Page 42 of Take My Kiss
Colton’s silent as he prepares my food, and it’s not until he sets a plate in front of me that his gaze finally meets mine.
“It was no trouble, Amelia.” He nods down to the toast. “Do you want a drink?”
“Yes, please. Whatever you have is fine.”
He goes to the fridge and takes out a bottle of orange juice.
“Have you checked Lily’s temp?” I ask when he pours some into a glass for me. She’s had fevers before, but I want to keep an eye on it so it doesn’t spike.
“Bellamy did earlier. It’s down from this mornin’. It’ll probably break tonight.”
I sigh with relief.
“Any updates from Wilder or the sheriff?” I take a bite of the toast and chew slowly. My throat’s still dry, but the juice helps when I take a sip.
“Some, yeah. Sheriff Wagner confirmed that your ex-husband is still behind bars, but he’s eligible for parole in six months. Wilder and Maddox moved your car to different places in town to see if he’d show up and follow them. Nothin’ yet. But the sheriff did find Lily’s dad.”
“Oh my God.” My jaw falls to the floor. “How?”
I don’t even know what state he lives in.
“Child support records.”
I scoff. “The one payment I got before he terminated his rights.”
“The sheriff had a local officer speak to him and was able to verify his whereabouts last Thursday night with his timecard since he works the overnight shift at some security job.”
“I didn’t suspect him anyway, but good to know.”
“So that leaves a question of who else could it be? Any other exes or friends of exes who would wanna hurt you? Get revenge?”
This time, I take a larger bite, not sure how to respond to his question, but it’s valid, considering the exes are usually the first suspects. “No…I only dated a couple guys between Sam and Lily’s dad, but none were serious or lasted more than a few weeks.”
“So let’s assume it’s not someone you know directly. Maybe someone who knows your routine and that you’re a single mom. Knows where you shop, live, and probably work. Could it be someone you’ve interacted with from the retreat? A guest orhell, maybe an employee. Have you noticed any weird behavior or being followed before last week?”
I think back over the past several weeks, but nothing stands out. No weird encounters or unhappy guests gave me any issues. I rarely leave the property since Sam takes the bus to and from school, but he’s on summer vacation now, so both kids go to the on-site daycare center. The last time I went into town before the grocery store was…
“Oh God.” The piece of toast in my hand slips and drops to the counter.
“What is it?”
“I took the kids with me to the DMV in the next town over a couple weeks ago, and there was this strange lookin’ man there who gave me the creeps, but I didn’t think much of it since I assumed he was just tryin’ to be friendly. Sam had to use the bathroom, so I asked him to hold my spot in line while I took him, and he offered to take Sam for me. When I declined, he offered to watch Lily instead.”
“You didn’t let him, did you?”
“Of course not! But when we returned, he was gone. The woman in front of him was still waitin’, so I knew he left without finishin’ what he came there to do. It was weird, but he wasn’t threatenin’ or anythin’. But I also didn’t check for him in the parkin’ lot when I left and didn’t pay attention when I ran the rest of my errands to notice if he was followin’ us. Nothin’ stood out until the incident at the grocery store.” I bury my face in my hands. “Fuck, I’m an idiot. I should’ve been more observant of our surroundings. Especially as a mom.”
“No, you’re not.” Colton steps next to me, then pulls my arms down and meets my gaze. “Sugarland Creek is a small and safe town, so it’s easy to assume every place is like that. I’ll tell Sheriff Wagner and see if he can talk to the DMV.”
He never went up, so I doubt they’ll remember him, but it doesn’t hurt to let the sheriff know.
“Do you think Sam remembers what he looked like?” he asks, keeping his feet planted next to me. Our bodies are only inches apart, so it’s impossible not to smell his cologne that has memories of our night flooding back in.
Bending me over, smacking my ass, tugging my hair when I asked him to fuck me harder.
Oh God.
Get out of my head.
