The real estate agent took her to an old wood cottage a distance from town and buried in the North Carolina woods. A dirt road was the only path to take her to work. The two-bedroom cottage was small, however, as the agent walked her around, she realized this place was perfect for her. It needed some paint and maybe some minor repairs, but she was more than willing to deal with it in an effort to be away from everything and everybody.
“It’s a great location. Away from the hustle and bustle, but still close enough if you want to take a bike or your car,” the agent pointed out.
“I don’t have a car,” she said.
“Well a bike, then.” The lady smiled. “So what do you think?”
“I want it,” Cierra said.
“Great!” The real estate agent smiled and walked out the front door.
This would be her home. The place she would bring her newborn baby home for the first time. Perhaps a place she would watch him or her grow up. For the first time since she left Giovanni she felt safe, and it gave her the confidence to believe that everything was going to turn out okay.
Chapter 9
Cierra struggled in her sleep. She thrashed her arms and legs, throwing the white linen comforter off the bed. Visions of being held down and threatened by Gino repeated in her mind over and over again. The nightmares were getting increasingly scarier and more frequent. She couldn’t fall asleep anymore without dreaming about her own death.
Every time it was the same scenario. Gino would have a knife, threatening to plunge it into her stomach killing her and the baby. Giovanni was nowhere in sight. He could do nothing to protect her. No one could. She was completely alone and at the mercy of Gino’s sadistic nature.
The dream startled her awake. She sat up in bed, a cold sweat dripping off of her body. She tried to remind herself that it was just a dream. Her heart beat wildly. She found it difficult to catch her breath. She had to open her eyes and look around the room to realize it was just a dream and that she was safe.
She noticed that she had left a window open. A breeze was blowing in through the curtains. It terrified her. Had she left it open or was it opened by someone else? She closed it and pulled the curtain shut. The adrenaline still rushed through her body. She stepped back onto a weak point in the floor. It cracked and she fell backwards. Fortunately, she wasn’t hurt, but it was something she was going to have to repair in the morning. The general store that she saw on her way to work would probably have the necessary tools she needed.
This town seemed a little far away from everything else. She knew that if she ever needed something that they didn’t carry, it would probably have to be ordered online.
Cierra scratched her head as her brain began to feel overwhelmed again. She comforted her unborn child by stroking her belly. She put tomorrow out of her mind. For now, the only thing she cared about was getting back to bed and getting in enough sleep to be able to function tomorrow.
Chapter 10
She walked into the general store, looked around cautiously and grabbed a basket. There wasn’t a regular grocery store for several miles. She didn’t have a car and the only buses that came through here didn’t make any other stops besides this store. That was fine with her though, she enjoyed the small town store and preferred walking to it when she needed something.
Cierra started putting food and toiletries in her basket. She noticed through the window that kids were playing outside on a boat, pulling on the tie down rope. Her mind went to a random thought. What must it be like to grow up here as a kid? Swimming, boating and no real concern about many strangers around these parts. She was sure everybody knew everybody’s name and their business, and while that wasn’t an aspect of small town life that she was particularly fond about participating in, she did think it provided a certain amount of safety. A kind of protection. After all, when everybody knew your business and who you did it with, they would be able to spot a stranger who wasn’t supposed to be there pretty quick.
She walked up to the counter but nobody was there. She put her basket down and was surprised when a little girl popped up from behind it.
“Hello,” the little girl said. “Did you find everything you were looking for?”
Cierra was taken back. She had never heard such a little body speak in such a grown up tone. She chuckled, “Why yes I did. Thank you very much for asking.”
“You’re welcome.” The girl pulled each item out of the basket and began ringing it into the cash register.
“Are your parents around?” Cierra wondered how old this girl was. She couldn’t be any older than nine or ten years old. She had an adorable round face. Her hair lay in curls down her back and her dress had a tiny periwinkle flower print that covered it completely.
“No, but I can do it.”
Cierra watched her bag her groceries and was impressed.
“Is there anything else you need?” she asked.
“Actually, do you know where I can find some paint? I wanted to paint the walls in my house.”
“I think we have a big book of paint samples that you can look at to pick out your color,” the girl said. “It’s over there, I’ll go get it.”
She walked over to one of the aisles where there were a couple cans of paint in a variety of colors, grabbed the book and brought it back to the counter where Cierra was standing.
“Oh that’s great. I didn’t even see them,” Cierra said. “Now I need help with a big problem.”
The little girl looked interested. “What’s that?” she asked.
“Maybe you can help me pick out a color. I’m going for something bright and happy.”
The girl sat for a second and thought about it. “What do you think about orange?”
“That certainly is a bright color idea. Do you mean a bright orange like the fruit?” Cierra hoped the little girl would say no, she didn’t want to live in a house the color of a citrus fruit but she didn’t want to react negatively to her color choice either. She had asked for her help, after all.
“Maybe not like a dark orange. Maybe a light orange like the color of sherbet!” The little girl, happy with her analysis, smiled.
“That sounds interesting. Maybe so.” Cierra thought her idea actually sounded perfect.
“I’m Jeanie, by the way,” the little girl said.
“Cierra. Nice to meet you, Jeanie.” Cierra shook her hand.
Jeanie checked Cierra out with remarkable precision and accuracy. Cierra vowed never to underestimate the capabilities of a young girl. Jeanie was a smart and adorable kid who just gave Cierra another reason why she was fast growing to love this town.
“Thanks for coming in!” Jeanie hollered after as Cierra was walking out of the door.
Chapter 11
Cierra heard the bell ding and went to the kitchen to pick up an order. She packaged the food together and put it in a brown paper bag preparing it to go out. She folded it over, put the ticket on the crease and stapled it shut. She picked it up and turned to deliver it when she saw two uniformed police officers walking into the restaurant.
It startled her. The first thing she thought was Gino had his men dress up as police officers to find her. It made sense. It would be the best way to get any information from citizens and no one would notice if law enforcement was poking around. Gino could buy cops if he wanted to. It was nothing for him to shake a handful of money in front of crooked cops to do his bidding.
Cierra slowly backed up and turned around. She tried walking in the opposite direction, hoping that the officers hadn’t noticed her. She walked toward the back of the service entrance and waited. She overheard the officers talking to the owner.
“You guys looking for something?” Debbie asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “There is a blue Toyota Tundra parked in a handicapped spot. Know whose it is?”
“No, sorry. Can’t help you there,” she answered them.
“You got our order ready for us?” the police chief asked.
“Yeah, s
ure. Debbie turned around and looked for Cierra. “You got the chief’s order?”
“Yes,” Cierra said quietly. She looked at the bag in her hand and realized the order was for them. She had no other option than to give the bag to the cops, risking them seeing her. “Sorry it took so long.” she said.
The officer looked at her with no obvious signs of recognition.
“Thanks.” He grabbed the order, paid for it and left. Cierra exhaled after holding her breath. It turned out he wasn’t one of Gino’s men. Just local law enforcement. It had nothing to do with her at all. She was going to have to get it together or she was going to give herself away.
Chapter 12
Cierra walked home from a long day at work. The dark dirt road was comforting. It was a long walk, but it gave her plenty of time to think and try to figure out what she was going to do about her future and the baby.
As she got closer to home, she saw a woman peeking through the window of her house. An alarm went off in Cierra’s head. Who was this woman? Why was she sneaking around her house? She quickened her pace to confront her. A surge of panic encompassed Cierra’s body followed by anger. She just got settled in this town and loved it here. Will she have to leave now? Is this a female assassin sent by Gino to kill her? Had he finally found her this time?
The woman saw her and stepped back.
“I’m so sorry. I wish I could give a perfectly reasonable explanation for this, but the truth is I was curious.” The woman’s face was full of embarrassment.
Cierra said nothing but continued to watch her.
The woman continued, “I didn’t think I had any neighbors out here.”
“I just moved in,” Cierra said.
“Well welcome to the neighborhood. It’s pretty solitary out here, don’t you agree?”
Judging by her body language, Cierra began to relax realizing that this woman was who she said she was. She had a calming kindness about her that one couldn’t help but I kind of like.
"It's nice. Gives me a chance to think," Cierra said.
"I'm Joanna, by the way."
"Cierra. It’s nice to meet you Joanna."
"Again, I’m really sorry. I never considered myself to be one of those nosy neighbors, all evidence to the contrary, it would appear." Joanna smiled. "I’m sure you took this place because it was away from the hustle and bustle of the city. At least that’s why I took my house," Joanna said.
"Yeah exactly," Cierra remarked.
"Well, it was really nice to meet you and again, I apologize. Hopefully we can maybe get together at a later time and you will see I’m not a raving lunatic."
Cierra smiled. The woman seemed harmless enough.
"See you around, Cierra," she said. "I'm right down the road if you need anything, so just let me know."
Cierra walked into her house, put her purse on the counter, and headed to the bedroom. She was exhausted. There was nothing else she wanted to do other than to go to bed early. She laid on her bed and rolled over to the side, noticing that she still had a book that she hadn’t read. She opened the pages and started reading but felt her eyes get heavy.
The paint samples lay on the table next to her. She reminded herself it was something she needed to get to. She gave up trying to read and turned the light out, falling into a deep sleep.
Chapter 13
"How many stops are between here and Asheville, North Carolina?" Gino asked the bus attendant selling the tickets.
"Oh gee, well…" the man paused to think about the question before answering. “There are a lot. Not sure exactly how many.”
As he was talking to the bus attendant, a man behind Gino interrupted. “Can you please hurry up? Are you going to buy a ticket or talk?” the man said.
Gino turned around to face the man. He wasn’t used to being spoken to so disrespectfully, but at the same time he needed to keep a very low profile. Therefore, he decided not to kick his ass or have his men tend to him. Instead, he tried to be more diplomatic and turned around. He opened his wallet pulling out a fake badge.
“This is going to take a while, but let me help you out.”
Gino flashed his badge to the attendant in the next window. “Can you please open this window for my friend here?”
The man moved to the next window. Gino turned back to the bus attendant.
“The buses go to Asheville, which is our southern hub. From there they can go anywhere.”
Gino took the information into consideration. This was frustrating him. She could be anywhere.
Chapter 14
Cierra walked down to the general store admiring another beautiful day. She felt so fortunate to be here. Things were looking up. She had a job she enjoyed, a place of her own to call home, and she had a nice little store that she could come to anytime she needed anything that was centrally located a short distance from her house.
Carrying her groceries home could get a little heavy at times, but she preferred dealing with that so that she could stay away from the mainstream traffic. She could come into town when she needed something.
She saw Jeanie on the front steps of the general store coloring.
“What are you up to today?” Cierra asked.
“I’m coloring,” she said.
“What are you coloring?” she asked.
“I’m not sure yet. I’m still thinking of an idea,” Jeanie said.
Jeanie was adorable. There was no debating that fact. Cierra hoped that her child would be just as smart and adorable. If it had Gino’s looks and her wit, it would be a heartbreaker.
Inside the store, Jeanie’s father was at the register helping Debbie.
“Hey Cierra, how you doing?” Debbie asked.
“Hi,” Cierra responded.
“I’ll see you later,” Debbie said.
“Hi Cierra,” the owner said.
“Hey there.”
“Glad you came back,” he said.
“I picked out the color from the paint samples. I think I want to go with the sugar orange that Jeanie recommended,” she said.
“Oh good choice. I think you’re going to need probably about a gallon.”
“Okay, sounds good.” Cierra said.
She wanted enough to paint all the walls in the baby’s room, as well as in the living room.
“Well, I will put the order in now. It should take five days to get back.”
“Great, thank you,” she said.
“You know my name but I never got yours?” Cierra asked.
She knew that he had remembered her name and thought it was a great customer service talent. It worked. It made her feel special when she came into the store.
“Andy,” the man said.
“Nice to meet you, Andy,” she said.
“Now, I’ll just need a phone number to call you when the paint comes in,” he said.
“I don’t have a phone,” she said defensively.
There was no one she needed to call outside of the small town and having a phone would just invite Gino to find her faster. Plus, she didn’t want any unwanted attention.
“I’ll just stop by in five days,” she said.
“Okay,” Andy said. “You can ask for me or Rodney over there.”
He motioned to the man at the back of the store who was sitting in the office with the door open.
“He helps out around here. Either one of us can help you.”
“Thanks.” Cierra turned around and walked out of the door.
She strolled along the sidewalk heading back to her home when a voice calling her name sounded behind her.
“Wait up!” Joanna said as she ran to catch up to her.
“Hey, how are you doing?” Cierra greeted her.
“It’s nice see you again. I’m heading home too. Mind if I join you?” Joanna asked.
“No, not at all. That’s fine.”
“Good, it will keep me from snooping around your house again,” Joanna chuckled.
Cierra laughed. It was a little fu
nny. They walked the length of the sidewalk until it ended and then walked on the dirt road the rest of the way. They discussed everything from their childhood schools to what brought them to stay in such a small town. Cierra was careful not to divulge too much information, but what she could talk about she did.
Joanna turned out to be a really nice person and she felt a certain amount of comfort with her. It was her first official friend in her new life.
“What a beautiful day,” Joanna said.
The sunlight was gorgeous beaming through the trees. The long walk ended up not being so long, as they discussed studying abroad, and trips that they never took. They shared many commonalities and it was comforting to know she had someone she could talk to. A friendship was born in that walk home.
Chapter 15
Gino knocked on the door of the neighboring houses near the main bus hub in Asheville, asking each neighbor if they recognized the woman in the picture he was still carrying around. He continued his lie of posing as a police officer, hoping that he would convince people to see him as credible. He felt like he was close, but he wasn’t sure how close. All he could do was ask around.
It had been days since she disappeared. Giovanni looked for her everywhere with no luck. It was like she evaporated into the thin air. There was nothing left of her and he was running out of places to check. He had nothing without her. She was his life. Her and the unborn baby that she carried.
Why didn’t she stay at the woman’s house that he had arranged for her to stay at? He knew that she would be safe there. Maybe she decided to get away from all of it and leave him too.
His heart sank deep into the pit of his guts. He hoped that that wasn’t the reason. It was a lot to ask anyone to love a man like him. He understood that. There wasn’t much that he could do about it, but she had gone as close to the end of the line as she could with him and he understood that. He didn’t like it, but he understood it.
Hang Em' Up: A Bad Boy Sports Pregnancy Romance Page 101