Page 42 of Traces Of You

HAVE TO OVERCOME

It’d been two weeks since she’d driven away from her last nightmare.

A week that she’d been in Ford’s life again.

It might have been the most peaceful week in the past twenty years of her life.

Crazy how wonderful memories could overtake the worst moments in your brain.

The sun was rising and, rather than drive to the cafe, she’d walk and get some exercise.

Ford told her this weekend she could leave if she had errands to run as long as he and Clay knew when she left and when she returned.

It felt like curfews all over again, but she told herself it was nice someone cared enough.

She threw on one of Ford’s sweatshirts to fight off the brisk mid-April air.

The walk up the driveway was darker than she’d thought it would be and shielded from view. Every noise had her stopping to listen more closely.

It was a mistake to do this.

She should turn around and run back to her cabin.

Then she reminded herself that this was what it’d feel like if she’d gone to Canada and didn’t get this resolved.

Though she wasn’t positive how Ford thought he was going to resolve anything.

Two weeks and not one hint of information in the news about her missing or the break-in, nothing about Oliver other than he was still posting things online.

She should have set up a fake email address to keep in communication with someone. But it was too risky to do now.

She’d never share her business one linked to her shop. That was the only lifeline of support she had.

She made it to the road where it was brighter, then walked toward the cafe.

When she heard rustling in the shrubs, she stopped to look around some, then picked up her pace even more.

Yep, big mistake with the sun not being up fully.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Ahhhh!” she screamed and then dropped to a squat clutching her hand to her chest when Clay seemed to come out of nowhere. “Are you trying to kill me via heart attack?”

“Why are you out walking in the dark?”

“It’s not dark. The sun is coming up. But trust me, I might have wet myself just now. I won’t do this again.”

Clay snorted. “Good.”

“Where did you come from?”

Clay nodded his head. “I was checking on the apple trees over there. Some woodchucks are building around a few.”

He came up next to her. Guess she was going to have an escort.

“Can you get rid of them?”

“That’s what I was doing before I heard someone all but running down the road.”