30. Leslie

Chapter 30

Leslie

"Do you have a curling iron I can borrow?" Sophia pops her head into my room.

"Um… I have one, I'm just not sure if it's here." I squat down under the bathroom sink and rifle through my things.

Colt's been such a good sport and told me to take over the bathroom. He claims he just needs a place to put his toothbrush and deodorant. Other than that, he doesn't need any space.

"It must still be at my house. We can go get it." I stand to my full height and brush my hands off on my jeans.

"No, I don't want to bother you." She waves me off.

"Sophia, it's a five-minute drive. It's not a huge deal. C'mon, I'll make you come with me and keep me company on our long journey." I roll my eyes as I walk through the house and bundle up .

"Are you sure? The snow is really coming down." Sophia steps onto the covered front porch and stares out at the snow blanketing the street.

"I'm positive. Plus, we need to go to the grocery store anyway. We can stop at my house on the way home."

We climb inside my SUV and I get the heat going as soon as the car has warmed up a little bit. I've never been so happy to have a garage to park in. I wouldn't want to clean the car off before we left.

It only takes us a few minutes to get to the grocery store and though the roads have snow on them, it isn't hard to drive yet.

Sophia grabs a cart and begins pushing it up and down the aisles. Though we still have a few more days until Christmas, I want to get everything we need now. I'm sure the stores are going to be crazy otherwise.

"Ok, so what are we making?" Sophia glances over her shoulder at me.

"Corn casserole, mashed potatoes, and mac and cheese."

"And how many people are going to be there?"

"Uhh… Skylar's family, Tucker's family, and Colt's family. Maybe Maverick. I think about fifteen people? "

"Are we making any dessert?" Her eyes light up with excitement. I don't think I've ever seen someone so excited about the idea of baking.

"I'm sure I can twist Skylar's arm into letting you bake, though I wouldn't make a pie. Tucker's grandma is known for her pies and I'm not sure how it would go if you try to one up Gran." I grin, thinking about the sassy old woman.

"Yeah, I'm not stealing the woman's thunder. I'm not great at pies anyway. Oh! Maybe I can get some pointers from Gran. Do you think she'd tell me all of her secrets?"

"She'd probably love to pass on her secrets." I grin.

"Yay!" She claps her hand in excitement. "Let's get all your boring things, then spend some time in the baking aisle so I can go crazy."

We turn down the next aisle and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I feel like someone's watching me. I glance all around, but I don't see anyone.

I'm being paranoid, everything is fine. We might not know where Jimmy is, but we know he isn't here.

I take a deep breath and blow it out slowly. I need to remain calm. Colt would know if there were any strangers in town. He'd call me right away if I were in danger .

Once I've grabbed all of my ingredients, I wait in the baking aisle, letting Sophia go wild. She's like a little kid in a candy store.

"Do you know if Pecker's coming for Christmas?"

"I'm not sure. His sister lives in Maple Springs, so he might be going there. I know he's working during the day and the other deputy is working the night shift. I can text him and ask him."

"No, it's fine. He just keeps bringing up some of the desserts I've talked about. I'm trying to decide what I want to make," she trails off as she skims her gaze over the shelves. "Do you think everyone would be opposed to getting some cookies from me? I clearly don't have any gifts and I don't know anyone well enough to buy them anything."

"You don't need to buy any presents, Sophia. I promise. They're going to be happy to have you there, they wouldn't care if you came completely empty handed."

"So, I'm overthinking this?" She peeks up at me.

"A thousand percent. Do whatever makes you happy, but don't feel obligated to do anything."

"Ok. So just like ten dozen cookies?" She wrinkles up her nose.

"Whatever makes you happy." I chuckle .

Once again, I feel like someone's watching me. I glance up and down the aisle, but I don't see anyone. I've been to this grocery store hundreds of times since I moved to this town. I know every person who lives in Maple Springs and I know I'm safe, but something feels off.

I don't want to freak out Sophia and I know she's enjoying herself, so I try to keep her oblivious to my freak out. Nothing good can come from us both freaking out.

"Ok! I think I'm done," Sophia announces and grabs the cart from my hands. She pushes it towards the cashier and smiles happily at the teenage boy.

She's flirting away, showing him her brightest smile and deep dimples. She's so carefree and happy. I'm not sure the last time I've felt like that.

Colt's slowly giving me the freedom I've lacked for years, but I know I won't truly feel free until I know Jimmy's gone.

When the cashier tells us the total, Sophia quickly swipes her credit card. I open my mouth to argue, but she waves me off. I'm sure Uncle Wes told her to pay for everything. He's always trying to take care of his family and friends.

I'm sure it's killing him that I live so far away and haven't seen him in years. We were always close. He was a teenager when I was born and he used to let my siblings, cousins, and I sleep in his room when we had sleepovers at grandma and grandpa's house. He was always my favorite and I miss him dearly.

It takes us a few minutes to load up the SUV with our bags and I spend the entire time scanning the parking lot. I don't know why, but I still feel like someone's watching us. Like something is off. I can't explain it, it's just a feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"I'll just put the cart away, then we can go." Sophia takes a step away from the car, but I stop her.

If there's someone watching us, they're after me, not her. I'll do anything to keep her safe.

"Nah, I got it. You just start the car and lock the doors."

Sophia stares at me for a moment before she nods her head and climbs inside the car. I wait until I hear the locks engage, then I take slow steps towards the store to return the cart. It's not icy, but the snow is definitely slippery in spots.

I keep my attention on my surroundings and make sure to meet the gaze of each person I see. I want to figure out if there's any strangers around. Anything to explain why I feel this way .

I have changed a lot since I moved from Philadelphia. I dyed my hair dark brown, even though I'm a natural blonde. I miss my blonde hair, but I was willing to do anything to make sure Jimmy wouldn't recognize me if we passed each other on the street.

I don't wear the same kind of clothes. I don't do my makeup the same way. I've gone out of my way to do everything differently.

As soon as the cart is returned, I hurry back to the SUV. Sophia's watching me intently and I'm sure she realizes why I'm freaking out, but I don't want to voice any of my fears.

The moment I'm in the car, I click the locks and grip my steering wheel until my knuckles turn white. What is wrong with me? I haven't seen a single thing out of the ordinary.

I take the drive to my house slowly and keep my eyes on the road. There aren't any cars out and that's a good thing. We pull up in front of my house a few minutes later and hop out. As soon as we're inside the house, I head straight to my room and pack the few bags I brought with me.

"What are you doing?" Sophia chuckles as I throw more into a bag .

"I'm tired of having half of my things here and half of them at Colt's house. I'm happy with him. I want to live with him."

"I like Colt. He's a good guy." She nods her head and grabs an arm full of clothes to dump into another bag.

"And what about Pecker?" I arch a brow, daring her to lie to me. I can read Sophia like a book and she knows it.

"Pecker's a great guy. I've had a lot of fun when we've hung out," she says softly.

There's something bothering her, but I'm not going to push it. When she wants to talk to me, she'll open up about it.

A loud noise outside has me rushing to the window and trying to peer through the snow to see if there's anything out there.

"What do you think it was?" Sophia presses her nose against the glass.

"I'm not sure. Sometimes snow falls off the tree branches in huge clumps and it's loud depending on what it lands on," I whisper as I continue scanning the backyard.

We spend almost an hour collecting things I'd like to take back to Colt's house. Sophia and I laugh at some of the old things we find and we take more than one trip down memory lane .

"Is this Charlie's sweatshirt?" Sophia shrieks as she pulls a pink sweatshirt out of the back of my closet. There's an anchor in the center of it and paint splattered all around it.

"Yes," I chuckle. "When I moved, I wanted something that reminded me of home, so I stole it from her."

"Does she know?" Sophia stares at me with wide eyes.

"Yes. I was wearing it one time when we facetimed. She was so mad. Apparently, she thought she lost it when she moved."

"Doesn't she want it back?"

"Nah, she says she has Wyatt's sweatshirts to wear now and her baby belly won't fit in any of her clothes anyway." I lift my shoulders in a shrug. I wouldn't want to give the sweatshirt back to her even if she wanted it. I love that thing.

"Alright, I think all of these bags are stuffed to the limit." Sophia stands and glances around the room. "I think with one more trip, we could have this place cleaned out."

"Me too."

We each grab three bags and hoist them over our shoulders, more than happy to get back to Colt's house. I open the front door and gasp. It's snowing even harder now and we've gotten at least a few inches of snow coating the roads in the short time we were inside.

"Uhh… Are we stuck here?" Sophia nibbles on her bottom lip.

"No. No, we'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" She eyes me wearily.

"Not at all." I chuckle. "We get a lot of snow here and I've never gotten stuck though."

"Should we call Colt?"

"No, but we need to get going before it gets worse."