from flipping about this.”
“Got it. Tell them not to leave her alone. I don’t care how she feels about it,” Trey said tersely. “Can you hand the phone back to Jared?”
“Yeah?” Jared asked.
“Look, promise me you’ll be on the lookout for this guy. I wish he’d done a little more than call and threaten her. Even if we can get the cops to charge him, that’s nothing. We need to get him slapped with something big enough he’ll be forced to get the hell out of here. If we can get felony charges on him, he’ll probably take a plea deal that includes no contact with her to avoid a trial. I want Alaska to be the last place he wants to be.”
“I’m with you. Talk to Darren, let me know what he says and keep me posted. I’ll talk to Luke and Nathan too. Not that they can help with the charges, but that’s a few more people aware to watch out for his car,” Jared replied.
Trey finished the call and hung up. Fury still pulsed through him. Greg’s threat crystallized something for him. No matter how fast it had happened, his heart knew what his intellect shied away from. He loved Emma. He pictured her bright blue eyes and the lingering fear in their depths no matter how hard she tried to conceal it. He would do whatever he needed to get Greg out of her life once and for all. And when she came back from Anchorage, she was staying with him.
***
Trey swore and slammed his hand on the counter. Emma had gotten upset about Greg, which he would have predicted. But she was insisting she had to deal with this alone.
“Emma, just listen to me…”
“I am listening. I understand that you’re worried. But this is exactly why I wasn’t so sure it was a good idea for us to get involved. Now Greg is looking you up and that means we have to worry about Stuart.”
“Do you seriously think Greg would harm Stuart? He’s focused on you, not anyone else.”
Emma’s breath was rapid, and it broke Trey’s heart. He knew she was scared.
“I don’t think he’ll hurt Stuart, but how are you going to keep this from Stuart if all the sudden I’m staying with you all the time? Stuart doesn’t need to be exposed to this,” Emma said stubbornly.
“We’ll find a way to explain. He’s not a fragile kid, Emma. He’s already lost his mother. He’s been through far worse than learning sometimes there are bad people in the world. I just want you to be safe until we know Greg isn’t a threat. That’s all.”
Emma sighed. “Let me handle this. I was married to him for two years. I know how to predict what he might do. I won’t stay alone. Tess, Hannah and Susie have all offered to let me stay with them…”
“You don’t need to stay with them. You can stay with me,” Trey countered.
“Stop it. Let me do this. I did what I had to do to leave him. I can do what I have to do to make this to stop. I’ll talk to the police, I’ll do whatever you think might help, but I can’t handle you taking over like this.”
Trey wanted to keep arguing, but Emma was digging in. He dropped it for now. “Fine. I’ll let you handle this, but don’t shut me out. And promise me you won’t stay alone.”
“I promise. I’m already planning to stay at Hannah’s tomorrow night. And I won’t shut you out. I just need to do this myself,” she said, her tone softening with weariness.
Trey closed his eyes, willing himself to accept her request to back off a little. “I hear you. I do. Just let me help however I can.”
“How about you meet with me when I go talk to Darren tomorrow? I don’t understand all the legal stuff and you do.”
“Tell me what time. I’ll be there.”
***
“You’re being ridiculous. That’s all I have to say,” Susie declared. Her words were followed by two loud thumps as she kicked her muddy boots against the stairs on her way up to Hannah’s kitchen door.
“I’m not being ridiculous. I’m being sane,” Emma replied, kicking her own shoes against the stairs.
Susie gave three quick knocks on the door and opened it without waiting for an answer. She turned to look over her shoulder and shook her head at Emma, her curls bouncing. “You’re rationalizing. You’re not being sane.”
Emma rolled her eyes at the back of Susie’s head and followed her inside. Hannah stood at the kitchen counter slicing apples. Her toddler son, John, was seated on the floor petting their dog, Jessie.
Susie immediately swept John into her arms, eliciting giggles from him. “You look more like your daddy everyday,” Susie said as she swung him up in the air and set him back down.
Emma knelt to receive a hug from John. “Hey sweetie,” she said, glancing over to Hannah. “Susie’s right, he’s a ringer for Luke.”
Hannah smiled. “I know. So how’s it going?”
Susie sighed elaborately as she sat down at the kitchen table. “Emma�
��s being ridiculous. She doesn’t want to stay with Trey because she has to handle this bullshit with Greg on her terms, whatever the hell that means. Oops.” Susie slapped her hand over her mouth. “Swear word! Forgot to censor for John. I’ll be good now,” she continued with an apologetic smile.
Emma sat across from Susie. “Why is it ridiculous to want to handle this myself? I told you from the start why I was worried about this affecting Trey and Stuart. I’m trying to minimize the spillover into his life.”
Susie glared at her. “You said you were worried he wouldn’t want anything to do with you if he knew about what happened with Greg. It’s fine that you didn’t tell us sooner. It’s your business. But I think you didn’t give Trey enough credit, or us. If you’d told us sooner and told us about how often Greg was calling, we could have helped you deal with this. And Jared says Trey’s rock solid. When he stopped by my office the other day to talk to Jared, it’s crystal clear that the last thing on his mind is thinking he needs to run away because of your past. That man is seriously into you.”
Emma fought against the prickle of irritation that rose in her. She didn’t know how to explain why it was important that she handle Greg herself. She couldn’t have a man be the one to take over and handle it. That only served as a reminder that she couldn’t handle it.
Hannah finished slicing and set the knife down. “Okay Susie, I know you’re worried and you want Emma to do what you think is right, but it’s not like she’s not accepting our help. She’s staying with us for the week.” Hannah walked over and joined them at the table. John had settled back on the rug with Jessie and was alternating between petting her and rolling his toy truck around.
Emma glanced between Susie and Hannah. “Susie, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you always being there for me. I wish I had talked to y’all sooner about Greg and let you know about those damn calls. But it’s not because I wasn’t giving you credit. It’s hard to explain how awful it feels to be in a relationship like the one I had with Greg. Once I got out, I just wanted to forget about it. As for Trey, my god, we’ve only been dating a few weeks. He’s blown me away with how supportive he is. But you have to admit things have been moving pretty quick.”
Susie looked across the table at Emma. “I get it. I’m just worried about you. Trey obviously wants to help, and I hate that you’re kind of keeping him to the side.”
Hannah chuckled. “In case you missed it, Susie’s loves to play matchmaker. She may not have been able to set you and Trey up, but now she wants to make sure you’re swept off your feet.”
Emma laughed softly. “How could I forget? Trust me, Trey’s doing a great job of sweeping me off my feet. I just need to deal with Greg once and for all before I can get too swept away.”
“Any word from Darren?” Hannah asked.
“I met with him earlier, and I brought Trey with me,” she said pointedly with a glance at Susie. “Darren and Trey did most of the talking. He’s set up a trace on my line and told me to keep an eye out for Greg, as if I needed anyone to remind me of that.” The knowledge that Greg was somewhere nearby had kept her stomach in knots since Trey called about his encounter with Greg. Hannah and Tess hadn’t left her side for the rest of their trip in Anchorage. Tess brought her home and waited while she packed a few things for her stay with Hannah and Luke. Though she was, thus far, resisting Trey’s request to stay with him, she agreed to let Sula stay there for now. Tootsie was tolerant enough to largely ignore Sula, so they seemed to be living in peace.
Emma had gone to work today and struggled to stay focused when she wasn’t in session with clients. Fortunately, therapy itself honed her focus, but during paperwork and administrative meetings, her mind whirred over whether she’d run into Greg. She obsessed that he probably knew where she worked and might come by the office. She couldn’t decide if she needed to tell her supervisor about it. The mere idea of doing that caused shame to wash over her in waves. She’d tried so hard to put Greg behind her. She’d never thought she could erase what happened and knew damn well she couldn’t, but she had hoped against hope that the residue of her marriage wouldn’t trail her to her new life.
“I know you’re going to hate me for asking, but do you have any pictures of Greg?” Susie asked.
Emma looked at her, eyes wide. “No! I didn’t keep any. Why would you want to see pictures of him?”
Susie and Hannah exchanged a glance. “So that we know who to keep an eye out for. Can you grab your laptop?” Susie asked Hannah. “I’m sure we can find something online. Just need you to let us know we found the right one. It’s not like his name is that uncommon.”
Dread curdled inside Emma, but she waited in silence while Hannah handed her laptop to Susie. She knew Susie was right to want to know what Greg looked like, but the idea of even looking at his photo made her sick. In moments, Susie turned the screen around and Emma found herself looking at the man she wished she could erase from her memory. It was a photo she’d never seen, perhaps from a work gathering. He worked in sales for an insurance company. There he was, his sandy brown hair and brown eyes, standing beside a table with platters of food on it. He wore slacks and a button-down shirt. His mouth was smiling, but his eyes distant. A spike of fear flashed through her center, followed by a chill. She had to force herself to breathe, recalling that the last time she’d seen him he started screaming at her because she forgot to get milk at the store. When he’d started walking towards her, his hands balled up at his sides, she’d fled down the hall into the bathroom. Many long moments later, he’d stormed out, and she’d put her careful plans into motion.
To this day, she was relieved he avoided court proceedings for the divorce, but she never stopped worrying that she’d gotten lucky with that. When the calls started coming randomly after she moved to Diamond Creek, she kept hedging her bets, hoping her luck would hold. A tear rolled down her cheek as she sat there, that damn photo of Greg mocking her. He just had to push it now. She hadn’t quite believed she could have Trey. He was too good for her, too special, too…everything she didn’t deserve. Women like her who had been too naïve to see the danger in front of them, well if they got lucky enough to get out of an abusive relationship, that was enough. Hoping for anything more, much less hoping for love, was just asking for more than the universe could offer.
Emma started when Hannah slipped her arm around her shoulders. “Hey, whatever is going through your head, we’re going to help you get through this,” Hannah said softly and firmly.
Emma gave her head a hard shake and wiped at her tears. “I know, I know. In case you were wondering, that’s Greg. I hate that this is happening. I thought I’d gotten away from him.” She turned and looked to Hannah. “You have to know I came out here because I really wanted to find my parents. I was so happy to find you. I didn’t move here just to get away from Greg. I won’t lie though. I was relieved you lived so far away. But I came here because I wanted to get to know this place and you.”
Hannah rubbed her shoulder. “It never occurred to me to think that! Let’s focus on getting him to leave you alone once and for all.”
Susie nodded her head emphatically, her curls bouncing. “We’re on it. I’m hoping I run into him first. I’ll make sure he regrets showing up here,” Susie said with a snarl.
Emma couldn’t help but laugh. She was tired and emotionally raw, but Susie’s protectiveness brought a warm glow inside. “Oh I’ll vote for you to find him!”
The lighthearted moment helped her dread lift, if only a little.
Chapter 13
Emma made her way quickly through the grocery store. It had been over a week since Trey called to tell her Greg was in town, and all was quiet. No phone calls either. That bothered her because she knew it meant he was purposefully laying low. The trace Darren put on her phone was useless unless Greg called. Darren assured her they were also getting her phone records and could use those, but if Greg stopped harassing her, there wasn’t much they could do.
&
nbsp; Trey called her daily and was clearly losing patience with her. Beyond the day he accompanied her to meet with the police, she hadn’t seen him. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to make sure she kept a boundary between this mess and Trey and Stuart. She could hardly bear to think about Trey right now. She knew it hadn’t been smart to get involved with him, and unfortunately, her heart was in deep. When she wasn’t worrying over Greg, her thoughts traveled to Trey again and again and again.
As she came around the corner of the aisle by the deli, she ran into someone and looked up, straight into Trey’s face. He brought his hands up to steady her shoulders. The warmth of his palms sifted through the thin cotton blouse she wore.
“Emma,” he said simply, her name weighted with feeling. His eyes stared into hers, his velvety brown gaze probing.
She cursed her body for its weakness. Mere seconds in his presence, her pulse raced, and her breath became shallow. Desire spread its wings and flew through her body. “Trey…I didn’t expect to see you here…”
His shoulders rose and fell with a deep breath. She couldn’t look away, literally held in place by his eyes, her heart beating like a drum, her stomach fluttering.
“Could we talk?” Trey asked abruptly.
Emma nodded wordlessly, unable to think clearly. Trey stepped back and moved his cart out of the way. A quick glance around, and he tugged her into the hallway beside the deli that led to the restrooms. He stopped once they turned a corner out of view from the main part of the store.
Emma’s back was to the wall. Thoughts bounced in her mind—how to explain to Trey that they needed some space while she dealt with Greg, how to help him understand that she couldn’t stand it if any of this affected Stuart, how to keep her feelings in check. But her body…oh how her body thrummed with pleasure at his nearness. Were she a cat, she’d wrap herself around him and purr.