“Please,” she called out, her voice breaking.
But he ignored her. He climbed into his truck. Then he drove away. Leaving her standing there on her porch.
Alone.
As soon as she realized that, she stepped back inside and quickly shut and locked the door. Her heart racing, she ran around the house pulling all the blinds.
That asshole was out there somewhere. She didn’t know if he was watching right now, but she wasn’t taking any chances. She was alone. All she had was herself.
And she was pretty damn certain that wasn’t enough.
When everything was locked up tight, the drapes all pulled, she grabbed the bat and crept over to her secret stash of candy. Yes, she wasn’t supposed to have any candy that Jed didn’t know about. But a girl needed stuff for emergencies. And besides, wasn’t like he was here anymore. These past few days, her appetite had been nil, so she’d been living on suckers. She grabbed a raspberry sucker and popped it into her mouth. Then she picked up the bat again and retreated to that same corner she’d hidden herself in last week behind the sideboard.
She slid down onto her ass, her back leaning on against the wall and sobbed.
* * *
Fuck. Fuck.
He bashed his fist against the steering wheel as he drove. What had he been thinking to get involved with her? He should have known this would happen again. Should have expected it.
He’d fucking trusted her again and she’d let him down.
You’re wrong.
Her voice swam through his head and he growled. He didn’t fucking need this. He needed to get home and sleep. He was exhausted. He shouldn’t be driving. But something pulled at him. What was he missing?
With a frown, he pulled off to the side of the road. What was it? With how exhausted he was, it was hard for him to think properly. But his gut was telling him something was off.
The baseball bat.
His heart leapt into his throat. Why would she need a baseball bat to answer the door? Her pale features. Could have been because she’d been caught, but she looked like shit. Like she hadn’t been sleeping. Worn and scared.
She was scared.
No, terrified.
Fuck. Fuck.
He did a U-turn and pressed down on the accelerator. He needed to get back to Daisy fast because something was very, very wrong.
13
Where the hell was she? He’d knocked on her door. Repeatedly. And he was running out of patience. For some reason, all the curtains and blinds were pulled across the windows. Upstairs as well as downstairs. And she rarely drew the curtains upstairs.
Finally, his worry got too much and he raced around to the back door. Ellie would understand him breaking a window and it was better to do it back here. He picked up a hefty rock and smashed it through the window by the back door. Then pulling off his jacket, he wrapped it around his arm so he could knock out the bits of glass.
Inside, he heard a scared cry as he carefully climbed through the window. He quickly raced in. “Daisy? Daisy!”
His instincts screamed at him, just as he saw a flash of movement. He dropped and rolled, the baseball bat just missing his head. Fuck! That was close.
“Stay away from me, you creep!” Daisy screamed, racing at him, the bat raised.
She was in too much of a panic to see that it was him. At least he hoped that was the reason she was still coming after him and not because she wanted to bash his brains in.
“Daisy, it’s me! It’s Jed.” He didn’t want to panic her further by taking the bat off her, even though he easily could. He ducked back as she swung.
“Daisy-girl! Put the bat down!”
Another swing. Shit!
“Daisy! Sugar. It’s me, Daddy. It’s Daddy. You’re safe now.”
It was still so new to her that he didn’t know if that would work. But suddenly she stopped and stared at him, the baseball bat dropping. Seemed that did work.
“D-daddy?”
She sounded so terrified it made him feel ill. And furious. At whoever had caused this. And at himself, for making it worse. For not listening to her. For jumping to conclusions.
You had reason to believe she was capable of cheating on you.
He watched as she deflated. The bat dropped and she slid to the floor. As though she didn’t have the strength to hold herself up anymore.
She pulled her legs up and secured her arms around them, making herself into a tight ball.
Fuck. Fuck.
“Jed? Why are you here? I thought you had gone.” Her voice sounded lifeless. Dull. Now that he could push past his anger and actually see what was right in front of him, he could tell she was in trouble. Her hair was dull and lank. Her skin a sickly-gray color. Deep chestnut-colored marks lay beneath her eyes. She had on a baggy t-shirt and pants, but he was betting she’d lost weight.
What the hell was going on?
“I did. And that was a big mistake. Realized it almost as soon as I left. Turned around and came back.” He crouched down, not reaching for her. Not yet.
“You broke the window.”
“You weren’t answering the door. I was worried about you.”
“Why?” she asked. “I’m just some slut who’s cheating on you. A white-trash whore who’d end up embarrassing you.”
Where the hell had she gotten that from? He stared at her in shock. Then he was done with this distance between them. Reaching out, he grabbed her, sat back on his ass and pulled her onto his lap. It worried him that she didn’t even fight him. As though she didn’t have the energy. Or simply didn’t care.
“What’s going on, Daisy?”
“Now you want to know?”
He hated the bitter tone to her voice. This part was entirely his fault. He grasped hold of her chin and tipped her face up. “I know you’re upset with me, baby. And I totally get why. I messed up. I made a mistake. And as tough as it is sometimes to own your mistakes, I’m trying to do that now. I jumped to conclusions and I’m so sorry, baby girl. I will do whatever it is I have to in order to make up for my behavior just before.”
There was silence. Shit. He wasn’t getting through to her.
Then she shifted on his lap and her eyes met his. He hated the pain he saw in there.
“Anything?”
“Anything,” he swore.
“You’ll stop spanking me?”
“Yes,” he said without hesitation.
She blinked. It was clear she hadn’t expected that answer. “Didn’t think you’d agree to that.”
The hard knot of worry eased inside him. She still had a guarded look on her face, but at least she wasn’t completely closed off from him, or trying to hit him with a baseball bat.
“If it’s what you need from me and it’s in my power to give it to you then I’m going to do whatever I have to in order to give you that.” Not that he truly thought she needed him to stop spanking her. It was a test. One he prayed he was passing. But he had something else to impart as well. Something he hoped would tip the scales in his favor.
“I love you, Daisy-girl.”
She sniffled. “No, you don’t.”
“Yes, I do.”
“You think I could cheat on you!” she wailed.
Pain blossomed in his chest.
“Obviously, I still have some issues. I jumped to conclusions I shouldn’t have. I had to take a moment to think and I quickly realized that I was completely out of line. In my defense, I haven’t slept more than a handful of hours since I left you. Wanting to get back to you quickly, I didn’t stop to sleep or eat. When I got here, I found cheap lingerie and some sort of love note to my woman on her porch and it flipped something inside of me. But I hurt you and those excuses don’t mean shit in the face of that. I’m here to protect you, not be the cause of your pain.”
“It’s only been two weeks; you can’t love me.”
“It’s been ten years.”
She sniffled. “You’ve loved me for ten years?”
“Yes, I never stopped, baby. Not ever. I love you more now than I did yesterday. I’ll love you more tomorrow than I do today. And when our lives end, I’ll have loved you enough for a thousand lifetimes and still, it won’t be enough.”
Tears dripped down her cheeks and her body seemed to just deflate. He had to tighten his hold to hold her up.
She clung to him, as she leaned her face against his chest. “I love you too. And I don’t want you to stop spanking me. I kind of, well, it makes me feel good knowing that you care enough to have rules and enforce them. I never had that.”
“I know, baby.”
“I’m not cheating on you. I never have.”
He stiffened against her. “Sugar, we don’t need to talk about this—”
She pulled back against his hold and glared up at him, her look so fierce it made him pause. “Yes, we do. Because not talking about it is part of the reason this happened. I have wanted to explain. To apologize. For never being brave enough to go against your grandfather and tell you what really happened.”
His grandfather?
That sick feeling in his stomach grew. “What does my grandfather have to do with anything?”
“He’s the reason I left.”
14
Daisy took in a sharp breath as he rose to his feet then pulled her up with him, not letting go of her hand as he walked into the living room. Then he strode over to the curtains.
“No, don’t pull them!” she screeched. He paused and looked down at her. “He’s watching me.”
“Who is?” He scowled. The air in the room filled with his fury. He placed his hands on her shoulders. “Who is out there?”
“My stalker.”
“Your stalker?”
She couldn’t read his facial expression clearly. “Yes. He’s been sending me flowers. Started two days after you left. I thought it was a neighbor. Until the next two bunches arrived. Then last night there was a note. He must have come back and left that lingerie.” She licked her lips. “He’s been watching me undress and he wants me to wear it for him.”
He said nothing. Just stared at her. Did he not believe her? What was he thinking? Then he turned and strode towards the door. Was he leaving? Tears dripped down her face as she watched him. Then she gasped as he pulled back his fist and smashed it into the wall. Plywood split, small pieces went flying as he drew his hand back. He then leaned both hands on the wall and dropped his head.
“Jed?”
More silence then he turned and the fury on his face made her breath catch in her throat. He paced back and forth.
“Fuck. Fuck! You’re being fucking stalked by some sicko and I didn’t even know? I accused you of cheating on me? I fucking left you here on your own, so terrified you tried to smash my head in with a baseball bat. A damn baseball bat to protect you! It’s my job to protect you. Mine.”
And he thought he hadn’t done his job. Which would kill a man like Jed. Someone who prided himself on looking after those he considered his.
What the hell did she say to that?
“It’s my fault. I didn’t tell you.”
“I wasn’t here for you.”
“Jed, you have an important job to do.”
He turned his head to look at her, his eyes intense. “Nothing is more important than you.”
She gulped. She’d never had that. Not once.
“Those kids needed you.”
“So did you.”
“But I’m an adult.”
“You’re a woman living alone being terrorized. Fuck! Fuck!”
She’d never seen him like this and it kind of scared her. Not because she thought he would hurt her, but she was worried about what he was doing to himself.
“There’s going to be times you have to work. You can’t be here all the time.”
“You didn’t call JSI.”
She shook her head. “I was going to, after the note arrived last night.”
“Should have called them after you got that first bunch of flowers. Should have called me. That was one of your rules, Daisy. To call me if you were in trouble.”
“I know,” she whispered. “But you had to concentrate on what you were doing. And I didn’t think anything of the first bunch of flowers. I thought they were from a neighbor. Then the second bunch arrived and I didn’t know what to think. It wasn’t until the first note arrived that I realized that this could be dangerous. I was going to call JSI. I promise. And no matter what you say, those children were more important. I was fine.”
“Not to be mean or anything, babe, but you do not appear fine. You’re carrying around a baseball bat in your own house. A house where you have all the curtains pulled. You look like you haven’t slept in days or eaten, I’m guessing. And you have fear in your eyes. Something I never wanted to see.”
“Not something I ever wanted to feel either.”
He took in a shuddering breath. She needed something to diffuse the situation. She looked at the hole in the wall. “Should I be worried about your tendency to make holes in things?”
“What?” He frowned at her.
“Not that I’m sad to say goodbye to the window.” She shook her head. “It was a bitch to clean.”
“Baby, I’m not going to break anything else.”
“You sure? Because the toilet has been a real pain in the ass lately.” Her lips actually twitched. There was nothing to really laugh about. Her life was a mess. She had a stalker. She was terrified. Her man had just put his hand through a wall and was now dripping blood on the wooden floors.
But he was here. He was here and she wasn’t alone.
“I’m not alone,” she whispered.
“Come here, Daisy-girl. Please, baby.” She walked over to him and he pulled her close. “I’m sorry for earlier. And you were right, the past is something we need to talk about. Especially the part about my grandfather. But right now, that’s not the most pressing thing we need to deal with. We need to figure out what the hell to do about this mess.”
“I’m sorry. You’ve just come home. You’re exhausted. You probably just want to eat and sleep and now you’ve got all this to deal with.”
He drew her back, his hands on her shoulders as he gave her a firm look. “Baby girl, listen to me well. None of this is your fault. Understand? None of it. You didn’t ask for this asshole to start creeping on you, this is all on him. Not you. Got it?”
She took a deep breath, let that settle in. It wasn’t her fault. She hadn’t done this. She didn’t know who was doing this or why. She couldn’t figure it out.
But Jed was here now. He would help her. She wasn’t alone.
“All right. Only, what are we going to do?”
He frowned. “Have you still got the stuff he left?”
“Yeah, in here.” She took hold of the hand that wasn’t bleeding and led him into the kitchen. They passed the baseball bat and she reached down and picked it up. “We need to secure that window.”
“I’ll take care of it.” He lifted the bat from her hand and carried it into the kitchen, setting it down on the table, next to the flowers. She hadn’t kept them in vases after the first bunch so they were a little worse for wear. “I didn’t want to throw them out as they were evidence. I looked up how to deal with a stalker and it said to gather all the evidence possible.”
“I’m guessing it also said to call the police, yes?” he asked gently.
“Yeah. I suppose I didn’t want to think I had a problem worth calling the cops about.” A wave of dizziness washed over her.
He pulled out a chair. “Sit down. I don’t like your color. When is the last time you ate?” He poured her a glass of water.
“Can’t eat. It just keeps coming back up when I do.”
“Need to get you checked over by a doctor.”
“I’m okay. I just haven’t slept that great and that note I found last night rattled me. I don’t know when he left the second one. Maybe this morning.”
She pointed out the pi
ece of paper which she’d turned over so she didn’t have to see the words. He flipped it over. Then he went still. His anger filled the room once more. Filling it. Sucking out all the oxygen.
“If you need to hit something, maybe you should use the same wall.”
“What?” He stared at her.
“Contain the damage to one area.”
He grabbed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry I did that, baby. I shouldn’t have. And I’m not going to punch anything else. Well, not until we find this guy. That fucking shithead. I’m going to kill him.”
“I should try and stop you but I’ve had the same thought,” she whispered.
“You didn’t do too badly with that baseball bat, babe. But we need to work on your technique. How come you even have that?”
“I’ve owned it for years. We never lived in good areas. Usually the doors were shit protection. I’ve always kept it under my bed just in case I needed it.”
He swore again under his breath. “I hate that. Hate that you weren’t protected. Then and now.”
“None of this is your fault. This is on him,” she repeated his words back to him. They were both quiet for a moment. “What are we going to do?”
He stared down at the notes for a moment and she watched his hands clench into fists then unclench. “Let’s think about what we know about him. He’s watching the place. The flowers started after I left. Might mean he knows about me. Knows I wasn’t around. So he’s watching from close by.” He turned thoughtful. “But probably at night when he’s got less chance of being detected. Means he may not know I’m back.”
“Right. But how does that help us?”
“I need to go hunting.”
“H-hunting?” she stuttered out.
He crouched in front of her. “I will find him. Gonna be easier if he doesn’t know I’m back or that you’re freaked by his note. I need to shift my truck and I need you to pull back the curtains.”
“You want him to watch me?”
He cupped her face with one hand. “Baby, I will not let him hurt you. I’m going to call in back-up. They will be with you the entire time. I promise. But honey, we got to go fast if we don’t want him to find out what’s going on and we want to be in place before nightfall.”
Daddy’s Lost Love Page 14
