15: NOVA

“You what?” Sandra screams on the other end.

“I met up with Kai again here, and we’ve had sex,” I repeat shyly.

“Wait a minute. Did your hot ass know that he was there when you decided to move to California?”

“No.”

“No way! There’s no way that it was just a coincidence that you moved to that town, and he just happened to be there after all these years. You’re shitting me! What did you hook up again on Facebook? IG?”

“Girl, no! I doubt if Kai even has social media. He’s never been the type, you know.”

“So you’ve said. What type he is, you haven’t told me.”

“I have. He’s a...quiet, loner type, but he has his inner circle. For those who know him, he lets his guard down, but he’s quiet, a little bit of a sulker.”

“Wait...could he be the one that’s been leaving you those gifts?”

I have told her about the gifts but not about the bad things like breaking into my house. She only knows that I have a secret admirer who leaves me gifts and notes and not much more. Not wanting to share the danger that I’ve been in because I won’t hear the end of that from her, I definitely don’t want to share with her that he’s in the MC. She wouldn’t approve.

Everything that Kai represents now is so far from the lifestyle that I led back in Santa Fe. Yet, I feel more at home here, more like myself around Kai and my employees.

Why? Because in Santa Fe, I always felt as if I were faking. Surrounded by doctors’ wives and hosting dinner parties for board members, CEOs, and other people that my husband wanted to impress, I always had to put on air.

The Nova Lynn Hamilton from my teens and twenties would not have had a tennis club membership or a golf club membership. That Nova wouldn’t have been on the board of directors for art galleries and museums. She wouldn’t have been having tea with the mayor’s wife or the governor’s wife.

While all of that is just fine for some people, it was never who I was. It was an expectation that Will placed on me when he said that we had to become the people that we wanted to be. When I told him that’s who he wanted to be and not me, he reminded me that I said, ‘I do.’

It was a lifestyle that my husband aspired to that was beyond my own aspirations. Wanting to make him happy and be the dutiful wife, I went along with it, bored every time.

“Nova? Is he?”

“Uh...no!” I say, returning to the conversation that left me daydreaming. “He’s not the person that’s been leaving the gifts.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I know Kai. He’s the most straightforward person that I know, and he would never sneak around and leave things without being upfront about it.”

“I don’t know, it could be that—”

“No! He wouldn’t break into my house!” I screech.

It is the comparison of Kai to this monster that has me breaking my vow of silence. I don’t mean to do it, but before I know it, everything comes spilling out.

“Wait, what?”

I sigh.

“Nova, what’s going on?”

I find myself spilling the details about the break-in and how I’ve been living in a cottage for the last three weeks, but I don’t tell her it’s owned by the MC.

“Nova, why didn’t you tell me this? I would have come up there right away.”

“That’s why I didn’t tell you, Sandra. I didn’t want you interrupting your life to take care of me. You did that long enough when I was going through the shit with Will. You stood by my side and came to my house every time I broke down in tears over his cheating and encouraged me to stay strong. You came to my condo the day that I received the divorce papers.

“You even held my hand while I signed them two weeks later when I finally got up the courage to go through with it. And it was you who sat outside waiting while the divorce proceedings commenced. So, no. I don’t want you uprooting yourself again to run to my rescue. You’ve been a great friend, Sandy. Thanks for that, but I can handle this.”

“Well, have you at least called the police?”

“Absolutely not.”

“You have a stalker on your hands, Nova. It could be some deranged crazy person, but you can’t handle this alone.”

“And I’m not.”

“Oh. Let me guess, Kai to the rescue?” she says.

Sighing, I push my curls back from my forehead. “Actually, yes. He has been a great support system throughout this ordeal.”

“What the hell can he do that the police won’t?”

“He’s...well, he’s a part of this group. They handle things in their own way.”

“What group?”

Shit! I’ve said too much again.

“A motorcycle club.”

“You mean like the one that Andrea’s husband belonged to?”

“No. Not a community service type group of men that get together and have fun drinking beers, shooting the shit, and doing community service here and there. This is a legitimate biker group. Like the ones that your mother tells you to watch out for...or she would if she were here,” I say softly.

“Oh, honey. I’m sorry, but this Kai guy doesn’t seem like a good idea. He’s not the type that you want in your life. Sure, he can come over and break a few bedsprings, but long-term? You’re asking for heartache. Besides, at our ages, he’s too old for that type of stuff, Nova.”

“He’s the same person that he’s always been, Sandy. The same guy that I met as a lost kid who had my back.”

“Maybe that’s it. Maybe you’re holding onto memories of yesterday, and it’s time to let go. I know that Will did you bad, but a rebound relationship isn’t what you need. Just a maintenance man every now and then to keep you running smooth like clockwork.”

“Sandy, we’re not talking about my car maintenance here or my bowels, okay? He’s a great guy. I’m not holding onto the past. He’s someone that I know and care for deeply. I love him. I told him that today.”

The silence on the other end is so long and so deafening I grow uncomfortable in the wake of it.

“Sandy? You still there?”

“Um, yeah. Mom’s calling on the other end. Let me get back to you, okay? But in the meantime, keep your hot tail safe!”

“Okay.”

“Seriously. Please be careful, honey.”

“I will.”

“Love you and miss you much, Nova.”

“Love you more,” I say softly.

I lay back and pull my knees up. Resting my phone against my chest, I close my eyes and think back to the last time that I spoke with Will.

He’d apologized for all the shit that he put me through and told me that I was genuinely a good girl. He said that I’d never find happiness and love unless it was with Kai if I didn’t put him out of my heart and mind for good. He’d also said that it wasn’t an excuse for him to cheat, though.

In fact, Will told me to always trust my judgment because my instincts had always been on point. He’d said that each time that I thought he was cheating, even the times that I couldn’t prove it, that I’d been right.

When I asked him why he’d done it, he simply said because he could. He told me that I would never leave and that I was comfortable in the relationship with him.

I dial a number that I know by heart.

“Hello?”

“Will?”

“Nova?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

He sighs loudly. “Are you okay?”

“Of course I am.”

“I always told you to call me if you ever needed anything. You said that hell would freeze over before you did that.”

Laughing, I reply, “I was speaking from a place of hurt, Will.”

“You had every right to say those things. What’s up?”

“Just wondering. You know how you always told me to trust my instincts?”

“Uh...yeah? Someone’s cheating on you?”

Laughing, I reply, “Every guy’s not you, Will.”

“Good. Glad to know that. I work hard to keep up this reputation,” he teases.

“Yeah, well, you could stand a sabbatical from it, you know.”

“Touché.”

“There have been some strange things happening lately. I just want to know, have you been sending me any mail?”

“Nooo,” he drags out.

“Have you given anyone my address or mentioned to anyone where I’d relocated to?”

“Other than my parents? No.”

“Okay. One more thing.”

“What’s going on, Nova? You’re starting to worry me. Are you safe?”

“Yes. I am. Just had a secret admirer and trying to figure out who it might be.”

“Couldn’t it be someone from your town?”

“Yes, but...someone sent me a signed copy of Nora Roberts’ Stars of Fortune.”

“The one that you lost in the fire?”

“Mm-hmm,” I mumble, unable to form words as tears choke my throat.

“No, darling. I would say that it’s a coincidence, but you know that I don’t believe in those.”

“That’s all it probably is.”

“Well, either way, you still got your gun?”

“I do.”

“Be careful. Make a report to the police, you hear?”

“Will, what will I say? Someone sent me a copy of a book that I lost in the fire, and it made me sentimental, and now I believe I may have a stalker on my hands?”

“Yeah. That might be a bit much, but be careful. Sure you don’t want to return to Santa Fe for a while?”

Laughing, I reply, “Sure of that.”

“Okay. Well, just let me know. I’m living in a bachelor pad with plenty of space.”

“No thanks, Will. Thanks anyway. You take care, okay?”

“You too. And darlin’?”

“Yeah?”

“When you figure out your mystery, give me a call, okay?”

“Sure. Will do, Will.”

I end the call and close my eyes again. The only person that comes to mind is Briana Ferrell, one of my bookstore clerks. She’s the only person I shared information about the book with when we stocked the store with our first shipment before the grand opening.

No way that she’s behind this!