Page 52 of Building Courage
She felt more relaxed once they were in his car and away from the apartment. She settled back against the seat and was surprised when he turned in the direction of Coronado.
“There’s an ice cream place I want to take you to. We can get a cone and walk the beach.”
“Okay.”
He parked down the street from the Del, and they walked to Sundaes at the Del. Despite all the toppings and syrups to choose from, she chose a sugar cone with one scoop of chocolate while Tucker got a fruit popsicle. They strolled down to the beach to the edge of the water.
He found a spot away from the flow of other people walking the beach and sat down to finish his popsicle. Brynn sat beside him cross-legged.
For several minutes, they both just watched the surf while they finished their treat.
“Once I got through BUD/s training, I never thought I’d ever want to be anywhere near sand again, but eventually, all the trauma I experienced on this beach faded, and walking the beach became a way to wind down. I think it’s the sound of the water that kind of lulls you into relaxing.”
After finishing the cone, she wiped her hands and mouth with the napkin and stuffed it in her pocket. “Are you handling me, Tucker?” she asked.
Chapter 16
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Tucker gave his answer some careful thought while he drew one knee up and rested his wrist on it. “Maybe a little. I know something traumatizing happened to you three or four years ago, and you moved twenty-nine hundred miles and left your family behind to get away from it. And I know it affects how you are with me.”
Pain blanked her features, and he could see the struggle she made to maintain her composure. Her throat worked as she swallowed.
“I was always careful about who I let in my dorm room,” she whispered, “and I carried a panic button when I had to walk across campus for classes at night. I took time to get to know the guys who asked me out before I went out with them. By the time I graduated college, I thought I was pretty good at taking all the precautions so I could to stay safe. But it really isn’t that simple or easy. None of that prepares you for running into a psychopath.”
She tucked her hands between her knees as though to warm them. “After graduation, I went back to my parent’s house for a week, then moved into a postage-stamp-sized apartment, smaller than the one I have now, and waited for answers to some of the job applications I’d sent out.”
He wondered why only a week. After months and years of study, why move out so quickly?
“In the meantime, I worked part-time for a local paper, creating ads, taking photos, and even doing a little editing.”
She drew a deep breath as though bracing herself and at the same time she was distancing herself from the events she was talking about. Maybe that was how she’d survived it all.
“I was at a local meeting taking some pictures for the paper when I met Chad. He was well-known by everyone there. His family lived in the area, and they were affluent. He was five years older than me and already had an established real estate business in town.” She brushed back a strand of hair that fell against her cheek, a gesture of nervousness.
“At the end of the meeting, while I was packing up my camera, he approached me and introduced himself.”
She swallowed and closed her eyes for a moment. “I’ve gone over that first meeting a million times, trying to figure out how I missed seeing the warning signs, but they just weren’t there. He was charming and funny, and I was flattered that he was interested in me. He asked me out for coffee the next day, and I met him at a restaurant, and we talked.”
“We started dating, and at first, everything was normal. Looking back later, I realized there were a couple of incidents when another side of him came out—a side I didn’t like. As long as things went his way, he was charming and could even be funny and sweet, but if something didn’t go according to his plan, he became someone else.
“About four weeks after we started dating, I had a scheduled trip to meet up with some friends for three days. Sarah, the sculptor who created my lamps, was getting married, and I was going to be her photographer. I took my camera to immortalize our pow-wow while we helped her plan everything. She chose her wedding dress that weekend and started the alterations. It was just our group from college, her mother, the groom’s mother and sister. Her brother Trevor was there briefly, just long enough to lend them a little support. He was going to walk her down the aisle. Her father died during our freshman year in college, and she was very emotional.
“When I got back from the trip, Chad was different. Edgy. At first, I thought maybe something had happened with his business, and he was upset, but he started questioning me about the trip, who I’d seen, and what we’d done, and I realized he was angry because I’d gone. Then he mentioned Trevor, Sarah’s brother. I asked him how he knew Trevor. He said he knew everything about me and my friends. That creeped me out, and it was also the moment when I realized I needed to get away from him. I made some excuse and left as soon as I could.
“That night when he called, I didn’t answer. He started calling me non-stop and leaving messages on my phone, but I didn’t answer any of them. The next morning, I texted him that I didn’t want to see him anymore.”
“He didn’t stop, did he?” Tucker asked softly.
She closed her eyes briefly and let out a long breath. “No. He called me at all hours of the night and day. He texted me non-stop. One minute, he’d beg me to get back together with him; the next, he’d threaten me if I didn’t. Then he vandalized my car by pouring paint all over it and breaking the windows and the lights. I couldn’t prove he’d done it, but I knew it was him. I filed a police report about the car and told the cops that I thought it was him, but without proof, there was nothing they could do.
“My brother, Marcus, helped me get the car back into diving condition. It was then I told all three of them about Chad.”
“You didn’t go to your parents?”
She reached for her glass and took a drink. “No, not then. My relationship with them is a whole other issue. After Chad broke into my apartment and trashed it, I told them. I’d been expecting it and had tiny cameras set up in the apartment, so I had proof it was him. I carried a camera with me everywhere I went and caught him following me. I even stored my cameras elsewhere because I knew he’d destroy them if he got the chance. Every restaurant I went in to eat, he’d be there; every store I shopped in, I’d see him just down the aisle. He’d act like he was there conducting business, but the store owners were kind enough to make me a copy of the videos, and it was obvious he was following me. I documented it all. I had the threatening messages he left on my phone and the police report for the vandalism to my car. So, I went to the police with it all, went before a judge, and got a restraining order against him.
“He was arrested for stalking, breaking and entering, destruction of private property, and terroristic threatening. He was charged and jailed but got bail in a matter of days. But they put an ankle monitor on him and he was restricted from any kind of contact with me.