Just as he put a pot of water on the stove, there was a knock on his door, and Kara jumped and gasped.
“Easy, it’s just Aiden,” he assured her.
“Evening.” His cousin Suzie’s husband, the chief of police for Pride, stepped into his apartment. Aiden was also a longtime friend.
Not too long ago, Aiden had lived in this very apartment. Now, he and Suzie were living in a rental house until their new home was finished being built up near the property where his own home would be soon.
“Hey.” He motioned to where Kara was sitting on the sofa, looking wide-eyed and cold.
“I drove past the flower shop. Everything looked locked up. No sign of the blue truck anywhere in town,” Aiden said quickly.
“It was the same truck,” Kara chimed in. “I know it was.”
“I don’t doubt it. I just wanted to stop off and see if you happened to grab the make or model or by chance the plate number?” Aiden asked.
Kara quickly shook her head. “No, sorry. I was…” She swallowed and glanced at Conner. “I couldn’t think. I pretended to be on a phone call when the man started to get out of the passenger side.”
Conner tensed. “Someone was coming at you?” he asked, feeling his blood begin to boil.
“N-no. I…” She shook her head. “I pretended to look in the flower shop windows and saw them pull up behind me. Then the passenger door opened and… I took off running.” She looked down at her hands.
Conner walked over and sat next to her, taking her cold hands into his own. “That was a smart move,” he assured her before turning back to Aiden. “She’s frozen. I’m going to see about warming her up.”
Aiden nodded. “I’ve got everyone on shift driving around town looking out for the truck. I’ll keep you posted.” He nodded to Kara. “It might be best, at least for a while, if you didn’t walk alone after dark.”
“Thanks,” she said quickly before Aiden left.
“How about some soup? My dad made a few meals for me and his homemade chicken soup is one of them. I can head down and grab a loaf of bread? I was getting a few other things when I spotted you.”
Kara nodded as she continued to look down at her hands.
“Hey,” he started, only to stop when the tea kettle started whistling. Standing up, he poured her a cup of hot chocolate and then returned to her side. She held onto the mug as if using it to warm her entire body.
His eyes zoned in on the overnight bag that she’d set down just inside his doorway and he smiled.
“You could have called me. I would’ve come over and picked you up,” he suggested.
Her eyes flashed to his. “I was going to drive, but… the truck wouldn’t start.”
He reached up and brushed his hand down her cold cheeks. “Why don’t you drink your hot chocolate, then head in and enjoy a hot shower? I’ll heat us up some soup and bread and then we can snuggle on the sofa and watch a movie.”
Her eyes met his and she sighed with relief and relaxed slightly. “That sounds… amazing,” she said with a smile.
He leaned in and brushed his lips across hers. “I’ll be right back,” he promised her.
He made sure to lock his door behind him as he went back downstairs to the grocery store.
Patty O’Neil was a staple in Pride. Anyone who stepped foot in the small town knew who the woman was. Even more, Patty knew everything there was to know about everyone in her town.
“What spooked Kara?” Patty asked him when he returned to get his almost-full cart of food.
“Someone followed her over here,” he answered with a shrug, causing Patty to frown.
“Think it was the same someone who hit her with rocks the other week?” Patty asked.
He didn’t even bother asking how she’d heard of the incident at the property. He shrugged and replied, “Sounds like it.” He turned towards the bread aisle. “Got any French bread left?”
“Sure,” Patty called after him. “On the last shelf on the left.”
At this time of night, he and Patty were the only two people in the store. He’d caught her moments before she was going to lock up and head home.
He grabbed a loaf of the freshly made bread and added a few more items to the cart, then paid and headed back upstairs with his arms full.
Hearing the shower running, he took his time putting everything away in his cupboards and then heated up the container of soup his dad had packed for him. At this point, he’d pretty much gone through everything his folks had made for him. Which is why he’d been down at the store getting more supplies when he’d spotted Kara running through the snow.
He’d only had the soup left and had planned on eating it alone that night after everyone had finished helping him move everything into the apartment.
He’d spent almost an hour putting things in place but still, there were boxes of his things piled along the living room and bedroom walls. He’d finished bringing over his clothes and he’d been correct in his assessment—his items didn’t even take up a quarter of the massive closet.
He heard the shower turn off and smiled at the thought of Kara, naked in his shower. Of being able to fall asleep with her wrapped around him like before.
He almost burned the bread he was heating up in the oven, daydreaming about the coming night with Kara. Thankfully, he remembered it just in time and was pulling it from the oven when she stepped out of the bedroom dressed in tight black leggings and an oversized sweater that hung off her left shoulder.
She’d tied her long-wet hair in an intricate braid that lay over her other shoulder. She’d freshened up her face and no longer looked pale and scared.
He smiled at her. “Feel better?” he asked as she moved over to sit at the bar top.
“Yes, thank you.” She nodded to the bread. “That smells amazing.”
“The soup or the bread?” he joked as he set a bowl in front of her. He set the bread on a wood chopping block and grabbed a knife from the drawer. “How about some wine?” He pulled a bottle of red wine from his fridge. “I just bought this downstairs and it’s not that cold yet, but…” He shrugged.
“It will be perfect,” she assured him as he opened the bottle and poured them each a glass before sitting down next to her with his own bowl of soup. “Man, your dad can cook,” she said after taking the first bite of soup.
He broke off a piece of bread and then dipped it in the soup. “Yeah, it’s a miracle me and my sister and brother didn’t weigh a ton growing up. Then again, when I was eight, I was significantly chubby.”
She chuckled. “I can’t see that.”
“Oh, it’s true. I have the pictures to prove it,” he said between bites.
“I was too skinny and too tall,” she replied with a frown. “Boys used to make fun of me all the time. Well, at least until they finally outgrew me in junior high.”
“Most girls grow up faster than boys. I remember when Riley used to be as tall as I was.”
She almost choked on a bite. “What is Riley? All of five-two?”
He chuckled. “Five-four and I hit six foot at eighteen.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You’re what? Six-five now?”