Page 34 of Sweet Dreams

“Well, technically, you can. It would only make your job harder.”

“Teagan, no more jail.”

“Promise,” I tell him with my fingers crossed. “I’ll let you get back to work, and I’ll do something.”

After hanging up the phone, I look at the checkout desk and find something interesting. I see a small black box with a red bow. Could it be something one of John’s crew forgot to take with them? Naturally, I can’t resist picking it up to see if there’s a name on it. But as soon as I find the name tag, I quickly drop it in surprise.

The wordsTo: Sweetsstare back at me in messy handwriting. Only one person has ever called me that. I’m unsure how he got into my shop or when, and now he’s leaving me gifts. What am I supposed to do with this? There’s no way I can keep it. I snatch it off the floor and storm to my office. I reef openthe top drawer and toss it in. It can haunt me from there.

I hadn’t seen my stalker since that night in the park, but I figured he got what he needed and left. Gifts are a whole new ball field. I don’t like how this is shifting. The sound of my cell phone ringing makes me jump. Jesus, I need to get out of my head.

“Hey, Dad.”

“Hey, Small fry. You sent a message. Where’s the fire?”

“You haven’t heard?”

He groans. “What did you do?”

“I’ll explain. Did you and Mom wanna meet at Holden’s for a bite to eat?”

“That can be arranged. Try not to do anything stupid in the meantime.”

“I can’t promise. I’ll see you there.”

I hear him moan as he hangs up. If Mom doesn’t keep him on his toes, I have to. I stare at the desk drawer one more time before leaving the office. Walking to the back, I double check that the door is locked. It had to be the front if he didn’t come through this door. But I unlocked it. Don’t tell me my stalker is a master at picking locks.

I could change the locks, but let’s be honest, my shop is still not safe from him. My boundaries don’t exist. I lock the front door and take offto The Holden Restaurant. I’m not sure how much more stress I can take, but talking to my parents about threatening Nancy and being arrested has to be at the top. I’ll stand by what I did. Nancy had it coming. It was about time someone gave her a taste of her own medicine.

I only want Nancy to fall off that high horse; where is karma when you need her? Work that magic already.

As soon as I walk into the restaurant, it’s like the room falls silent. The gossip has clearly made its way around, but somehow, my parents are none the wiser. That tells you that they never leave the house that often. I ignore the stares and find a seat by the window.

Jace: A little birdie told me some news

Motherfucker.

Me: Did this little birdie happen to be 5’5”, have grey hair and don’t know how to stay out of people’s business?

Jace: That would be the one

Me: Whatever you heard could be true

Jace: Tee, I’m not sure what Elma is saying is true because we both know how she likes to add her twist onto things, but you need to sort her out. I don’t need your reputation being spread through the mud over nothing.

I knew this would happen. Elma has a way of twisting everything she talks about. She once said Mr. Campbell ran a stop sign and hit a kid riding a bike. The entire town turned their backs on him until the police report came out and said the kid rode his bike into him when Mr. Campbell was stopped at the stop sign. She turns everything into a bad situation. It’s sad, but Mr. Campbell was never able to bounce back from that rumour. Nowadays, he hardly ever steps foot outside his house. Elma doesn’t appear to be bothered by the fact that she essentially destroyed his life, and the folks in town seem to have no problem letting her off the hook.

“Teagan, hunny, why the sad look?” Mom says as she scoots into the booth across from me.

I raise a questioning eyebrow, waiting for her to mention anything. I look at Dad, but his face is stuck in the menu.

“Leave her be, dear. Let’s order first, and then we can talk business. I’m hungry.”

“You're always hungry, Dad.”

Hepats his stomach. “I’m a growing boy. What can I say?

Mom nudges him. “Oh, we both know that.”