Chapter 12

12

JODI

T uesday morning dawned gray.

Since I didn’t blast out of sleep due to a sharp beeping sound across the room, I realized I didn’t set the alarm on my cell phone the night before. Instead, I woke slowly, and for a few brief moments before opening my eyes, I didn’t remember what had happened the day before.

I was comfortable and warm, and I drifted around in the cozy partial light for those couple of seconds before I flopped over on my belly and didn’t hear a loud creaking sound. There were all kinds of realizations coming at me that morning, that particular one telling me I wasn’t in the stiff bed of my rental room.

That morning, that silent flop was the crack in my fantasy that reminded me not only was I not in my rental room, but it was because my brother had tracked me down. Opening my eyes, I looked through the window and saw the heavy cloud cover threatening a rainstorm to come any second. I let out a long sigh as everything that happened the day before trickled back into my mind.

I didn’t want to get out of bed. I just wanted to stay there and not have to deal with anything. The fact that the bed was far more comfortable than the one in my rental room didn’t help matters. I just wanted to pull the blanket up over my head and pretend I hadn’t woken up yet.

That only lasted a little while. As much as I wanted to just stay there and not have to deal with anything, I knew that really wasn’t a viable option for my day. There were a lot of decisions looming right there in front of me, and I needed to make them.

I said goodbye to the cozy, comfortable nest in the bed and dragged myself out. A visit to the bathroom and the shock of cold water straight from the tap onto my face cut through the remaining fog, and I got dressed with a clearer mind.

The house seemed very quiet, and I thought I might be alone in it, which felt strange and uncomfortable. Derek might have scooped me right up and saved me the night before, but I didn’t think we were quite at leaving me alone in his place yet. Especially not without at least a heads-up.

But as I moved toward the kitchen, I realized it wasn’t wishful thinking but the actual smell of coffee luring me closer. When I stepped into the room, I found Derek sitting at the table, sipping coffee. Gandalf sat at his feet with Derek petting him adoringly. The giant dog was looking at Derek like he was contemplating jumping into his lap for a good cuddle.

Derek looked at me over the edge of his mug as he lifted it to his lips for a sip. Either he was just a good host, or he could see the wide-eyed longing in my eyes when I looked at the cup, because he pointed at the counter. When I followed the gesture, I saw the coffee maker, the carafe still halfway full.

“Thank you,” I said with perhaps a touch more gratefulness than I should have exuded when it came to the coffee.

I poured myself a cup of coffee, gulped as much as I could considering the heat, then got a refill and bumped it up with cream and sugar. I was expecting Derek to ask what was going on.

But he didn’t. Derek continued to surprise me by sitting in silence for several long seconds while I got into my coffee. Then, without a change in expression on his face, he set the mug down in front of him and met my eyes.

“Is whatever you are running from illegal?” he asked simply.

I shook my head. “No.”

“Will it hurt my family or our business in any way?”

I shook my head more adamantly. “No. It’s nothing like that. I promise it isn’t illegal, and it won’t affect you. I wouldn’t let anything like that happen. This is just an issue with my family. I just need to stay away from them for now.”

That was as far as I went with the explanation. Part of that was simply because I didn’t want to talk about the details if I didn’t have to. But I was also gauging how far Derek was going to push. He hadn’t pried so far, and it didn’t seem like he was the nosy type, but I was giving him the chance if he was going to. He didn’t take it.

He gave a nod and took another sip of his coffee. I could almost see the thoughts going through his mind as he processed the situation and tried to decide what he was going to do. After a few seconds, the look in his eyes changed, and I could tell he’d come to that decision.

Setting the mug down on the table in front of him, he let out a breath and folded his fingers together. He met my eyes and held them for a moment like he was trying to read my thoughts.

“If you swear you aren’t bringing any sort of danger to my place, you can stay,” he said.

Relief flooded through me. I still felt a little strange accepting so much from someone I barely knew, but just then, I couldn’t afford to be prideful or think too hard on propriety. I was in a bad situation that was teetering right on the edge of getting a whole lot worse. I needed all the help I could possibly get, and Derek was right there offering it out to me.

“Thank you,” I said sincerely.

I didn’t gush. Derek didn’t strike me as the type of man who would respond well to that. He nodded again.

“I swear, I am being honest with you,” I said. “It’s not illegal. It really is just my family. I’m not running from the police or the feds… or the Mafia.”

He cocked his eyebrow at me. “The Mafia?”

“Well, I said my family, and I just wanted to be absolutely clear I’m not talking about the family.”

The explanation fell awkward and flat, and Derek stared at me for a long enough pause I was almost ready to go back into the room and pack my stuff again. But he finally offered me another nod and finished off his cup of coffee with a big swig.

“Okay.”

That was it. Just “okay.”

“Okay,” I said.

Derek got up and brought his mug to the sink. He washed it out and set it in the draining rack. Drying his hands on a kitchen towel, he turned around to face me again.

“I’ll be going into the restaurant in a bit,” he said.

“Sounds good.”

That would give me some time to get a few things straight. I finished my coffee and went into what was now my bedroom. Closing the door behind me, I called my landlady and told her I was terminating my rental. She made it clear I wasn’t eligible for any kind of refund, but I didn’t care. As long as I wasn’t stuck living there anymore, that was all that mattered.

It was obvious Jack had figured out where I was living. It was the only reason he would be on that street looking around. That brought me to my next task. I brought out my old laptop and got it going so I could try to figure out how he found me.