Chapter Fourteen

Kayla’s stomach hurt from the tension she’d felt all day. It was hard trying to act like she disliked Zeke. It didn’t help that Fletcher had eyes on her all day. What baffled her was instead of the desire-filled expression he usually used while staring at her, he just looked confused.

When her replacement, Betsy, showed up, she was ready to get home and shut the world away.

“Was today bad?” Betsy asked as she stuck her purse into the drawer.

“No. I just have a headache I haven’t been able to get rid of.”

“Go home, take a nice long bath with a glass of wine, and I guarantee you’ll feel better.”

Kayla grinned. “It might take two glasses.”

Betsy laughed. “Or three.”

Kayla hugged her. “Have a good night.”

“Get some rest.”

“I will,” Kayla said and walked out onto the sidewalk. She breathed in the crisp air and closed her eyes. She turned and started home, only to have a hand grip her upper arm, and then she turned. When she saw it was Fletcher, she almost groaned.

“Fletcher, I don’t feel good. Can you just leave me alone?”

“I’m sorry you don’t feel good. I just have a quick question.”

Kayla nodded. “Okay.”

“You said something the other day that I can’t get out of my head.”

“What was it?” she asked.

“You looked tired or something, and I asked you what was wrong with you,” Fletcher said. “You said something to me like, ‘like you don’t know.’ I want to know what that means. You think I did something, but I don’t know what it is.”

Kayla sighed and rubbed her temple where the pounding continued to get worse. “I can’t talk about it right now.”

“About what? Are you in danger?”

She shook her head and studied his expression. She couldn’t find any deception, just curiosity and concern.

“No. But I promise to tell you later.”

“But you said I was doing something,” he reminded her.

“No. I was confused. I’m sorry.”

“If there’s anything I can do, you know I’m here.”

For the first time since she met him, he sounded like a great guy. Maybe her words were finally getting through to him.

Kayla smiled. “Thank you, Fletcher. I appreciate that. Right now, I need to get home.”

“All right,” he said.

She turned and walked away but was aware that Fletcher followed her with his eyes.

Kayla was starting to believe Fletcher didn’t know about his father. She wondered if he witnessed any of the madness the man had shown her. The two didn’t live together, and as far as she knew, spent little to no time together. She always wondered if they had gotten into a fight or something. She’d never heard Fletcher talk about him.

She made it home and into the house without anything else happening. She didn’t automatically call out to Darrell, just in case someone was listening.

“Hey, girl,” he said, walking out of the guest room.

Kayla relaxed. “Did anything happen today?” she asked as she set her purse down.

Darrell turned on the TV. “No. Just the guy set up a few cameras.”

Kayla looked around. “Where are they?”

He chuckled. “I want to see if you can find them.”

For the next ten minutes, she looked everywhere in the living room and kitchen and found nothing. She threw up her hands.

Darrell chuckled. “The guy is very good. The FBI has tried to get him to work with them, but he won’t. He wants to just work on his own business.”

“Which is what?” she asked.

“He owns his own private investigating business, and he’s been very successful.”

“Do I know him?” she asked.

“No, he’s over in Madison County, and he moved there five or so years ago. His name is Simon Crawford. He started Crawford Investigations. Daniel, the sheriff over in Madison, uses him a lot.”

“How’d you meet him?” she asked.

“When I was the sheriff, I used him a few times. He’s a great guy, but he tends to be abrupt and growl a lot.” Darrell chuckled. “He scares most people, but he doesn’t care. I think sometimes he even enjoys it.”

Kayla snorted. “Will I ever meet him?”

“Probably. I’m surprised you haven’t already.”

“I’m going to make spaghetti,” she said, and started pulling pots and ingredients out of the cupboard and refrigerator.

“Hot damn. It’s been a while since I ate your pasta,” Darrell said.

Kayla glanced at him over her shoulder. “You’re still going to live in town, aren’t you?”

Darrell sat down in one of the chairs. “Yes. This will be my base, but I’ve got things I want to do, so I’ll be gone a lot. But never think I’ll ever be out of your life. You and your brother are the kids I’ve always dreamed of.”

“You couldn’t have been a better father. I thank God for you so many times.”

She saw the emotion on the older man’s face and could feel her eyes mist over.

She turned back to the dinner she was making. She was glad to know he’d be around sometimes. He’d been a father to her, and she didn’t want to lose him.

It didn’t take long for the pasta to cook, and they sat at the table eating. Halfway through, Darrell’s phone rang.

“Hello.”

She could just make out who it was and most of what he was saying. She wished she could see Zeke but heard he wouldn’t be over. Darrell agreed. They didn’t want to take any chances of him being seen.

Darrell held the phone out to her. “He wants to talk to you.”

She grabbed it and walked into her bedroom.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi, yourself. I have to tell you, Little Sub, it’s harder than I thought it would be.”

Her grip on the phone tightened. “What is?”

“Not being able to talk to you or touch you,” he growled.

She relaxed. “It’s hard for me, too.” She paused. “I have an idea.”

He groaned.

She rolled her eyes. “Hear me out. What if we started acting like we liked each other? I thought if he saw we were miserable, he’d leave us alone because he was getting what he wanted, but if he saw us together, he’d make a move.”

She heard him swear under his breath.

“I thought the same thing, but putting you anywhere near that man makes me crazy, and my dom personality is fighting against it. I don’t like you anywhere around something that could really blow up on us.”

“I know. But I won’t be able to handle this much longer. Today really sucked. I came home with a headache.”

Every hour that passed, the tension inside her tightened, making her physically ill.