Seal Next Door

by Brooke Noelle

  I pressed a kiss against his temple, savoring the feeling of his warm skin before leaving him to sleep on.

  My phone was vibrating madly on the hallway table, as I’d expected it would be. I debated on letting it go to voice mail again, but I didn’t want to waste the rest of my afternoon on avoiding a confrontation with my mother.

  “I know I sent the realtor away,” I said with futile hope that my mother would let me explain. “Just let me—”

  “We agreed that it’d be a good idea if you found a new house,” she said, her voice tight with frustration. “I told the relator to bring a list of potential houses for you to look at, not email them. You can’t stay there, Chloe. You know that.”

  “I want to stay here though,” I said, closing the front door when a chilly breeze fluttered through. “I can’t keep running away from everything. He’s only going to find me again. That’s who Luke is. It’s a game.”

  “You want to stay because of Jake. I may be old, but I’m not blind. I can see what is going on between you two.”

  “I don’t even know what is going on between us,” I said, exasperated. “And if there was anything, what’s wrong with that? He’s not a bad man.”

  “The situation isn’t right, Chloe. He’s paying you to babysit his son, and yet the two of you are sleeping together.”

  “He’s helping me,” I replied defensively. The buzzer in the laundry room went off. “Does that count for something?”

  I started down the hallway in the direction of the laundry room.

  “Yes, it does. I’m thankful he has been so helpful to you, but—”

  Something yanked hard on the back of my head, pain erupting in my skull. My phone slipped from hand to thump against the hardwood floor.

  A hard body pressed up against my backside, effectively pinning me to the wall. An icy wave of fear came down on me when I felt a nose nuzzle the back of my neck. That familiar smell of rich cologne filled my nose. My heart slammed itself repeatedly in the caverns of my chest.

  No. No. No!

  “Do you honestly think a piece of paper scares me?” Luke said into my ear, rubbing against me with a relieved groan. “God, I have missed you. You feel wonderful.”

  Tears filled my eyes. I choked back a cry when his fingers slid around my body before he pulled back to grab a hold of my wrist. I couldn’t even struggle. Just seeing him standing there dressed like he had been dressed in my dream, a fancy shirt and nice jeans with his hair slicked back, rendered my legs useless.

  I heard my mother’s voice still chattering through the phone, unaware that I had dropped it. Luke crouched down with one hand on my wrist before he hit the end button. He tossed the phone onto the hallway table carelessly.

  “You’re pale,” he said, raking his eyes up and down me. “You need the sunshine again. You look ugly without tanned skin.”

  The insult stung, as he’d intended it to. I tried to remove his fingers from my wrist, but he tightened them painfully.

  “Luke,” I said thickly through tears, “please. Just leave me alone. I just want to—”

  “I can’t leave you alone,” he said matter-of-factly. “You know that, Chloe. I’m yours, and you are mine. Remember? We made that vow a long time ago.”

  My phone buzzed on the hallway table. I stared at it helplessly. Call the police, Mom. Tell them to come back. Jake still had a cop driving by every hour, but it had just passed by ten minutes ago. That told me Luke had been around for over a week, watching them and memorizing the patterns. He was just that damn smart. The one time he knew I would lower my guard a bit… I just could never fully escape. The realization felt sharp in my chest.

  Just thinking of Jake sleeping upstairs alone brought on a wave of hysterics. I wanted to crawl back up there into the safety of his strong arms. I should’ve just laid there with him.

  Luke reached out to touch my cheek. I flinched away from the touch, but he continued to trail his thumb across my cheekbone. His eyes flashed angrily when I tried to push his hand away.

  “What’s wrong?” he hissed. He leaned forward to push me up against the wall again. “Don’t want me to touch you, hm? Just want that guy who lives next to you?”

  I bit down on my lip to keep from crying.

  Fingers circled my throat. My eyes widened in horror when I felt Luke’s fingertips slowly press down to cut off my air supply. He leaned in to press his lips against mine briefly. My stomach convulsed violently at the taste of him— cinnamon and rich.

  “Too bad he’ll never see you again,” Luke said. “I’m sure he’ll find some other woman to occupy his time. You can be replaced easily, believe it or not. Have a good sleep, Chloe. When you wake up, we’ll be back in California. Everyone is really excited to see you again.” He smirked darkly at me. “You did abandon all your friends, you know.”

  “I didn’t abandon them,” I gasped out, clawing at his fingers. “You forced me to run away. I didn’t want to leave. Please, don’t. Let me go, Luke. I’ll come with you if you let me go.”

  “You’re a horrible liar,” Luke remarked, shaking his head at me in disgust. “You always were a horrible liar. Just relax and this will go a lot faster.”

  His fingers tightened even more. My lungs burned for air. I tried to scream, but nothing came out. My fists thumped uselessly against his chest. A blackness crept along the back of mind before a warm sensation overcame me. I slipped into the darkness as a crash echoed in the hallway, right before my body hit the cold, hardwood floor.

  I didn’t even feel Luke’s fingers lift from my neck. I was gone, gladly slipping into that unconscious blanket of nothingness.

  Chapter Twenty

  Jake

  There were blood stains on my knuckles. I stared down at them with a hint of smugness despite the holding bars around me. It’d been too easy to overcome that prick. He couldn’t even throw a decent punch that landed right. It had been sheer will power to pull back in time for the patrol units to arrive at Chloe’s house. By the time they arrived, Luke was a bloody mess, crying on the floor, and I had Chloe cradled in my arms.

  “Mason.”

  I looked up to see Nicholas waving me to him on the other side. The buzz of the holding doors echoed, and I gladly stood from the metal bench. They’d had no other choice but to arrest me in the process. I didn’t have a scratch on me. Luke had a crushed nose and sinus cavity. I could still hear him howling in the ambulance about pressing charges.

  “Thanks for bailing me out,” I said. “I owe you.”

  “I didn’t bail you out,” Nicholas said, opening the doors. “A woman named Betty Johnson is waiting for you outside the police station.”

  I arched my eyebrows in surprise. “You’re shitting me. She bailed me out?”

  “What did you expect?” Nicholas asked wryly. “You arrived in time to save her daughter after she called you. I think any parent would bail someone out if they rescued their child.”

  “I saved Chloe because—” I love her.

  Nicholas looked at me knowingly. “You don’t have to say it to me,” he said, and he chuckled when I gave him a pained look. “You aren’t in love with me. I don’t want to hear you say that to me. Say it to her.”

  “How is she doing?” I asked as we walked down the hallway. “The last update I got, she was coming out of being unconscious.”

  “She’s coherent and awake,” Nicholas said. “She gave one of our officers a full statement about what happened, clearing you of any wrongdoing.”

  I didn’t even care about the assault charges Luke had filed. That was the only reason I had ended up in a holding cell until Chloe came to give her statement. All I’d done for the past two hours was pace and bother the booking officers for information.

  We stopped briefly for me to gather my things from the booking station. I shoved my wallet, keys, and phone back into my pocket.

  “What are they charging Luke with?” I asked coldly. “Tell me it’s something he’ll be behind bars for a long
time for.”

  “Attempted murder,” Nicholas replied, following me out into the lobby. I let out a relieved sigh at that.

  An orange glow filled the sky, the evening quickly approaching. I had to call Erika’s house to check on Darren. She had promised through all the chaos earlier that morning to take care of him, but I knew he was upset. He knew something was wrong.

  “That’ll keep him away for a while,” I said.

  “Unfortunately, it had to get to this point for something to be done,” Nicholas said sadly. “There is only so much we can do to protect women like Chloe.” He clapped my shoulder. “I’m glad you were there to help her. She’s got a good man watching her back.”

  “Thanks, boss.”

  I spotted Betty’s trim figure on the bottom steps of the police station. She paced impatiently while she waited for me.

  “I have to call Darren before I go the hospital,” I said.

  Nicholas gave me a warning glance. “Luke is at the hospital with a few officers watching his every move. Don’t think about going up to his room, Mason. I can’t help you if you do.”

  “I won’t.” Even if is tempting to finish the prick off.

  Betty looked up at me when I started down the stone steps in her direction. Her face was drawn tightly into a pinched expression.

  “I owe you,” I said. “I’m sure the bail money was costly.”

  “A small price compared to my daughter’s life,” Betty replied, waving her hand airily. “To be exact, though, it was five thousand dollars for crushing Luke’s face in.”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “A small price for Chloe’s life.”

  Betty’s lips curved into a ghost of a smile. “Thank you,” she said then sincerely. Tears filled her eyes. “I can’t thank you enough for protecting her.”

  “You’re welcome,” I said. “She’s going to be fine. Luke will be behind bars for a while.”

  Betty sniffed back tears. “He can’t be bailed out?”

  “The judge denied it,” I said, pulling out my phone to call Erika’s house. “He’s considered a flight risk and a danger to Chloe. His family won’t be able to bail him out.”

  “Thank God for that judge then.” She jingled Chloe’s car keys in front of me. “I’d drive to the hospital myself, but you’d be scared to death.”

  I took a hold of Chloe’s keys. “I have to call my son first,” I said, and Betty nodded in understanding. She sat in the passenger seat of Chloe’s car while I dialed Erika’s house number.

  “Thank God,” Erika said after I spent ten minutes telling her everything. “At least she can be at peace now knowing he won’t be able to get out of this one so easily.”

  “Not this time.”

  “It’s sad it has to get to that point for someone to feel peace.” Erika sighed into the phone. “I’ve never felt so relived and torn as the day my ex was killed by a drunk driver of all things. Here’s Darren.”

  “Dad,” Darren said, his voice quivering on the other end. My heart ached hearing that. “Is everything okay? You didn’t get hurt at work, did you?”

  “No. I promise I’m fine,” I said, trying to reassure him. “I will come get you tonight, okay, buddy? Make sure you do your homework too.”

  “I will,” Darren said, but I had my doubts. He hated doing homework. “Is Chloe okay too? Erika said she went to the hospital.”

  “She’ll be fine too. Maybe she’ll come over tonight. Would that be okay with you?”

  Darren was silent for a long time on the other end. I could hear Julie chatting happily in the background with Erika.

  “She isn’t Mommy,” he said quietly.

  I rubbed a hand through my hair in frustration. This wasn’t the time to talk about what had happened between Sidney and me, but I had to tell him. I’d put it off for too long, and Chloe was safe in her hospital room.

  “No one will ever replace your mother,” I said. “Your mom and I don’t ever want you to feel that we are trying to replace each other.”

  “I don’t understand what happened though.”

  “You don’t need to understand it now, Darren. All you need to know is that your mother and I love you despite everything. Okay, bud? Chloe isn’t going to replace your mom. I can promise you that.”

  “I like Chloe,” Darren said slowly. “Get her flowers, Dad. All girls like flowers.”

  I chuckled at the advice. “I will, Son. I will be over to pick you up soon.”

  “Everything all right?” Betty asked when I got behind the steering wheel of Chloe’s car. She closed the passenger door when I started the engine.

  “Yes,” I said. I turned to look at Betty. “I know why you don’t want me around your daughter, but—”

  Betty held up a hand, interrupting me. “My opinions of you were wrong. I apologize for judging you so harshly. You saved my daughter’s life. That’s something I don’t overlook. Just promise me one thing.”

  I backed out of the parking spot. “Anything.”

  “Just make sure she goes back to college,” she said, sighing. “She’s smart. She can do it even if she doesn’t think she can.”

  I met Betty’s gaze briefly before pulling out onto the interstate to get to the hospital quicker.

  “I promise,” I said. “I will make sure she goes.”

  We pulled up to the hospital twenty minutes later. Betty led me up to the fourth floor of the hospital where Chloe’s room was located. I nodded at one of the officers seated outside her room before stepping inside. I turned to look at Betty, but she waved for me to go in without her.

  To my relief, Chloe was sitting up cross-legged with her long strands of her hair pulled up in a messy bun. Her eyes were riveted up at the television mounted on the wall. She looked over at the sound of me drawing the curtains back to give us more privacy from the hospital staff.

  My eyes went straight to the dark marks around her neck. My blood boiled at the sight of them, but I forced myself to look away. I’d done enough damage to him to get my point across, but not enough to get rid of all my anger.

  She looked beautiful though. Nothing could ever take that away.

  “Hey,” she said, her voice a bit raspy. “I didn’t expect you to be here so soon.”

  I sat down next to her on the hospital bed. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, I savored the feeling of Chloe leaning up against me with a steady exhale of breath. Her skin felt warm and soft through the hospital gown she wore.

  “Your mother bailed me out,” I said, pressing a kiss against her hair, which still smelled fresh from her shampoo. “I owe her about five thousand dollars though.”

  “Five thousand?” Chloe pulled back to look up at me in alarm. “Why was it so high?”

  “I crushed his face,” I said calmly. “That’s why.”

  Chloe shook her head in dismay. “I still don’t understand why they arrested you. You saved me.”

  “They didn’t know what to think when they pulled up,” I replied, shrugging. “The charges will be dropped given your statement, so don’t worry about it. They were doing their job.”

  “And Luke?” Chloe asked hesitantly. “Where is he?”

  “Jail,” I said, and I didn’t feel an ounce of guilt for the lie when Chloe sagged against me in relief. “He won’t be able to bail out either. The judge denied bond for him.”

  “I bet that made his family happy,” she said, snorting. “The doctors said I can go home in an hour.”

  I picked up her hand that rested between us. Pressing a kiss to the back of her knuckles, I rubbed them with the pad of my thumb.

  “I talked to Darren,” I said.

  “About us?” Chloe asked.

  “Yes, about us,” I said, twining my fingers through hers. “He understands that you aren’t going to replace his mother. I’ll explain the rest later when he’s old enough to understand it.”

  Chloe was quiet for a long time as we both watched the television for a few moments, leaning up against one another.
She eventually looked down at our twined hands. Taking a deep breath, Chloe looked back up at me. “I wanted to move away earlier today because I was afraid of how I felt about you.”

  The soft confession didn’t surprise me. I had felt that same overwhelming urge several times to put distance between us before either one of us could get hurt.

  “I don’t think either one of us expected this to happen,” I said.

  “No,” she murmured in agreement. “I didn’t expect it at all. What do we do?”

  “For starters,” I said, smoothing a few stray hairs back from Chloe’s slender face, “we can talk about you permanently staying at my house.” I caught her wide-eyed stare and added, “If you are comfortable with that. I won’t force you into anything.”

  “I want to,” Chloe said. “I’m just amazed that you are offering to let me to stay there with you, as you’re…”

  She trailed off uncertainly, looking at me for help.

  “I’m not one for titles,” I said. “Dating isn’t even something I want to consider. You’re with me, and I’m with you. Is that a good enough explanation for you?”

  Chloe smiled brightly at me before her face crumpled in pain. I rubbed her shoulders soothingly as she regained her composure.

  “I was going to kiss you,” she said. “I can’t smile without hurting.”

  I grinned at her. “You have plenty of time to kiss me all you want starting when we leave this hospital room.”

  Chloe sighed loudly.

  “My mother is going to be exasperated when I tell her that I’m selling the house after all,” she said.

  “We’ll deal with it together,” I said. “You won’t have far to move this time.”

  She pressed a soft kiss to the center of my cheek. “Thank God for that.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chloe

  One year later

  The trees were splashed with fiery oranges and yellows when I stepped out into the chilly afternoon air. A wetness coated the ground from the recent bout of rain. Everything felt crisp and ready for fall. Soon the leaves would fall and even Lone Tree would be bare for the upcoming winter.