“When are you going to tell her?”
“I’d kind of like to get it over with, so I was thinking of going over there tonight.”
“Oh.” Disappointed that he wouldn’t be spending the evening with her, she couldn’t begrudge Melanie one last evening with him, especially when he was going to be telling her something that would most certainly devastate her.
“I know you’re leaving on Monday,” he said. “But we can spend tomorrow together.”
She smiled to show she was okay with it. “All right.”
They turned in their paddle boat, then walked back to the parking lot. As they approached Kyle’s truck, Jessica could see something was wrong, but when Kyle hurried forward and knelt next to his tire she knew what had happened.
Kyle turned to her with a frown. “Someone slashed my tire.” He walked around the truck, then came and stood next to her. “All of them.”
A shiver of fear trickled up her spine. It seemed that these incidents were happening more frequently, and she was afraid to imagine what might happen next.
Chapter Twenty Two
“It’s got to be him,” Kyle said, his voice filled with fury.
“Who?”
“Your ex. Alex.” Kyle turned and stared at his truck. “He was in town yesterday, and he’s probably been watching you, following you.”
The idea thoroughly creeped her out, but it was getting harder to argue with Kyle’s points. “You think he followed us here?”
He turned back to face her. “Yeah. I do. And I think he did this to get back at me. You know, because we’re dating now.”
Jessica remembered how upset Alex had been when she’d admitted that she was dating Kyle. But was he capable of all of the things that had happened so recently? She didn’t want to believe it.
“I’m calling Barnes.” Kyle pulled his phone from his pocket. “Do you have his number?”
“Yes.” She looked his number up on her phone and gave it to him, and he punched it in.
“Barnes. This is Kyle Judd.” He glanced at Jessica as he listened. “Yeah. Hey, I’m standing in a parking lot looking at my truck, and someone slashed my tires.” He paused. “Uh huh.” Another pause. “Can you check to see if Alex . . .” He looked at Jessica with a question on his face.
“Tyler,” she supplied.
“Alex Tyler spent the night in town last night?” A pause. “Okay. Thanks.” He slipped his phone back in his pocket. “He’ll look into it.”
“That’s what he keeps saying, but so far we don’t know anything more than we did a week ago.”
“I know.” He glanced around. “I wonder if anyone saw anything.”
“There’s no one around, so I kind of doubt it.”
Kyle frowned. “I guess I’ll call a tow truck.”
An hour later they were waiting at a local tire company for them to put four new tires on Kyle’s truck.
“I really didn’t want to spend a thousand dollars today.” His forearms rested on his thighs.
“I’m really sorry that this happened,” Jessica said as she rubbed his back.
He sat up and looked at her. “It’s not your fault.”
“If Alex is behind it, then it does feel like my fault.”
A small smile graced his face. “Hey, you didn’t know your ex was psycho.”
Talking about Alex that way made her uncomfortable. “We don’t even know it’s him, so we probably shouldn’t be saying that.”
“Who else could it be?”
“What about Trey Harrington?” What about Melanie? But as much as she suspected her for doing the other things, she didn’t believe she would do anything to hurt Kyle. At least not yet. Maybe once he told her he wasn’t going to adopt Avery she’d have a change of heart toward him.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Like I told you, he’s a jerk, but I don’t think he’s capable of doing stuff like this.”
“What if he hired someone to do it?”
“But why? Why would he want to do that?”
“Because he’s mad that I discovered those letters that showed his father killed his own parents. He probably blames me for the fact that his father is in jail on attempted murder charges.”
“How can he blame you because his father is a murderer?”
“I know it doesn’t make sense, but who knows how his mind works?”
Kyle’s truck was finished a few minutes later and he drove her home. “We’ll do something fun tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay.” She smiled. “What should I wear?”
“Hmm. Wear jeans and comfortable shoes.”
Her smile grew. “Any hints?”
He shook his head. “Nope. You’ll just have to wait.”
She stood on tiptoe and kissed him. “How about now?”
Grinning, he shook his head. “I’m not that easily swayed.”
“Fine.”
He pulled her against him. “But I still want another kiss.”
“Hmm. Okay, I guess so.” She tilted her head and he pressed his mouth against hers. As she thought about the things he’d said on their date—he considered her his girlfriend, he’d always loved her—she felt the intensity of her kiss increasing.
He broke away and murmured. “Maybe I can tell Melanie another time.”
Glad she had that effect on him, she smiled. “No. You’re right. You need to get it over with. Then we can move forward without that distraction.”
After he left, Jessica found her aunt in the sunroom and told her about Kyle’s tires being slashed.
“Oh my. Have you told Detective Barnes?”
“Kyle called him, and he said he’d look into it.” She paused. “Kyle thinks Alex did it.”
“What do you think?”
“I don’t know. I can see why Kyle thinks that, but I’m not as sure. I mean, what about Trey Harrington? I saw him at the dance club last night and he glared at me when he saw me. Just like at the restaurant the week before.”
“Unfortunately the suspect isn’t obvious,” her aunt said. “So you’ll just have to be careful.”
Hudson came into the room and jumped on Jessica’s lap. Seeing his hairless body reminded her of the real danger that someone out there seemed to pose, and she felt a shiver of fear track up her spine. Trying to think of something more positive, she smiled at her aunt. “I have some other news.”
“What?”
“Today Kyle told me that he’s decided not to adopt Avery.”
Ellen’s eyebrows rose in apparent surprise, then she gazed at Jessica a moment. “Are you happy about that?”
“That’s the thing. I am and I’m not.”
“Why the change of heart?”
“I just feel bad for Avery in all this. She’s the one who’s going to suffer the most. At least at first. But in the long run, I know it’s what’s best.”
“I agree. But it won’t be easy for Kyle either.”
“I know. He’s going to tell Melanie his decision tonight.”
“Well, that’s not something for you to worry about, my dear. That’s between the two of them.”
“I know. But I also witnessed first-hand how manipulative she can be, so I have to admit I’m a little worried about how it will go.”
Ellen smiled. “To help get your mind off of it, why don’t you and I go to a movie tonight?”
“Yes. That’s a great idea.”
“Okay then. You pick one that you’d like to see and we’ll go.”
When they got home from the movie and Jessica went up to her room, she half expected to find some awful message from the person who’d been harassing her, or some other evidence that someone had been in her room, but everything looked as she’d left it, and she got ready for bed in peace.
But as she tried to fall asleep, she couldn’t stop thinking about how Kyle’s evening with Melanie had gone, and what tricks Melanie would use to try to keep him in her life.
Chapter Twenty Three
When Kyle arrived to pi
ck her up the next morning, he gave nothing away—no indication that everything wasn’t completely normal. But Jessica was anxious to know how Melanie had reacted to his announcement. Five minutes after they’d set off for their date he still hadn’t said anything and she couldn’t take the suspense any longer.
“How did last night go?” she asked, watching his face.
He glanced her way. “I’m sure you can imagine how unhappy she was.”
“Yes, but how did she react? What did she say?” She hoped her face showed her genuine concern. As happy as she was that Kyle had chosen her, she felt empathy for Melanie as well.
Kyle frowned. “She certainly didn’t make it any easier for me to break the news to her when she dropped Avery onto my lap the moment I sat down.” His frown deepened, if that was possible. “And then when I told her I’d decided not to adopt Avery, Melanie began sobbing, which got Avery all worked up.” He shook his head. “It was ugly.”
Jessica didn’t have any trouble picturing the scene Kyle described. Especially after sitting in that living room two days before. “How did you leave things?”
He was quiet for a moment. “She kept trying to change my mind. She even went so far as to say how disappointed she was that I had decided to . . .” He glanced down as he shook his head, then he stared at the road. “To abandon Avery.” He looked over at Jessica. “We were all in tears when I left. All of us.”
Her stomach began to churn. While she was at the movies with her aunt, he’d been having his heart ripped out. Jessica was certain it had been difficult enough to deliver the news to Melanie without her going into hysterics. Especially in front of Avery. She reached out and touched Kyle’s arm. “I’m so sorry. It must have been really hard.”
He glanced at her with a small smile. “Thanks.” He blew out a breath of air.
“What’s going to happen now? With Avery, I mean.”
He sighed. “I guess I’ll still spend some time with her, but I’ll start tapering it off.” He glanced at her. “I don’t know how else to do it.”
Jessica nodded, knowing there was no easy answer.
“Okay, enough about that,” Kyle said. “Let’s focus on having a fun day together before you leave tomorrow.”
“That sounds good to me.”
A short time later they turned up a dirt road that led to a ranch. “Yesterday you mentioned horseback riding, and I thought that sounded like fun.” He grinned. “So here we are.”
She smiled, looking forward to this new activity. “I didn’t bring any lunch.”
He laughed. “That’s okay. They provide it.”
“Thank goodness for that.”
They spent the next three hours horseback riding with a group of ten people, stopping halfway through the ride to have lunch. By the time they got back in Kyle’s truck, Jessica’s backside was really sore.
“Did you have fun?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Are you as sore as I am?”
She laughed. “Oh, yeah.”
“I was thinking we could go to the park and just relax for a while. How does that sound?”
“That sounds fine.”
He smiled. “I even brought our favorite blanket.”
“Good, because I’m ready for a nap.”
He laughed.
After Kyle spread the blanket in the shade of a large tree, they sat down.
“I’m not sure if sitting is the best idea right now,” Jessica said.
“Would you rather walk around?”
“I don’t know if that would help, actually. So I guess sitting is okay.”
“That’s good, because I wanted to tell you that after I left your place yesterday I tracked down Trey Harrington and had a little talk with him.”
Jessica’s eyes widened. “You did? What did you say? What did he say?”
“I was still pretty mad about my tires, so I probably came off a little angry.”
“Yeah?”
He nodded. “I told him that I didn’t appreciate the dirty looks he was giving you, and that I was keeping an eye on him.” He paused. “I didn’t want to come right out and blame him for the stuff that’s happened, because I’m not really sure he’s behind it, but I just wanted to put him on notice.”
“What did he say?”
“He told me he didn’t know what I was talking about, and that he didn’t appreciate being questioned by Barnes.”
“Oh. Well, I’m glad to know Barnes talked to him.”
“Yeah. Me too.”
“So Barnes has talked to both Alex and Trey. If either one of them is doing this stuff, maybe they’ll stop now. You know, since they know Barnes is on to them.”
“Yeah, hopefully.” He gazed at her. “I’m still not thrilled about you going home by yourself tomorrow.”
After what happened to Hudson, not to mention Kyle’s truck, she was less sure about it herself, but she had to find a job. “I’ll be careful.”
Kyle moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her. “I love you so much, Jess. I can’t bear the thought of anything happening to you.”
The next morning Jessica packed up her things, along with Hudson, and loaded everything into her car. Kyle had already arrived to begin working, so she told him good-bye, then hugged Ellen and headed back to her apartment.
Three hours later she unlocked her apartment door and carried Hudson inside. After letting him out of his cat carrier, she surveyed her home, half-expecting the place to be ransacked, but everything looked the way she’d left it. In fact, the place was so quiet that a feeling of loneliness swept over her. She’d gotten used to the activity at Ellen’s place and already missed knowing that Kyle was just a few steps away.
“Hopefully one of these jobs will work out,” she said to Hudson, who seemed to be looking for his cat food. She took out his cat bowl and put some food in it, then set the bowl on the floor. “I think I need to run to the grocery store, big guy. Will you be okay while I’m gone?”
Busy eating, he didn’t look at her.
She smiled. “Okay. I’ll be back in a little bit.”
At the grocery store she filled her cart with the things she would need for the next few days, but as she stood in the shampoo aisle, trying to decide if she wanted to save money by buying a cheaper brand, she heard someone say her name. She turned to see Alex standing behind a shopping cart.
“I thought that was you,” he said, a friendly smile on his face.
Her thoughts immediately went to all the things that had happened to her lately, and she held back a frown. “Hi, Alex.”
“I see you made it home okay.” He gazed at her a moment. “How long will you be in town?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“How’s the job hunt going?”
She really didn’t want to chat with him about her job search, or anything else for that matter. “Fine.”
“Good.”
“Look, I’ve got to get going.”
He stared at her. “Your detective called me the other day. Wanted to know if I’d spent the night in that little town where you’ve been living.”
Jessica stared back. “Did you?”
“No.” His eyes narrowed. “What happened?”
She hesitated, not sure if she should tell him about the new incidents, but if he was behind them, they certainly wouldn’t come as a surprise. And if he wasn’t, then what would it hurt? “You remember how Hudson was missing?”
His look of concern seemed genuine. “Yeah. Did he ever come home?”
“Yes. But someone shaved off all of his fur.”
Alex recoiled in apparent shock. “Oh wow. That’s sick.” His brow furrowed. “Is he okay?”
“Yeah, basically. But that’s not all.”
“There’s more?”
“Yes. Someone slashed the tires on Kyle’s truck.”
Alex gazed at her, the look of concern fading. “So naturally you thought of me.”
“No.” She shook her head. �
��No, that’s not how it is at all.”
“Oh, forgive me. Your boyfriend immediately thought of me.” He frowned. “Am I getting this right?”
Yes. “No. We just reported it to the detective.”
“Oh, so he thought of me. Hmm. I wonder who put that thought in his head?” Fury swept over his face. “You know, Jessica, I’m a respected attorney. It’s not cool that you’re sending police detectives to question me about crimes that I had nothing to do with.”
Her heart pounded at the look of outrage on Alex’s face. She’d never seen him like this before, and it scared her. “I’m really sorry if this caused trouble for you. That’s not what I wanted to happen.”
He gazed at her a moment and the emotion on his face smoothed out as the anger seemed to melt away. “I’m sorry I got mad at you. I know it’s not your fault.” He paused. “In fact, I’m worried about you. Before it sounded like someone was just harassing you, but this sounds even worse. What can I do to help you?”
“Help me?”
“Yes.” His eyes narrowed. “Should you even be on your own? Are the police keeping an eye on you?”
An alarm bell rang in her head. Why would he be asking those things? Did he really care, or was he probing for information so he could attack her later? Fear shuddered through her. “Yes, the police are keeping watch,” she lied.
A look of relief replaced the concern. “Good.”
Maybe he really is worried, she thought. “Well, I’ve got to go. Bye, Alex.”
“Take care of yourself, Jessica, okay?”
“Thanks.”
Back at her apartment, as she put away her groceries, she wished she could just stay with her parents, but they’d left town for a long-planned vacation. That night as she slept in her familiar bed, she had trouble falling asleep. Not only did every creak of her building startle her, but she was worried about making a good impression at her job interview the next day.
Twelve hours later she was sitting across from three people, trying to sell herself and her skills. By the time the interview ended, she felt good about how it had gone.
Now, as she she walked out to her car, she felt optimistic that everything would work out. She spent the rest of the day doing laundry, cleaning, and organizing. It was unusual for her to have so much free time, and she wanted to take advantage of it while she could. She knew once she started a new job, that would consume most of her time until she’d proven herself.
Second Chances (sequel to Over You) Page 18