Eleven Days: An Unexpected Love (48 page)

"I don't know why honey. As soon as we figure out who he is, we will be able to determine more."

"I think I understand about the stalker and how he had
his
eye on me before the airport. I don't understand why he
'd
go through t
his
much trouble when I live alone. He could just wait until I got home."

"We can't imagine what goes through their crazy minds. For him it might be the chase, for another stalker could watch for months or years and never bother the person they stalk. Some stalkers it escalates and some stalkers just go away and some shoot presidents."

"Are there any other alternatives besides stalking?"

"We know it's n
ot an old boyfriend because you might
know. We check spouses to see if he possibly hired a hit man. We also check close family members to see anything abnormal in their lives."

She
was
shocked by
that
statement. "Like what?"

"T
his
would
not pertain to you, but it
might
be someone involved
with
drug dealing, or someone on drugs. I will assure you
that
while we sit here and I look at you and adore you, we
continue to investigate.
We have people in the office who are running checks on people close to you."

"Are you serious?"

"Don't get upset, we have saved many lives by doing t
his
. Most people don't even
know we are checking them out and y
ou
would
have never known about me checking on you if I
would
n't have told you."

"I don't believe an
yone I know and especially love could
have anything to do
with
someone trying to kill me."

"I agree, but look at the bright side, they will be eliminated. They won't even know we looked at them."

"Promise?"

Mike pushed
his
plate to the side and put
his
elbow on the table and looked
her
in the eyes. "Promise, I told you I
would
tell you everything and I am. I told you I
would
protect you and I am. I told you I
would
never leave you and I haven't." He took a deep breath and finished. "And I told you I love you very much and I do forever."

"I love you to infinite."

About
that
time the men came into the kitchen one by one and brought their plates in and cleaned the kitchen.
She
was
so impressed
with
them. Literally
with
in five minutes the kitchen
was
spotless.

All the men but Mike ate some cake and excused themselves to go home. Joe told Mike he
needed
to get some shut eye in the guest bedroom.

Chapter 29

Day 9

4:30 a.m.

The loud snoring woke
Lana
. Years of growing up
Lana
listening to
her
dad snore and it reminded
her
of a train. The family pick
ed
travel destinations and imagin
e their dad snoring took them t
o exotic places.
She
giggled remembering how they
were tricked into
learn
ing
the world map. Maybe it
was
her
mom's way of teaching
her
girls the different countries. Today
she
pick
ed
Italy as their travel destination. If Mike's snoring
was
a train they
would
be in Rome by now. Going to Rome
with
him
would
be a dream come true. Maybe they could go there for a ho
neymoon. S
he
felt sorry for Kathy
, if
he slept
that
hard when the babies were little,
she
was
the only one who heard them cry.

E
ven
with
a little nudging
his
snoring
was
n't going to stop
. No one
seemed to be
stirring in the house.
Lana
thought about making a pot of coffee and enjoying the quiet.

The house
was
dark and quiet so
she
crept around the kitchen, trying not to wake anyone. While waiting for the coffee to brew
she
rummaged through the fridge to see what
she
could munch on when Joe walked in
from
his
bedroom
. "Hey Joe, I made coffee, and I'm starving. I'm trying to find something to munch on,
would
you like to join me?" He
was
dressed nice, to
her
surprise. All the while
she
thought he
was
sleeping, he must have been showering. Jiminy crickets, these guys are early birds.
She
wondered if they ever slept.

"I thought about running to the donut shop and buying some pastries. Everyone will be here shortly and when they get here they'll eat everything in sight. If I get some now we can enjoy them. Any particular kind you want?"

"You are right about
that
. Anything sounds good, what does everyone else want?"

"They're guys, they'll eat anything."

She
laughed and nodded knowing exactly what he meant. Instead of grabbing
his
coat and leaving,
Lana
noticed him shuffling
his
feet and lingering. "I can tell something is on your mind. Do you want to talk about it?"

"I have something to ask you on a more personal note," he said while
his
face turned red.

"What's
that
?"

"It's about a girl I'm dating."

"What about
her
?"

"T
his
is something I want to ask you and get your opinion from a woman's perspective."

"I'm all ears."
She
wanted to give Joe
her
undivided interest so
she
raised
her
finger to say hold on a minute.
She
poured them a cup of coffee and they both sat down on barstools.

He stood in the kitchen and squirmed
trying to decide to ask
her
or not. He trusted
Lana
would
tell him the truth, and
that
's what he needed. "I met t
his
girl a few months ago and I
was
attracted to
her
from the minute we met."

"Where did you meet
her
?"

"A party, a friend from college
was
having a fourth of July BBQ and
she
was
there. I noticed
her
right away."

"Do you think
she
noticed you right away?" Being raised
with
sisters and having many male cousins.
She
knew those first glances were important. Then
her
heart fluttered as
she
remembered
her
first time seeing Mike.
She
was
definitely right about
that
first glance.

"I don't think so, it
was
about an hour into the party and I kept looking at
her
and I never noticed
her
looking at m
e. I did notice
her
friends glance
my way
and they w
his
pered to
her
. They probably
told
her
I
had been
watching
her
. So
she
knew I had an interest in
her
."

"How did you meet
her
?"

"I asked my friend to introduce us. We seemed to hit it off and I asked
her
for
her
number and
she
put
her
number in my cell phone. I called
her
and we went out a few times and t
hen we started to date. But lately
she
hasn't been returning my calls or it will be a few days later. And it seems
she
makes excuses not to go out
with me
."

"Have you discussed t
his
with
her
?"

"Yes."

"And what did
she
say?"

"
She
told me
she
was
really busy and
she
wanted to continue to date me and I needed to give
her
some space."

"What do you feel in your heart?"

"I don't think
she
wants to date me."

"So why do you keep calling
her
?"

"Because when I'm
with
her
I feel so alive and happy. It's like you and Mike, when you two look at each other you can see so much love and happiness? I want what you have."

"Between Mike and me do you see the love and happiness as mutual?"

"Yes, there's no doubt in my mind. When Mike first mentioned you and I could tell he
was
smitten. In all honesty, I
was
worried.
He never fell for anyone before,
I've been
with
the team five years and you are the only one he ever showed an interest
.
I
was
afraid you didn't feel the same. But when I saw the two of you together and there is so much care and love, I didn't worry about it again."

"So what are you asking me?"
She
could see he cared for t
his
girl and it's so hard to deal
with
that
first love especially if it's one sided.

"
She
told me
she
wanted to continue to see me, but
her
actions speak opposite
, at least in my mind
. From a woman's perspective
what do you recommend I do
?"

"Joe I think you have already answered
that
yourself. Since you want my opinion, I think you should move on
and find another girl, one who appreciates you
. If Mike calls me, I answer right away, or return the call immediately. He
would
n't have to wait two or three days. Are you willing to live like t
his
for a lifetime?
She
's not going to change."

"I know," he muttered almost w
his
pering. He
was
whipped.

"I will give you some advice from my life's experience, and you can take t
his
to the bank. A one sided relationship will not work. Only one party
would
be working on the relationship. If
she
cared for you like you care for
her
,
she
would
be like you.
She
would
feel alive and happy when
she
sees you, sees your number pop up on
her
phone, when
she
hears your voice, when the day ends and
she
knows
she
will get to see you.
That
's how a relationship should be, to both people. One other thing I want to promise to you, and I mean t
his
from the bottom of my heart. No matter how much it hurts you now, you will meet someone
that
has the mutual feeling. It may be five years, five days or five months, but it will happen. If you never talk to t
his
girl again, it may hurt now, but later you will be glad."