21. Lila

21

LILA

"What else can I get you?" Claudia asked me as she reached over the bar to squeeze my shoulder.

"Nothing right now," I said, holding up my almost empty margarita glass. "I've already drunk enough for this early hour of the day."

"Eh." She waved a hand. "It's three in the afternoon, and it's the end of summer. Always five o'clock somewhere."

She smiled before her mouth flattened into a hard line.

"I absolutely fucking hate this for you," she whispered. "But don't worry. Between Mike and the chief and my husband, you won't have to worry about this for long. And then you both can be happy like you deserve."

I grabbed her hand, my vision clouding when I lifted my gaze to hers.

"I was happy, Claudia. Before I spotted the note, I even started to believe that Ted had done me a favor by pushing me here. Mike made me so happy."

I sniffled and pushed the glass away.

"I think I've had enough."

Kathy and Terry had had to leave for a family party, and although traveling anywhere alone today made me anxious, I'd called Claudia and asked if I could hang out at the bar until Mike left work.

She'd picked me up at home so I wouldn't have to travel by myself and ordered me to plant myself at the bar for the next few hours while she stayed by me for the day.

If I called Ally, she'd head up here and wait in my apartment for the opportunity to kick Ted's ass. I didn't want her involved if Ted was upping the ante now that he'd finally found me, but Claudia had taken care of me just like Ally would have.

Maybe she was my cousin's cousin-in-law, but aside from Steven, she'd become more family to me than anyone I was biologically related to.

"Don't say Mike made you happy. You guys aren't letting this asshole make what you've found with each other past tense."

"I don't want to. I hate that I dragged him into this."

"Sweetie, you didn't drag that boy into anything. He adores you."

I nodded without lifting my head. "I adore him right back. He's everything."

"I can see that," Claudia said, the softness in her tone making me want to drop my head onto the bar and sob.

"But I should have known better before I lost myself on the beach." I cupped my forehead. "I wanted to die when I watched Jude read that note."

"Jude did not judge you for what you did by the lake." She leaned in close. "Do you think you're the first one to get busy on a beach blanket with a hot cop around here?"

My head shot up. "You and Jude…"

She shut her eyes and nodded.

"I…would not have guessed that. Like, at all." I leaned back as Claudia's grin grew wide. "I mean you, yes. But Jude. He's so…sturdy."

Claudia's head fell back as she burst out laughing.

"The quiet ones are always the dirty ones. It's as constant as gravity."

My eyes bulged as heat burned my cheeks, reminded of my own dirty-talking cop.

"I'd trade stories with you, but since Mike is like my nephew…" she said, her nose turned up in disgust.

I let go of a laugh for the first time since early this morning.

Waking up next to Mike, giggling as I'd told him to get ready for work while I made him breakfast, seemed like a year ago instead of only a few hours.

I'd been in a haze since I'd read that note, but Claudia's company, combined with the copious amounts of tequila in my system, was beginning to coax me out of it.

At least enough to distract me from how my very beautiful new life in Kelly Lakes had turned ugly in the matter of a morning.

"Amber?" Claudia called over my shoulder as her brows pulled together. "You're not due here for another couple of hours."

"Well, it's good to see you too, boss," she said, chuckling as she tied the string on her black apron. "I was home bored since finals ended for the summer semester, so I thought I could pick up a couple of extra hours here if you didn't mind."

"It's slow for the afternoon, but maybe you could sort out the pretzels in the back."

"Pretzels?" My brows popped up. "You're making food?"

She rolled her eyes. "I bought a large fridge and a couple of toaster ovens. I made them for my senior citizens crew the other day, and they loved them. Jake said I could make one of the back rooms a kitchen with some renovations, so I thought I'd start small and gauge the demand."

"You've had pretzels all this time and didn't tell me?"

She chuckled. "You're right. Forgive me. Amber, please make my cousin a pretzel. She's had a long day."

"Long day?" Amber asked me, examining my face. "What happened? Did you and Mike get into a fight or something?"

I reared back in my seat. "No, why would you think that?"

"You have a long face. That's how I used to look after a fight with my ex-husband."

"No fight. Everything is great with Mike." I pushed a smile across my face. Something about her question had me on the defensive, even in the scattered state I was in. "I just miss him, I guess."

I missed him and was so worried about him. When I'd let my mind drift there for more than a minute, the alcohol churned in my gut as if it was about to come back up.

"Ah, the days of a new relationship. All that romance and sex. Good thing it burns off fast, or else no one would get anything done." She chuckled to herself as she headed to the back.

Her dismissive smile bothered me. She'd been nice enough the night of the festival and when I'd come in alone and panicked before Mike had met me to take me home. I'd thought it was my odd behavior since it wasn't normal for anyone to freeze up before a walk to their car.

Both she and Mike had reiterated they were and had only ever been friends, despite what people had assumed about them over the years. I'd caught a weird stare from her at the coffee shop yesterday and had shaken it off, attributing it to what I'd told her about my ex and why I'd been so creeped out that night.

How she'd had to point out what was keyed into my car and now the way she'd been almost gleeful about possible trouble with Mike didn't sit right with me. Maybe their purely platonic relationship was a little one-sided, but I trusted Mike, and I had too many things to worry about before I pondered that today.

"Claudia, one of the customers wanted some pretzels, so I just made a bunch," Brandon, one of Claudia's bartenders, set a steaming tray on the bar.

"See? There you go." Claudia set a napkin in front of me and grabbed the biggest one. "Eat your feelings until your man comes to pick you up, my beautiful cousin." She tapped my chin.

I really loved her. And hoped I wouldn't have to leave her and everyone else I'd grown to care about in this town.

"Whatever is bothering you, I hope it's going to be okay," Amber said, still studying me as I ripped off a piece of pretzel.

"It will be. Thank you."

Faking it until you made it didn't apply when you were being followed and harassed, but if I didn't want anyone to look me over like Amber was, I had to try a little harder.

"There they are," Claudia said, beaming over my shoulder. "The two loves of my life," she said, heading out from behind the counter just in time for her six-year-old son, Jason, to rush her with a hug.

"How was the lake?" she asked him, ruffling his black hair and pressing a kiss to his cheek.

"Good!" Jason chirped. "Keely and I had a floating contest. She won, but only because I saw a fish swim under us and jumped."

"Understandable. I only like fish on my plate, not when I swim."

"Spoken like a city girl," Jude said, still in uniform, as he came over to Claudia and gave her a quick kiss.

"Thanks for picking him up on your break. He can hang out with me and Lila for a little while."

"Pretzels!" Jason's eyes, dark with long lashes like his mother's, lit up when he spotted the tray.

"After you get those wet clothes off you, kiddo. I'll take you in the back so you can change."

"Okay," he grumbled and followed Claudia to the back rooms.

"Doing okay?" Jude whispered, a mix of concern and sympathy pulling at his features.

"I guess. Claudia brought me here so I wouldn't have to travel anywhere by myself. Which isn't sustainable if I want to work and have a life." I uttered a humorless laugh.

"You will. We'll get whoever this is."

Before I could ask him what he'd meant by "whoever this is," Jason came barreling back toward his father.

"See you later, babe," Claudia said, giving Jude a kiss with enough intention that I had to look away. When I turned back around, a wide smile lifted Jude's usually flat lips.

She'd come here and found a new, happy life with someone she loved. I wanted that.

I had that.

If any of this escalated, and I had a terrible feeling it would, I'd have to move in with Steven for at least a little while.

My apartment in Kathy and Terry's house felt much more like home to me than the one I'd left in Philly. I'd feared the unknown when I'd arrived in Kelly Lakes, but if I moved now, even if it was temporary, I'd be devastated.

I couldn't think of who would do this to us other than Ted. Who else would be this angry to see me with someone else?

Being afraid of one ghost in the shadows was taxing enough. I didn't have it in me to consider another one.

Jude stopped by the front door as he was about to leave, speaking in whispers into his phone. My heart bottomed out into my stomach when his head whipped to where I was sitting, his brow furrowed as a frown pulled at his lips.

My breath caught in my throat when he rushed back over to where I was sitting.

"Lila, I'm sorry. I need you to come with me back to the station."

"What's wrong? Did they find him?"

Any buzz from the alcohol I'd ingested for the past few hours dissipated as adrenaline pumped through my veins.

"No, but there was another note." He shot Claudia a look over my shoulder as he motioned to the door. "So I need you to come with me."