by J. H. Croix
Settling back in, I took another sip of my rapidly cooling coffee and lifted a brow at him. “What’s up?”
“You’ve always been a great worker for this company. Couldn’t have asked for someone better as my second in charge these last few years.”
“Thanks Doc.” My muscles flexed under my shirt and I had the sudden urge to pull my collar away from my throat as if it were too constricting now. I didn’t like the way Doc was talking. He didn’t just randomly hand out compliments, the whole situation made me uncomfortable.
He held up his hand to show that he wasn’t done yet. “Thing is, someday soon I might need someone to take over from me. That sound like something you’d be interested in?”
“Someday soon?” I scoffed. “You’ve got a lot of years left in you, old man. Stop talking like that. I gotta get to work.”
With a wave, I left. If Doc was inclined to keep me talking, he didn’t try. My mind spun back to his question again and again as the day wore on. While it was a compliment, my feelings were mixed. Sure, I’d love to run my own business, but if the trade off was Doc retiring, I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about it.
Chapter Four
Marie
Looking around the small house Austin and I had lived in for just over two years now, a sense of nostalgia crept in. The place had become our home. In a way, I would be sad to leave it. But it was time to leave Savannah, and this house, behind.
Our things were just about packed up, cardboard boxes lining the pale cream colored walls and a few loose items still scattering the floor. Austin was zooming around, on a mission to gather things straggling in our rooms and bringing them to the main room so I could pack them.
He was too young to remember our previous moves. This was the first time he was really able to help, and he was in his element. Super excited to move into a new house in a new town, he was a ball of energy and full of endless strings of questions. “Will I go to school there? Are the people there nice? Will we have a backyard? What about a park? Do they make pizza there? What if we got lost on the way?”
On and on it went until I was exhausted, both mentally and physically. And the move hadn’t even started. Not really.
Austin and I still had about an hour’s drive to my hometown, the only place I knew I could go quickly and in a pinch. I also still had to pack the last of the things that were coming with us immediately into my car. We didn’t have all that much stuff, to be honest.
We’d rented the house mostly furnished and only picked up bits and pieces of furniture on the way, most of which would stay behind. Whatever we needed that we couldn’t fit right away, I’d arranged with a friend to collect later and keep it with her until I could figure out what to do with it.
If I had more time, I’d have looked into renting a truck or something, but time was something I didn’t have. Wesley was coming by more and more often. It was only Monday and I’d seen him hanging around outside the house at least four times since he showed up on Saturday morning.
Austin and I weren’t safe here anymore. I’d known Wesley for too long to not recognize his patterns. When we were still together, he’d cycle through his episodes of explosive anger. Since I’d managed to move away, a similar cycle repeated itself where he’d show up over and over and eventually explode over nothing. This needed to stop for Austin’s sake, not to mention my own peace of mind.
I couldn’t let Austin know the reason we were moving was for his safety, so instead I’d told him that I gotten a new job—which wasn’t a complete lie—and that he was going to a new preschool, which was also true.
He was all around excited for the move, whether he understood the true motives behind it or not. It wasn’t that he didn’t know what Wesley represented in our lives, but I didn’t want him to worry about it.
The humid Georgia heat clung to my skin, making beads of sweat roll down my spine as I collected the boxes and carted them to the car. Austin carried what he could, creating a little nest for himself around his car seat in the back. We were just about set to leave, and I was going to be incredibly thankful for the AC in my car, as lackluster as it was, when we finally got on the road.
After a final sweep of the house, I declared that it was time to go. Hoisting the last box onto my hip, I locked up and left the key where I’d told the landlord I would.
Austin was behind me as I turned and walked to the car, just about to sprint toward it when I shot out an arm to stop him. A familiar black sedan with tinted windows rolled up, pulling over at the curb. I didn’t wait before I was in motion.
Grabbing for the key I’d just hidden, I dropped the box, not giving a damn if something inside it broke, unlocked the door and pulled Austin back inside. Peeking through the front windows, I saw Wesley had already climbed out of his car and was approaching me swiftly. Slamming the door shut and praying Austin hadn’t seen him yet, I stepped quickly away from the house. Wesley grabbed my arm, swinging me around.
“Wesley, let me go!”
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” he hissed.
Panic spun in my chest, and my thoughts bumped into each other, everything fuzzing. Wesley’s eyes had a familiar edge—wild and angry. Before I had a chance to reply, someone called my name. Glancing up, I saw one of our soon-to-be former neighbors standing by a row of mailboxes.
Wesley dropped my arm immediately. “Don’t you dare fucking leave. You go talk to him and wait until he’s gone,” he muttered darkly before stalking back to wait on the front lawn of the house.
Shaky inside and out, I walked the short distance to the row of mailboxes by the sidewalk. “Did you need something Dan?”
I couldn’t say I knew him well, only in passing, but I knew his name. His eyes flicked to Wesley’s car and back to me. “Nothing at all. Looked like you could use an interruption. You need me to help?”
Relief flooded through me, easing the panic knocking about inside my chest. “If you don’t mind waiting here, I’m going to call the police.”
“Not at all,” Dan replied. He made a show of checking the mail.
With trembling hands, I pulled my phone from the pocket of my faded blue jeans and dialed 9-1-1. Explaining my situation to the operator, she set my mind at ease that the police would be right over. She kept me on the line, so I glanced to Dan who shrugged, still thumbing through his mail. He gestured for us to walk toward the house, so we did. I opened the door and Dan poked his head in to greet Austin and then waited on the steps.
“I thought we were leaving, mommy,” Austin remarked next to me, straining his neck to try see what I was looking at outside the window. Keeping one eye on Wesley, I smiled at our son.
“We are honey. Soon.” Fingers crossed that I wasn’t lying about when we’d be leaving, I waited with bated breath until I heard sirens approaching. Anyone looking in from the outside might’ve thought that I was overreacting, by moving, calling the cops…
Only the precious few people who knew the whole truth really understood. I needed to get away from him. Wesley was… unhinged. He didn’t give a fuck about Austin, and he sure didn’t care about me, he simply didn’t want anyone else to have me.
Wesley’s obsessive behavior started before I even got pregnant with Austin, then it eased up for a while, and I made the mistake of thinking he’d changed. Oh to be young and naive again.
But I wasn’t anymore.
Wesley’s behavior was on the wrong side on the border of stalking: the late night texts, the calls, tracking me, following me, showing up all over, the veiled threats and the near constant fear it produced, it wasn’t healthy. Not for me and certainly not for Austin.
When I heard the sirens, I could see Wesley smirk. He placed both his hands behind his head as he nodded slowly. His expression transformed when the cop cars pulled up and he turned to face them, his face a mask of surprise.
When they had him contained for the minute, I stepped outside in time to hear him making light with the officers.
&n
bsp; “No, sir,” he was saying to a beefy man with a bald head and narrowed eyes. “I haven’t seen anyone loiterin’ around. Just got here a minute ago to say goodbye to my son, so I might’ve missed them.”
The officer gave him a long look, his eyes catching on mine as I approached. I didn’t know what he saw there, but he didn’t look convinced by Wesley’s false charm as he chatted to the man’s partner.
“There’s no problem here, officer,” Wesley offered with smug grin, but the officer was still looking at me.
“That right, ma’am? There’s no problem here?” His eyes lingered on my packed car. Shaking his head while catching my eyes again from the corner of his, I was pretty sure I caught a warning in his eyes. “You seem to be all packed up here ma’am. How about we stay around while you take off?”
Relief flooded my senses, making my knees slightly shaky. Avoiding the menacing gaze Wesley was sending my way from behind the officers’ backs as they were turned to me, I nodded. “That would be great, thank you.”
The officer jerked his head toward my car, but I didn’t need to be prompted twice. I turned to the house and waved Austin out. “Come on baby, it’s time for us to leave.”
He dashed out of the house and right to me, giving the policemen curious glances. I could see he was about to question them and gestured him to the car instead. “You go get comfy in your seat. I’ll come buckle you up in a sec.”
Hesitation colored his eyes, but then he caught my eye and did as he was told. I was sure I was in for a bunch of questions on the drive, but I’d deal with them then. We just needed to get on the road, away from here.
“Thank you, officers,” I murmured. They tipped their hats to me and watched as I jogged around the car, buckling Austin in and then sliding into the driver’s seat. Wesley had rounded the car too, but he’d done so in a way that made it look like he was simply walking back to his own vehicle behind mine.
Under his breath, he uttered a low warning to me before waving at the officers. “I’ll be seeing you around Marie, count on it.”
Shivers ran up and down my spine. Whether from the sweat still rolling down it or the maliciousness in his tone, it didn’t matter. I was just happy to get out of here. Rolling up my window without saying anything in return, I checked that the road was clear before I pulled out onto it.
With each mile that I put between my car and Wesley, I felt the knot in my stomach unwinding. Once Savannah was good and properly in my rearview mirror, my shoulders dropped and I slumped back in my seat.
Even Austin had sensed not to say anything before I relaxed, his questions only started once we were well on our way. “Why were there police at our house mommy?”
“They… uh, they were just patrolling the neighborhood and came to say goodbye to us.” Lying to Austin wasn’t something that I did often, nor was it something I was comfortable with, but it beat telling him the truth on this one. Since Wesley and I had never married—thank god—I hadn’t even known I should look into a formal custody arrangement. We had none. Austin only saw his father once in a blue moon and usually when Wesley showed up to tangle with me.
No matter what, Austin deserved to have a childhood free of worrying about his father stalking us and the constant threat he posed. If it took lying to protect him from that, I would lie to him as often as necessary.
“You want to play a game?” I asked him, smiling at him in the mirror. His green eyes lit up and his cheeks pulled up toward them, his concern immediately forgotten.
“Only if we can play I-spy.” He giggled. “Oooo, I have a good one. I spy with my little eye, something beginning with an S.”
Austin always chose the sky first when we played this, but I threw out a few other guesses before finally landing on that and taking my turn. The miles rolled by quickly as we played the game and soon the roads were narrowing and we were winding past rolling green farms and into the low country of coastal Georgia.
Before I knew it, the sign to my hometown was looming ahead, welcoming us to our new, and my old, home. The fading sign hadn’t been repainted in at least fifty years and the familiarity of it warmed my heart and expelled the last of the butterflies that were gathered in my belly.
Welcome to Cypress Creek.
It had never been my plan to move back here, but now that I was, I was infinitely thankful to have this place to come home to. I knew logically that Wesley could find me, follow us here, but somehow it felt like we’d be safer here surrounded by people I’d known my whole life.
Late afternoon sunlight cast shadows across the streets and softened the edges of the buildings downtown. A yellowy glow shone down through the high branches of the trees and reminded me of afternoon walks home from school and bonfires being lit down at the river with my friends. Cypress Creek was aptly named. There was the obvious fact an actual creek ran through town, yet there were also the gothic cypress trees just about everywhere you looked. Cypress Creek itself was an offshoot of a larger river. The town was situated a stone’s throw away from the coast. With moss hanging from the trees, the salty scent of the ocean clinging to the humid air and the abundant flowers of the South, it was easy to feel as if you were stepping back in time. Cypress Creek was small, but close enough to Savannah that it wasn’t frozen in time.
There was a sense of home here that I couldn’t replicate, memories I’d never forget and hopefully more to make. I drove to the small apartment building Miranda, a family friend of ours, had lined up for me over the weekend without the need for directions and smiled brightly when I saw her waiting on the sidewalk.
“Marie! You made it,” she exclaimed when I stepped out of the car. Her heels clicked on the asphalt as she neared me, throwing her arms around me for a hug.
“We did.” I returned her tight hug, breathing in the smell of lavender scented soap she’d been using since I could remember. The last of my apprehension surrounding the move back to Cypress Creek dissipated. This was the right move, I knew it in my bones. “Thanks so much for making this happen, Miranda. I know it was short notice.”
She waved me off, her red hair glowing in the setting sun behind her. Producing a key from her pocket, she handed it to me. “It was my pleasure. It’ll be good to have you back.”
“It’ll be good to be back.” Miranda and I grew up practically as neighbors. Her family lived a couple of doors down from ours and she’d grown up to take over from her grandmother as the apartment manager for this block.
Miranda spotted Austin sitting in his seat and bounced over to him. “Aren’t you just the cutest thing ever?”
Austin unbuckled his clips, climbed out of his car seat and stuck his tiny hand out to her. “Austin Nix ma’am. It’s nice to meet you.”
“And so well mannered,” Miranda gushed, reaching for his hand to give it a firm shake. She smiled at me, mouthing, “He’s adorable.”
“Thanks.”
“When do you start working?” she asked.
“Tomorrow. Sarah said I could have a job at the salon.”
Miranda beamed, clapping her hands together. “That’s wonderful! She’s been desperate for good help.”
“She mentioned that.” One of the main reasons I’d come back to my hometown, along with the safety of having my people around me, was because I knew people who could get me back on my feet quickly. People like Miranda who’d helped find me an apartment and Sarah who offered me a job before I’d even finished telling her I was considering moving back.
God bless their souls.
“What’re you going to do with this little cutie when you have to go to work?”
I blew out a deep breath and lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I still have to find somewhere for him to go to daycare. I managed to get a lot organized from Savannah, but not everything.”
“Well, you let me know if I can help,” she said, tapping her index finger to her chin. “You know, there’s a new daycare that opened a couple of blocks away from here. I’ve only heard good things.”
Her lips curled into a smile as she reached out and squeezed my hand. “It’s no problem, really. This is your new start in an old place, you’ll find a lot of people here willing to help you. You’re still one of us.”
A new start in an old place, I liked the sound of that. I could only hope that she was right.
Chapter Five
Jeremy
“You did a great job here, son,” our client, Mr. Linden, congratulated as he looked around the new patio we’d constructed for him. It was a small job, but he was one of Doc’s oldest friends and it’d been important to him that it was finished before his wife’s birthday. Mission accomplished.
“Thank you, sir. Tell your wife happy birthday from Doc.” The sentiment wasn’t mine, Doc specifically asked me to say it. All I cared about was finishing the job on time, which we’d managed easily.
“I’ll do that,” Mr. Linden assured me, clasping his hand on my shoulder as he shook mine with the other. “She’ll be thrilled to hear a happy birthday from Jeremy Lovett himself. We were both big fans of yours, boy, huge.”
I bit back a sigh. I wasn’t in the mood for where this was heading. “Thank you. I should get going, you can make payment arrangements with Doc.”
“Nonsense. I’ve got the cash right here.” He pulled a stack from a money clip in his shirt’s pocket and handed it to me. “You know, both the missus and I thought you were going to be the next great superstar in football. You should’ve been, too. This town hadn’t seen anything like you in the longest time, haven’t since.”
At risk of sounding like a broken record, I gritted my teeth and bit out, “Thanks, sir. I’d best be going. I’ve got a lot to do before close of business.”
