Chapter 0046
My heart pounded in my chest. Did Nat’s stalker know where she lived? Was he waiting for her to get back home? The thought sent chills down my spine. I looked around the kitchen for a weapon. Carefully navigating around the glass on the floor, I grabbed the biggest knife in the block and made my way to the
front door.
I froze in front of the door, heart thumping loudly. What would I find on the other side? A crazed stalker? Or worse…Nat’s body? I shook the thought from my head.
I heard a second scream, and at that, threw the front door open.
“Who’s there?” I said, holding the knife straight out in front of me. “I have a knife! And…and…the police are already on their way!” I lied, but hopefully that would scare whoever it was.
I heard a rattling in the trash cans to my right. I jumped backwards, hitting my back against the porch column closest to the door.
1 I’m
warning you!” My voice was much quieter and shakier this time. Tears stung my eyes and I thought my heart was going to beat right out of my chest.
A moment later, a bright red fox ran out from behind the trash can. It froze when it spotted me, then opened its mouth and released a most terrifying, human–like scream before running off into the night.
I clutched my chest with my left hand and slid down the column until my butt hit the ground. I took several deep, calming breaths. Once my heart had returned to its normal speed, I stood and re–entered the house. I walked back into the kitchen to clean up the mess I’d made and grab something maybe a little stronger than water.
I grabbed the first bottle of wine I found and took a long drink straight from it. It was a dry red, my least favorite kind, but it was good enough to get the job done. I changed my cleaning plans and instead carried that bottle back into the living room with me. The mess could wait until I was drunk and my heart returned to a somewhat normal rate.
I’m not sure what time Natalie actually returned home from her date, because I passed out on the couch. almost as soon as I had sat on it after cleaning up the glass I had dropped. Which is honestly quite a feat after drinking an entire bottle of wine. But next thing I knew, the sun was pouring through the living room curtains, rudely waking me up from my drunken slumber.
I sat up, stretched, and yawned. I looked at the wall clock. 7:30. I frowned. Thanks to my internal body clock, I very rarely slept past this time each day, no matter how late I had gone to bed the night before.
I shuffled into the kitchen and headed straight for the coffee pot.
“Good morning to you too,” Mom said from the kitchen table.
I jumped and turned. I was surprised to find my entire family sitting at the table eating breakfast.
“Uh sorry, I didn’t see you,” I said. And also you usually ignore me, I wanted to add. Instead, I pulled a mug from the cupboard and poured myself some coffee.
“So anyway.” Natalie said. “Not only did he order us the most expensive bottle of wine on the menu, he
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Chapter 0046
had paid the restaurant to close to the public so we could enjoy our dinner without any interruption.”
I sat next to Nat at the table. That first part sounded like Logan, maybe, but the second part…those were the kind of date ideas he was turning down when we were helping him plan one. That put my mind at
ease some.
“So who is this guy?” I asked. “What’s he like?”
Natalie looked at me suspiciously. I understood why, I had asked her way more questions about her personal life in the last 12 hours than I had in years. “You know, just my type. Tall, ripped. Rich.” She smiled and raised her eyebrows at that last one. Then she took a bite of pineapple that was in her bowl of fruit and looked down at her phone.
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