Page 53 of Sweet Dreams

“Don’t worry, we’ll deal with the cunt.” Buck grins. “I’m not afraid to hit a woman if she has it coming.”

“I have someone to talk to first, but she loves to spread rumours around town, and with all of youguys here, her lips will be moving a mile a minute now. We need to find her fast.”

I’m not looking forward to talking to Elma, but she’s the only one who would have all the information on everyone in this town, including Nancy and this so-calledfamily drama.

I’m not sure how much longer I can last without answers. I have a meeting with Sam today to discuss serving Nancy with a restraining order along with Blaine. After he showed up at my house, I’m not taking any more chances. Blaine crossed a line. I'm taking a bit of a guess here, but I think it was him who stopped by the shop the other day.

This entire situation could’ve been avoided if I controlled my temper. Hindsight is 20/20, they say. Had I been privy to the consequences, perhaps I’d have brainstormed a tad longer. Who knows, I might’ve chosen a whole new strategy altogether.

Like burning her fucking house down.

I need to keep myself busy, or my mind will wander to Silas. I’ve been trying hard to forget about him, but it’s more complicated than I thought. I grab the necklace that I hid behind my sweater. I didn’t have the heart to take it off. I have to stop myself from reaching for my phone to text him; I’m the one who told him to leave me. It's just one of those things, the heart wants what it wants, and I gotta resist the urge.

There's no need for me to feel bad about not speaking to him. He's the one who caused this mess, so why should I be the one carrying the guilt? Does he even feel anything at all? Did he sit outside of my house to torment me? These are the things that irritate me. My brain can’t stop overthinking.

Sam emerges from the back office and smiles at me. “Ready?”

“No, but I don’t have a choice.”

I follow him to a small room with only a table and chair. “This should be quick. I’ll go over the paperwork and take it to the police station for you. Since you witnessed Nancy at your business, we can restrain her from going one hundred feet from you and explain what happened with Blaine.”

“He showed up at my house, and I’m sure he was at my shop when I was there with Dad and John just watching us.”

“Buthe didn’t do anything to inflict harm?”

“No,” I slowly say.

He writes a few things down on his legal pad. “That might be an issue; once he does, we can take the next step, but until then, there isn’t anything we can do. I’ve been in contact with Taylor, and he still doesn’t have any suspects arrested, and if I’m being frank, I think he’s full of shit when he says that. It’s a small town, Teagan. He knows who did it.”

“I was afraid of that. No one is going to pay for what they did. What am I supposed to do in the meantime?”

Sam drops his pen and folds his hands. “Honestly, Teagan. I’m not sure. If the cops won’t do anything, there isn’t anything I can do. I’m only a lawyer. Law enforcement is where I draw the line.”

“Awesome. Now I have to keep an eye out because this town can't seem to get their act together with the police. How fun.”

“I’m sorry. But the bright side, Nancy will be off your back.”

I give him the thumbs up. “Go me.”

I leave his office the same as last time, hopeless. Why is it so hard to get what I want? A restraining order on Nancy isn’t going to do shit when she can send her preppy ass son to do her dirty work. Theycan both go to hell if they think I’m going down without a fight.

I take a slight detour home, I’m back to being nothing without my shop. I need to find a hobby to pass the time away. But in the meantime, I’ll take up this hobby. I park down the street between two cars, trying my hardest to blend in. I lean my seat back, trying to make it less noticeable.

City Hall is busy today, and I never realized how many people need to come here. Did I have to come here today? Yes. Inside? No. I keep thinking about it and I'm starting to feel like a bit of a stalker myself. The thing I bitched Silas out for. But it’s not the same thing, Nancy threatened my life, and Silas lied to me.

As I start to doze off, a white Rover squeals into the employee parking area. How convenient that Blaine would choose this time to visit mommy. He sure got his fancy SUV fixed quickly, I guess when you have money, you can do almost anything, even throw a hissy when you didn’t get picked to become the new chief of the fire department. I’m still pissed about that.

Jace should be riding that wave.

Instead, they voted for another chief, one that Blaine approved of. I have no idea why Blaine is even in the fire department. He’s the worstfirefighter, no one wants to work with him. I would feel bad if he wasn’t such an asshole. I knew I should’ve beat him up in school when I had the chance. That would’ve given the Montgomery family something to fight over.

I honestly don’t even know why I’m sitting here, what will I accomplish, that they both are in the same building. This should be when I’m out enjoying myself. But no, my little brain wants to see them together for some strange reason. I want to see Nancy, the evil look on her face. I can feel myself becoming completely fixated on her; honestly, I don't even recognize myself anymore.

I need to get the fuck out of here before I can’t escape, this isn’t healthy. I need to trust that Sam will do what he needs to do, but it’s everyone else that I don’t trust. Who am I supposed to call when something happens again? It’s not the cops, and they could turn everything around and blame it on me. If either Blaine or Nancy catches me here, I’ll be in trouble even though it’s a public building.

I readjust my seat and start the car. I have one other detour to make. This one is the stupidest one to make. Silas lives on a quiet street, and I'll never know why I feel the need to check up on him. Perhaps the mere act of sporting his blood like a fashion accessory is magically transforming meinto a mini version of him, complete with his creepy stalker tendencies.

His house comes into view, and it looks like a party house. I pull over to stare at vehicles that are parked in front of his house. I don’t understand how he could have so many people over; not once did he mention friends when he was around me. He has the nerve to celebrate having hurting me. Unreal.