Chapter 19

The impromptu flourfight had been the most fun I could ever remember having in a kitchen. I hadn’t second-guessed myself, freaked out, worried about the mess, or what Atticus might think. I’d just had fun. I was in the moment. It had been so long since I’d been able to simply be myself without fear of the consequences. I was more comfortable with Atticus than I had been with anyone else. I was beginning to feel more like my old self, the person I’d fought to become at eighteen when I’d left school and aged out of the group home.

While the events of this morning had shocked me, Atticus managed to distract me and help me process that fear. Then the laughter and silliness that followed was the icing on the cake, or cookie as it were. All the fun had completely pushed Derek and his threat out of my mind.

I’d kind of expected Derek to try something at some point. I never imagined he would go this far, just for me. He’d always told me I wasn’t worth it. The fact that he had one of his hunting bullets engraved with my name was more extreme than I’d anticipated. I shivered at the implication. He loved his job and the status it gave him; I didn’t think he would risk his entire life just to get me back. He was careful when we were together. It was so unlike him to leave such obvious physical evidence behind. He’d always managed to remove or hide anything damning, and he was exceptional at twisting the story to meet his needs. He had always had his bases covered and story in place in the past, so this seemed too bold for him.

Shaking myself out of my thoughts, I heard Atticus finish his phone call with Doc as he turned to me.

“We have about an hour before we go and see Doc. How about lunch?”

“Sounds good.”

“Are you up for going out? We could go to Jolt. I know Kaydence would like to see you and know you’re okay,” Atticus said as he came to stand by the sofa.

I didn’t want to be trapped by fear ever again. With the crowd at Jolt and Atticus by my side, I hoped Derek wouldn’t really try anything. He did prefer one-on-one confrontations.

“Jolt sounds great. I’d like to see Kay anyway.”

With Atticus’s help, I stood from the sofa and waited for him to pass me my crutches. Then, together we headed for the front door and put on our coats. Atticus paused to grab the wool knit cap I’d borrowed previously and placed it over my damp hair. He then wrapped a thick scarf around my neck to ensure I stayed warm. Smiling down at me, he kissed the tip of my nose before leading me outside and into his truck. Warmth ran through me at his thoughtfulness. He was such a big softie.

We were at Jolt before I knew it, and Atticus hurried me inside as he glanced around. The situation must have him more freaked out than I’d thought.

We stepped inside.

“Bodhi!” Lyric exclaimed as he came bounding up to us, all handsome smiles and sparkling green eyes with Kay trailing behind, shaking his head at Lyric’s antics. “It’s great to see you.” He hugged me with such exuberance I almost lost my balance as one of my crutches slipped a little with his weight.

“Careful now,” Atticus admonished his brother, all but pulling us apart. “You nearly knocked him over.”

“Sorry.” Lyric winked at me as he danced out of Atticus’s hold.

Kay came up just then and surprised me with a hug, too. His long hair flicked me in the face as he hugged me. “Are you okay?” he whispered. “Seb wouldn’t tell me anything, but he looked so upset.” Pulling back, I noticed the worry lines around his whiskey-brown eyes, even though he was smiling.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Are you free to talk for a sec?” I gestured at a table by the kitchen that was out of the way of the other customers.

“Yeah, I’m actually off today. I was just helping my sister do the inventory.”

Turning to Atticus, I smiled. “I’m going to talk to Kay for a minute, okay? We’ll grab a table.”

“Sure, take your time. I’ll fill this guy in.” Atticus grabbed Lyric around the neck and gave him a noogie. We walked to the table, snickering at Lyric’s outraged squeak.

I carefully sat and placed my crutches against the wall behind me, out of the way.

“What’s going on, Bodhi?” Anxiousness had crept into Kay’s voice. While I didn’t want to scare him, I believed I could tell him anything, so I decided to let him know at least some of what was happening.

Sighing, I wasn’t sure where to start. “First, I want to say thanks again for helping me through my panic attack yesterday.”

Kay patted my hand where it rested on the table. “It was no problem. I know what it’s like. Have you thought any more about talking to someone?”

“Well, sort of. It came up today, and that’s part of what I wanted to talk to you about. When you caught me yesterday, I’d just found some scary emails from my ex that I wasn’t prepared for. They obviously triggered me. I’m not sure what you’ve heard, but my ex was physically and emotionally abusive, and I ran away from him, which is how I ended up here. I thought this would be far enough away that he’d never find me. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. It looks like he might’ve found me and left a threat, kind of, at the workshop. Seb was the one to find the threat and that was probably why he was so stressed.”

“Oh, Bodhi. I had no idea.” He clasped my hand in his. “Have you told Max? What can we do to help?” His face shone with care. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of having a friend again.

“Yes, I went over everything with Max, Seb, and of course, Atticus. Max mentioned filing a protective order, but I’m not sure. I’m scared it could make things worse.”

“Max wouldn’t suggest something lightly. If he recommended it, then it’s probably a good idea.”

Atticus and Lyric approached our table. Lyric was pale and a little shaky as he lowered himself into his seat next to Kay, avoiding eye contact with anyone. His usual mischievous demeanor seemed to have disappeared.

“You told Max you would.” Atticus glanced at me, gaze assessing. “He sent through the paperwork, and we have an appointment at the courthouse Monday morning.” He took my hand in his, giving it a squeeze. “It’ll be okay. Max and I will be there with you. We’ll keep you safe.”

I knew he was right, but I was scared. Filing this protective order would mean Derek would know exactly where and when to find me, and it could affect Derek’s job. If he lost his job, then he really could go off the deep end. I feared what that messy scenario could lead him to do.

“We can come, too. For moral support,” Kay added as he nudged Lyric with his shoulder. “Right?”

“Um... . Yeah, of course,” Lyric said with a forced grin.

Heavy silence settled over the table as a pretty blond brought over iced tea and BLTs for everyone.

“You must be Bodhi. I’m Kathleen, this one’s slightly older twin sister.” She tussled Kay’s hair. “It’s great to finally put a face to the name.”

She was sunny and sweet with brown eyes and a lean, athletic build. You could tell they were siblings because they had the same oval face, high cheekbones, and honey-blond hair. They were also of a similar height. I had to wonder if their parents were tall, too.

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“Enjoy.” With a wave, she left us to our massive sandwiches.

“Thanks for lunch.” I leaned over and kissed Atticus on the cheek, not thinking anything of it as I dug into my food. Thankfully, Atticus had gotten us a sandwich to share, knowing how big they were and that we had to meet Doc soon.

No one else spoke as we ate. I was a little worried by how Lyric was acting. He’d barely looked at me and seemed to be zoned out. I could tell Kay was worried, too. He kept glancing at him from the corner of his eye.