Take Me To The Beach

by K. L. Grayson, Karina Halle, A. L. Jackson, Marni Mann, Monica Murphy, Devney Perry, Kristen Proby, Rachel Van Dyken

  I crossed the room, walking toward a row of cabinets at the back. The sound of my footsteps echoed in the bright space, bouncing off one white wall to the other, while the fluorescent lights hummed over my head.

  I knew I was invading Logan’s space, but I couldn’t resist opening up a couple drawers and cabinets. As I opened the last drawer, a man’s voice echoed in the garage.

  “Hello, Thea.”

  I screamed, spinning around so fast that I slammed my hip into the corner of the counter. My heart was in my throat as I tried to regain my breath. “Oh my god,” I heaved. “Ronny? You scared me to death.”

  “Sorry about that.” He reached behind him and pulled the door closed. When he turned the deadbolt, every muscle in my body tensed.

  Nothing about this situation was right. Nothing about Ronny was right. Whoever this was, it wasn’t the sweetheart who came into the bar almost every weeknight and occasionally on Sundays to keep me company. This wasn’t the quiet, polite and shy Ronny I knew.

  His movements were aggressive, stiff and hard. His normally slouched shoulders were pulled back like he was preparing for a fight. And his jaw was clenched and angry.

  Every hair on my body stood on end, affirming with their prickles what my gut was screaming. This is not right.

  Ronny’s gaze ran up and down my body, hovering too long on my chest. His eyes were narrowed with a predatory stare. He was the cat. I was the stupid mouse who’d gone for a walk in her safe, small, trust-everyone town.

  “I, um . . .” I swallowed the fear clogging my throat. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’m here for you.” He said it like I should have known it already. Like the next word out of his mouth was going to be duh.

  I needed to get the hell out of here, but Ronny held his position by the door.

  Stay calm, Thea. Don’t panic.

  “Well, I’d better get going.” I plastered on a wide smile as I shuffled down the cabinets. “Hazel’s probably wondering where I went.”

  “You’re not going anywhere.” Ronny shook his head. “Not until we talk.”

  With Ronny standing by the door, I didn’t have any choice but to go past him to get out. The buttons for the garage doors were right next to the light switches too, so I couldn’t escape through one of the bays.

  Relying on years of dealing with creeps and jerks at the bar, I dropped my shoulders away from my ears, hoping he’d take it as a sign I was relaxing. “Sure. I’d love to talk. But would you mind if we went outside? The paint fumes are getting to me.”

  He frowned. “Do you think I’m stupid?”

  “Of course not! You’re the best, Ronny. My favorite customer.” I was laying it on thick, but I didn’t care. I had no idea what Ronny’s intentions were, but I was sure they were nothing wholesome or friendly. And I had a little girl waiting for me at home. She needed her mother to stay in one piece.

  “You have—”

  My phone rang in my pocket. I reached for it but stopped when Ronny took three fast steps my way.

  “Don’t,” he barked. He held me captive with his angry glare until the phone finally stopped ringing. “You aren’t going to ignore me this time. Now that you’re back, we’re going to have a long overdue discussion.”

  Ignore him? When had I ignored him? “Ronny, I don’t understand. What’s going on?”

  My phone rang again, stopping him before he could explain. His nostrils flared as his face turned red.

  I went for my pocket again. “Let me just put it on silent.”

  “I said don’t touch it!” His roar filled every inch of the garage.

  I flinched hard, nodding as I whispered, “Okay.”

  Ronny’s entire body was shaking with fury. His hands were balled by his sides. The red from his face seeped across his fair skin, coating his neck, staining his ears and tingeing his arms. He had light-brown hair buzzed short, and even his scalp was turning crimson.

  What was happening? Who was this man? Because he sure as shit wasn’t the regular at my bar who I’d known for years.

  My body was shaking from head to toe and I sucked in a hitched breath. Then I balled my own fists, fighting the panic away. “Ronny,” I said quietly, “I don’t know what I did to make you so upset, but I’m sorry. Let’s talk about this. We’re friends, right?”

  His face was still red, but his hands relaxed. “Friends? We’re more than friends. We’re meant to be together. I knew it when I saw that drawing you did of me last year. I knew you thought about me as much as I thought about you.”

  My head spun as I thought about all the drawings I’d done of Ronny. There had to be at least twenty in all of my notebooks. Not because he had a particularly interesting face or anything, but because he was just . . . there. I’d drawn all of the regulars that many times because some nights, they’d been the only ones around.

  “I’m so sorry,” I lied, scrambling for anything to say to calm Ronny down. “I didn’t mean to lead you on. I draw everyone. It’s just a hobby. I didn’t know you had feel—”

  My phone rang again, cutting off my apology.

  “Give me that phone!” Ronny exploded, storming across the garage in a flash.

  I backed up, trying to get away, but he trapped me against the cabinet. He grabbed my arms, his fingers digging into my biceps, as my phone kept ringing.

  “After all the nights we spent together.” He shook me as he spoke, the jolts accentuating his words. “After all the hours I kept you company so you wouldn’t be alone. After everything we had, how could you turn your back on me just because he showed up? Were you thinking of me when you fucked him at the motel? Or in your shed? How could you do that to us? How could you leave me for him? You really are just a filthy cunt.”

  Bile rose in my throat as I recalled the last threatening email I’d gotten, the one that had set Logan off.

  Ronny was Anonymous743.

  He’d been watching me. He’d been watching me with Logan.

  He was off his fucking rocker.

  Ronny wasn’t much taller than me, maybe an inch or two, but he was stocky. He outweighed me by at least fifty pounds. The grasp he had on my arms was so tight, there was no way I could wiggle free. My only shot was to get him to let me go long enough to make a dash for the door.

  I relaxed, completely, letting my shoulders go limp. The move caught him off guard just enough that he stopped shaking me. And the moment he did, I shoved my knee right between his legs.

  The second I made contact with his balls, Ronny doubled over, his hands going slack. I wasted no time dashing around him and going for the door. That was lucky. So goddamn lucky. Elation swelled until panic set back in.

  Ronny recovered more quickly than I thought and his boots thudded on the cement behind me. I had twenty feet on him, maybe less, but I kept running. My palms slammed into the door and my fingers scrambled for the lock. Open, dammit. Open!

  The deadbolt flipped easily and I gave the knob a hard turn. I yanked the door open and flew through but kept my grip on the knob. Once I was clear, I whipped the door closed, watching over my shoulder as it slammed shut. Then I made a break for it, turning for the road just in time to collide with a solid chest.

  I screamed as two arms wrapped me tight.

  “Thea!” Logan pulled me closer, holding me so I wouldn’t fall.

  I blinked, looking up at a familiar chin. “Logan?”

  “Thank god.” He breathed in my hair. “Are you okay?”

  I shook my head, trying to spin back around to the garage. “It’s Ronny. He’s in there. He’s crazy, Logan! He’s been—”

  “You can’t run from me, you fucking bitch! I want to talk!” The garage door flew open and Ronny rushed around the corner. He skidded to a stop on the driveway when he saw Logan.

  Logan moved faster than I’d ever seen a human move. He let me go, took two long strides toward Ronny and started throwing punches. His arms were like snakes, striking Ronny’s face, then recoiling only to strike
again. It didn’t take more than two seconds for Ronny to drop to the ground in a bloody heap.

  I swayed on my feet, unable to process what was happening, when two sheriff’s deputies flew past me. They went right to Logan, ready to drag him off Ronny, but Logan was already backing away.

  “We got him, Sheriff,” one of the officers said into his radio while the other fished out a set of handcuffs.

  Logan’s breath was coming hard as he turned and came back to me. His hands ran up and down my torso in a frenzy. “Are you hurt? Did he touch you?”

  “No.” I shook my head as my eyes took him all in.

  He was wearing a suit, sans the jacket. His tie had come askew underneath his vest and his sleeves were rolled up his forearms.

  He was gorgeous.

  He was here.

  If this was a dream—if I’d fallen asleep on the porch—I didn’t want to wake up. Crazy Ronny and all, I’d take this dream every night.

  Logan finished his inspection, and when he was convinced I was fine, he wrapped me in his arms. Then he held my head to his heart. My ear was pressed right against its frantic rhythm.

  Behind him, I could hear handcuffs being clicked around Ronny’s wrist.

  “He came after me,” I whispered. “He was watching us. He sent the emails.”

  “I know. Sean tracked him down this afternoon.” His arms banded tighter. “Thank god, you’re okay.”

  The adrenaline was fading and my muscles were shaking. The sides of my arms throbbed where Ronny had grabbed me. The strength in my legs was seeping into the concrete. So I clung to Logan, letting him hold me up. “You’re here?”

  “I’m here.” He kissed my hair. “And I’m not going anywhere.”

  Logan

  Seated at the kitchen table with Hazel and Thea, I sipped my coffee in silence. Hazel was staring blindly at her own coffee, letting everything Thea had just told her about last night sink in.

  I’d never forget the feeling of helplessness I’d had last night. First on the drive to Lark Cove, when I hadn’t been able to get ahold of Thea. Then getting here to find out she was gone.

  By the time I had arrived in Lark Cove, the sheriff was already at the house to warn Thea. Except Thea was on a walk. Hazel panicked and tried to get ahold of her numerous times, but every call went unanswered. When she called Jackson at the bar and no one had seen Thea, I immediately called Sean.

  Within two minutes, he triangulated her cell to my house. It was a miracle that I found her in time and that nothing had happened to her. I wasn’t letting myself even consider the unthinkable.

  After I knocked that psychopath Ronny unconscious, Thea and I spent the rest of the night at the sheriff’s department. We stopped by briefly to assure Hazel that Thea was okay, then went into the station right afterward to deliver our statements.

  Even with everything Sean had already sent the officers—emails, prior records, photographs found on Ronny’s computer—it took hours before we could leave.

  So when Thea and I got back to the cottage, we collapsed into bed for a few quick hours of sleep until we woke up to explain to Hazel what had happened, then take Charlie to her first day of school.

  “Daddy?”

  I spun around. Charlie was standing in the doorway wearing her pajamas.

  I smiled and set down my coffee mug. “Hi, peanut.”

  She blinked, then flew across the room, launching herself into my lap. Then she wrapped her arms around my neck, hugging me with all her might.

  “I missed you.” I ran a hand up and down her back. I wanted so badly to tell her that I’d never be far again, but since Thea and I hadn’t talked about it yet, I kept my mouth shut and just held my girl.

  “Good morning, honey.” Thea stood from her chair and came to kiss Charlie’s hair.

  There were tears in her eyes, a mix of emotion and exhaustion. She’d tossed and turned against my side last night, until I’d held her so tight, using my arms and a leg to trap hers down, that she’d finally fallen asleep for a couple of hours.

  But even with dark circles under her eyes, she was heart-stopping.

  After she’d hugged me enough, Charlie leaned back and smiled. “Can you take me to school?”

  I nodded. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  I wouldn’t miss any of her first days of school again. Hell, if she wanted me with her for her first day of senior year, I’d walk her to class.

  “Okay.” Thea sniffled. “We’d better get ready.”

  The morning turned into a blur of activity as we had breakfast and got Charlie ready for school. Then, dressed in her new jeans, new shoes and new shirt, Charlie walked to her first day of first grade, accompanied by Hazel, Thea and me.

  She kept ahold of my hand until we took her into her classroom and she put her backpack in her cubby. She’d been anxious on the walk, tugging on her hair and chewing her lip. But when two of her kindergarten friends and soccer teammates rushed up to her, all the nervous butterflies flew away. My peanut gave us a huge smile and wave, then disappeared into the classroom to pick her desk.

  “Is it always that hard?” I asked Thea and Hazel as we headed back to the cottage.

  I hadn’t expected a first-day-of-school drop-off to be so difficult. Charlie had been ready to let go, but I hadn’t.

  “Yes,” Hazel and Thea answered together.

  I took Thea’s hand, lacing her fingers with mine. Then I brought it up to my lips for a kiss. “I’m glad I made it.”

  “Me too.”

  “So what else happened last night?” Hazel asked as we turned down their road. “When will we know what’s going to happen with Ronny?”

  Thea took a deep breath before summarizing our discussion with the sheriff last night. “They’re going to charge him with assault and criminal stalking. I’ve put in for a restraining order, just in case Ronny gets out of jail, but the sheriff thought the district judge would work quickly on this one. It’s likely Ronny won’t get bail and he’ll be sent straight to sentencing. We’ve got a meeting with the county attorney’s office at two to discuss it all.”

  With this being Ronny’s second stalking offense, the chances of him getting jail time were high. Prison was going to be hard on a sick bastard like Ronny Berkowitz. My money would make sure of it. And when, or if, he was released, he’d be coming home to a life in ashes.

  Sean had been up all night, digging into Ronny’s system. I doubted we’d ever know for sure, but it appeared that his obsession with Thea had all stemmed from his obsession with Angela, the bartender in Texas.

  Because of their physical and occupational similarities, Ronny had latched onto Thea. He’d actually known Angela as a kid. They’d gone to elementary and middle school together. From early on, he’d formed an attachment to her, one that had turned sour when Angela hadn’t returned his affections and began dating someone else instead. The same emails that Ronny had sent Thea, Sean had found to Angela. He was still emailing her, even after years of living in Lark Cove.

  He’d just added Thea to his routine too.

  None of us were sure why he’d come to Montana after he’d been arrested for stalking Angela in Texas. As far as we knew, he had no personal connection here. Sean’s theory was that Ronny had come up here for a vacation after being let out of jail in Dallas and had stumbled across Thea at the bar. Since he couldn’t have Angela, he’d settled here instead.

  If not for me showing up, he might have gone on as a quiet, unsuspecting citizen. He might have just admired Thea from afar, never progressing to the extreme.

  “I hope they put him away for a good long while,” Hazel said, stopping as we reached the sidewalk leading up to the front door. She stepped closer to Thea, placing her hands on her shoulders. “No more late-night walks.”

  Thea nodded. “Never again.”

  “And no more scaring me to death. My heart can’t take it.”

  “Neither can mine.”

  Hazel pulled Thea in for a tight hug,
then kissed her cheek. “I’m going to take a nap.”

  As Hazel went inside, I tugged Thea’s hand. “Come on.”

  I led her around the house and across the lawn, straight to the dock. We walked down the worn planks and stood at the end, looking out across the water. The morning air was crisp and fresh. It was the next best smell besides Thea’s hair. The sky was a cloudless blue, bright with the early sun.

  “It’s beautiful this morning.” Thea yawned. “But I’m going to need a nap too.”

  “Same here.”

  “I’m glad you’re here.” Thea leaned into my side. “How long are you staying?”

  “For a while.”

  I grinned and patted my jeans pocket. Inside was the ring I’d stashed there this morning.

  Proposing today hadn’t been on my agenda. Thea and I were both exhausted, physically and emotionally. I had a lot I needed to explain. I’d only grabbed the ring so Thea wouldn’t find it accidentally. But I couldn’t stop my hand from slipping into my pocket just to touch the delicate band.

  Should I? Should I ask her?

  Marry me. The words were right there, practically leaping from my lips. I wanted to start building our life together today, and when I told her I was moving, I didn’t want her to have a shred of doubt that I’d ever leave her again.

  I should wait.

  Fuck it. I wasn’t waiting any longer.

  I dug out the ring and spun Thea away from the lake to face me.

  “Thea Landry.” I took her hand, then dropped to one knee. She deserved a proposal on one knee.

  “Oh my god,” she gasped as panic flashed across her face. She probably thought I was here to beg her to move back to the city. “Logan, what are you—”

  “Let me go first,” I said. “When I asked you what you wanted, you said the impossible. But I don’t believe anything is impossible, not for you. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you never have an impossible again. Including living our life together in Lark Cove.”