Safe at Home (Warm Springs Trilogy Book 1) (14 page)

“Wrong? Nah, I just have some stuff on my mind.”

“Oh, okay.”

There was another awkward pause and this time he knew he was going to have to come out with it. “Hey, Sam?”

“Yes?”

“I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner with me this weekend.”

Sam froze and then stuttered. “It’s really sweet of you to ask, but I . . . Look, Spencer, there are some things we need to talk about.”

“That doesn’t sound good.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

“It’s nothing bad. It’s just that lately I’ve been thinking about how much time we spend together. Don’t get me wrong, I love spending time with you, but people are starting to get the wrong idea.”

“Sam, what on earth are you talking about?” He tried to ignore the color rising in her cheeks.

“We just see so much of one another that I’m afraid people think we’re together, as in a couple.”

“That’s not really a big deal, is it? Plus, it’s none of their damned business.” He breathed a sigh of relief. He’d never been one to care what anybody thought of him or what he did.

“I just think maybe you’re so busy with me, that you’re missing out on the things you used to do before I got here.”

“Sam, what do you think I used to do? Sure, I dated and worked, but there is nothing and no one in my life that I’m neglecting, if that’s what you’re saying.” He was working hard to hold his temper in check.

“I don’t know what I’m saying. Well, I mean, I do know what I’m saying, but I’m doing a terrible job. The point is, Spencer, that you’ve been wonderful to me. I don’t know how I would’ve gotten through the past few months without you, but I don’t need you to take care of me. I have to stand on my own two feet. I came here to be alone. No one else needs to get tangled up in my disastrous life. You deserve so much more. You deserve someone who can give you their all and I’m not that person. Not right now anyway.”

He stood and looked down at her sitting on the couch. “Then I’ll wait, Sam.”

“But Spencer…”

The muscles in his jaw tensed. “No, you listen. I’ll wait. I want to. I don’t know when it happened, Sam, but you have changed me. You can deny it all you want, but when I was standing with you outside against the truck after the dance the night of the festival, I felt something. I felt something for you stronger than I’ve ever felt for another woman and I know you felt it too, Sam.

“I know you don’t need me to protect you. You’re a strong woman. I know you don’t see it, but I do. It took a lot of courage to do what you’ve done. Not many people would still be standing after what you’ve been through, but you are. I understand you aren’t ready and I can respect that, but don’t for one second think you’re taking me away from something. And don’t for one second think I don’t know what I’m getting myself into. I want to be here for you. I want to spend time with you and someday, I want to take you to dinner. So when you decide you’re ready, you let me know. You know how to find me.”

Spencer crossed the room, went through the front door and was gone without so much as a backward glance.

Sam sat on the couch speechless. He could be so infuriating. Didn’t he understand she wasn’t sure if she’d ever be ready? She was trying to protect him. But, deep down she knew what he said was true. She did feel what was between them. There was something there just below the surface when they stood next to each other. It was there behind their eyes when they looked at each other for a second too long.

Regardless of their feelings, as long as Eric was out there hurting her friends and looking for her, she couldn’t risk bringing someone else into her life for the long haul. She would not lose anyone else she loved.

She dropped her face into her hands and fought back the tears. Spencer wanted her and she wanted him. Under normal circumstances that alone would be enough. If she were free from her past she would bury her face in his chest and drink in his scent and hold onto him until her arms ached. But she wasn’t living under normal circumstances. She was a prisoner of her past. A past she created by being forgetful. She’d made one poor decision and it had ruined lives. She wouldn’t do the same where Spencer was concerned. She would protect him even if it meant being without him.

Chapter 17

Eric sneered as he flipped through the creased phone book pages. He paused when he found the page he was looking for and ran his finger over the different area code sections, until he came across the one matching the piece of paper laid out on the counter before him. There it was, 706, in middle Georgia. He shoved the book back in the drawer and tucked Sam’s phone number in his pocket.

Denise thought she was so smart. As if writing the number in the back of her address book with no name would be enough to keep Sam from him. Denise wasn’t so smart after all. He fell back on his bed and stared up at his water-stained ceiling.

God, it had felt so good to get his hands on Denise. To revel in her fear, to taste her terror. It was better than he’d even imagined. The bitch deserved exactly what she’d gotten. And, the fact that it would wreck Samantha only added to the experience. He pulled the piece of paper out of his pocket again and memorized her number. It was time to find her.

“Listen, Spencer, I hate to say it, but you’re going to have to give the girl some space.”

“Ann, I’m not trying to be a jerk here, but she needs to stop beating herself up. She can have a new life here.”

“With you?” Ann cut her eyes away from her sewing and raised an eyebrow at him.

“Yes. No.” Spencer dug the toe of his boot into the space between the porch boards. “I just wanted to take her to dinner.”

They had been at this for an hour. Completely frustrated, Spencer dropped into the rocking chair opposite Ann and slapped his baseball cap across his knee.

“After everything you’ve told me, I’m amazed the girl is doing as well as she is. Just be patient. I know it’s hard when you care about someone, but you have to go easy. Even though she told you about her past, I’m sure she only told you the high points. There’s probably more to it, but she’s trying to put it behind her. Just give her a chance to find herself.”

Spencer sighed and ran his hands over his face. “Thanks for listening, sis.”

“That’s what I’m here for.” Ann went back to sewing another new outfit for the baby. “Don’t try to save her, just be her friend. She will heal in time.”

“And you won’t mention this to her?”

Ann paused in mid-stitch. “Of course not. She can tell me about it herself if she wants to. Hey, are you going to drive the tractor this year for the hayride?”

Spencer’s shoulders relaxed and he began to rock. Ann was a wise woman. She knew when to give advice and when to listen. She also knew when to change the subject. “Yes ma’am. I’ll be here around four thirty to pick up the trailer.”

“Alex is so excited. He’s been talking about it all week.”

He peeked through the window leading to the family room. “Where is he anyway?”

“He’s in town with his daddy helping Earl hang a new door.”

“All right then. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Spencer stood up and jogged down the steps toward his truck. If space is what she wanted, she was going to get it. He told her he would wait and he meant it.

The weekend came and went without much notice. Sam spent it in the backyard picking weeds and planting a bunch of red, yellow and orange flowers to reflect the new season. Her garden was really starting to take shape.

Even in her favorite place, all she could think about was Spencer. It had only been a couple of days since she’d seen him, but it felt longer. It was strange how he affected her and how quickly she’d come to care. He was nothing like any other man she had ever been with, but her feelings for him dominated her every thought.

Tyler had been clean cut, almost to the point one might label him a metro sexual. He had lived for fund raisers and dinner parties. He could light up a room and he was an excellent dancer. He came from a family with money, but he was caring, and not at all the snob one would expect with his sort of background. He worked hard in his own right. When they were together, they talked incessantly and planned everything from the week’s events to their five year plan. He had been amazing.

She didn’t mean to compare the two, but she couldn’t help it. Where Tyler was a white collar worker from the city, Spencer was the exact opposite. Spencer liked working with his hands and being outdoors. Tyler wore suits every day and Spencer’s wardrobe consisted of blue jeans and T-shirts. Tyler had made her happy, but what troubled her, was how Spencer made her happy, too. And when he had kissed her all those weeks before, what she felt had never happened with Tyler.

Tyler had always been gentle and sweet, romantic even, but when Spencer kissed her there was heat. His kiss had unleashed a wave of passion within her that threatened to consume her. Just thinking about it made her palms slick with sweat.
How could one man make her so crazy?

It was good she told him she needed space. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could’ve resisted the urge to kiss him again. She needed to do what was best for both of them.

Sam’s cell phone rang inside the house and it brought her back from her thoughts. She stood and dusted off her shorts as she jogged up the porch steps.

“Hello?” There was nothing and then the line disconnected. A shiver ran over her as the familiar silence echoed through the phone in her hand. “Deep breath, Sam. There’s no way he can find you,” she reassured herself. She hit the end button, set the phone on the counter and went upstairs to take a shower.

Later, she sat down to email her mom, even though she’d emailed her the night before. Ever since Denise’s murder, her mom’s anxiety had reached new heights. She used to be annoyed with the way her mom thought things would just get better, but now she wished her mom didn’t know about what had happened so she could stay in her little world where everything would be fine. She didn’t deserve to live in fear for her life or her daughter’s.

Hi Mom,

I hope you and Dad are having a good weekend. Things here are quiet. I’ve been in the garden again. Trying to stay busy. My mind keeps wandering today. With everything that’s happened, I’m starting to feel as though I’ve gotten too comfortable. As for ‘the guy’, as you refer to Spencer. He’s fine. I’m trying to pull back a little, you know? I came here to be alone and it seems as though I’m not doing a very good job. It’s not fair to bring other people into my mess. It’s bad enough that you and Dad had to move. I know you’ve said you love the new retirement community you’re in, but it still wasn’t fair to the two of you. Anyway, I hope you have fun playing Canasta tonight. Win big.

Love,

S

Part of Sam felt the need to talk to her mom more often because without Denise, her mom and dad were her only connection to her old life. And part of her was more scared for them than ever.

Lt. Stephens stared around the stuffy room and scanned the posters on the walls. There were some about sexual harassment, others about employee conduct and one addressing proper dress in the workplace. He couldn’t imagine a more boring job. His knee bounced up and down as the printer spit out one page after another on the desk in front of him.

Lynda Davis, from the bank’s Human Resources department, flipped through the large stack of paper after it finished and explained what they were looking at. “It’s broken up by branch, and it shows all the employee’s names in alphabetical order.” She pointed a red nail at the first line of names. “This column shows their start date and the next column over shows their last day with the bank, if they have one.” Miss Davis leaned over her computer again.

“This looks great. So all these people still work at the branch,” Stephens said pointing, “and, these people are gone?”

“Correct. Here’s a highlighter if you need it. Just take your time and I’ll answer any of your questions that I can. I can’t believe this happened. I’ve known Denise for years. I was having my morning coffee when I saw the news and then my phone rang. I just couldn’t believe it.”

He scanned the list making marks as he went, nodding here and there to acknowledge what she said. He didn’t mind the grunt work as long as they got to arrest somebody later.

He stopped when he got to one name that didn’t have a branch next to it. The name was in a group all by itself. “Miss Davis?”

“Yes,” she replied without taking her eyes off of her computer screen.

“This name here, Janice Johnston,” he highlighted the name and held it up for her to see. “Why is she not listed under a branch?”

“Oh, that’s because she cleaned three of our branches for us. She was a very nice lady.”

“I see that she doesn’t work here anymore. Was she let go?”

“No. She left after that horrible night.” Lynda turned her body so that she faced him fully for the first time since he’d arrived. Excitement shone in her eyes. “It was just terrible what happened to her son. In all my years of banking, I’d never seen anything like it. I mean sure, you have your occasional robbery, but usually no one gets hurt and it’s during business hours.”

“What was it that happened to her son?” he broke in before she had a chance to ramble.

“Oh yes, just terrible. One night, Janice was at one of the branches cleaning, come to think of it, it was Denise’s branch, well anyway, a couple of delinquent kids followed her in and held her and her little boy at gunpoint. One of the other employees stopped in because she’d forgotten something in her office and it caused a commotion and Janice’s son got shot and so did another gentleman.”

“I wonder why no one mentioned this when we were interviewing bank employees last week?” He didn’t bother to mask his irritation. The two could be linked and if they were, they would’ve lost precious time.

“I’m sure no one did it intentionally. Besides, that case is closed. They caught the two young men who did it.”

He let it go for a few minutes and went back to his list asking a few more questions here and there, but his mind kept going back to the story about the cleaning lady’s son. Losing one’s child could be motive. He’d seen people kill for less.