Chapter 15
Lynn was waiting for Jessica to get off work. She paced Aiden’s hardwood floors, back and forth…back and forth. He was busy, and had been for hours, but ever since someone broke into her apartment a few days prior, Lynn hadn’t been able to relax.
The cops cased her place, took prints, took pictures, but there wasn’t much that they could do right away. All the evidence needed to be processed and even then there was no guarantee that whomever broke in would be in their system.
“A very sharp needle in a very large haystack.”
That’s what the officer on scene had told her, and it did little to make her feel better.
What if they came back? What if they came to Aiden’s this time? What if she was home this time?
It was still a little weird for her to call his place ‘theirs,’ but she supposed she’d have to get used to it. They’d been together for a couple of months now, and even though that was considered ‘soon’ to some, Lynn imagined it would be even stranger if she hesitated.
After doing it wrong so many times, she liked to think she’d learned a lesson or two. She’d like think she knew the difference between being impulsive and going with the flow.
With Aiden everything felt so right she didn’t even want to question it, even though it was natural to question whether or not his intentions were genuine. Even when she had her moments where she wanted to tuck tail and run, he came right back around and gave her another reason to stay without her even having to ask.
She heard a knock on her front door and opened it to a worried looking Jessica, whom she’d only called a few hours earlier to tell her what had happened at her apartment.
“Lynn, what the hell is going on?! Are you okay?,” She asked as she wrapped her arms around her. Lynn accepted the hug from her friend greedily, her thin arms linking behind Jessica’s back.
“I’m okay, just shaken up. Someone broke into my apartment, tore apart a few things. Cops have no leads, and I doubt they’ll find anything. I’m just a little scared is all,” She said.
Jessica looked at her closely.
“You’re here. At Aiden’s.”
She wrung her hands together, her fingers cold.
“He asked me to move in.”
There was a second long pause before Jessica was squealing and pulling her back into her arms.
“Oh my God, are you happy? Are you excited? This is amazing!”
Lynn couldn’t help but smile and laugh as she nodded against Jessica’s shoulder.
“I wish he’d asked me under better circumstances, but he did ask me, so… “
Jessica motioned towards the couch resting in front of a bay window, where the sunlight was warming the dark leather.
“Sit, tell me what happened,” She urged.
Lynn hurried to sit beside her.
“We were on a date when he got a few calls, all from an unknown number. When he finally answered, he didn’t get any response, so he hung up. I got a weird feeling, but I couldn’t put my finger on why. When we got back to my apartment, the door was locked, so I didn’t even think…I didn’t think anything of it, really, but when the door swung open, I could tell someone had been there.”
Jessica’s gaze was glued to Lynn as she waited for her to continue.
“Pictures of Aiden and I were destroyed and a few of my small decorative pieces were smashed, things pushed over…it was all very mild as far as break-ins went, but I was still terrified. And, confused. It seemed to be circled around mine and your brother’s relationship, but he couldn’t think of anyone who would want to hurt him or me.”
Jessica frowned at that piece of information, obviously as confused as Lynn was. Lynn just shrugged, unsure of what to say next.
“So, what? What did the cops say?”
Lynn sighed, “They told me it would be a while before they had anything concrete. Told me it would probably be best if I stayed with someone I knew because of the fact that whomever broke in probably picked the lock.”
“Then Aiden asked you to stay here? With him?”
She nodded.
“Yeah, he pointed out that were always together anyways, so why not move in.”
Jessica rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.
“He’s so romantic, isn’t he? Leave it to him to let a criminal investigation lead his love life,” She said sassily.
When Jessica put it that way, Lynn couldn’t help but laugh.
“Everything just got so much more complicated, Jess! Now we’re moving in and there’s someone obviously stalking us? Why?”
Jessica shrugged, “ I have no idea. I don’t even know who it could be, because he’s been single for so long. The cops didn’t find anything?”
Lynn scratched at the back of her neck.
“They did point out that in all of the photos of him and I, it was only my face that was scratched out. That makes them think that maybe whoever it is doesn’t want me around, and that’s why only my apartment was broken into instead of Aiden’s house, too.”
“So, all of a sudden, you’re living one of your books?”
“I wonder if it’s a fan of mine, honestly.”
It was a valid point that her friend was making when she said that. It’d crossed both Lynn and Aiden’s minds when they’d discussed the possibilities of who it could be. A deranged fan that didn’t want her with him? Someone who wanted her all of themselves?
It didn’t explain the weird phone calls, but the cops took the time to explain to them that the unknown numbers were more than likely from a burner phone, but that they would look into the calls to see if they were related.
“What now?”
Jessica sighed and sat back against the cushions.
“What do you want to do now? Do we celebrate this monumental step forward in your relationship tonight with a bottle of wine and some girl talk?” That sounded like a marvelous escape to Lynn, so she readily agreed.
“I think we can make that work.”
“What time does Aiden get home from the garage?”
Lynn glanced at the clock and then decided that little detail was irrelevant.
“Who cares? It’s you and me time right now, and it isn’t like he hasn’t seen it before,” She joked.
Jessica clapped her hands together.
“Ah, the night that started it all…you’re welcome,” she said as she winked at Lynn.
Lynn rolled her eyes and nodded toward the fridge.
“There are two freshly chilled bottles of Pinot in there, and I’m pretty sure they’re calling our names.”
Jessica’s eyes widened happily as she hopped up from the couch and headed right for the refrigerator, “What drawer is the corkscrew in?”
“Second one!”
Jessica appeared seconds later with two glasses and one big bottle of magic that had Lynn smiling in relief and happiness all at the same time.
“So…you two are living together. How does it feel?”
Lynn glanced around the house that would now be her home.
“Foreign,” She admitted.
Jessica patted her thigh.
“That will go away in a few days, I’m sure of it. Its normal to feel that way right now, especially with everything that’s going on.”
Lynn winced.
“You don’t think we’re going too fast?”
She shook her head as she handed her a glass filled to the brim.
“No, not at all. That’s your guys’ decision and no one else can tell you how to make it. Are you having second thoughts?”
“No, and I think that’s what worries me. At first, when we first started seeing each other, I did worry…a lot. But, I think that was because of what Jake put me through before, ya know? It’s normal to be afraid that someone else will pull the same shady crap you’re used to.”
“Exactly, babe. Aiden wouldn’t have asked you to move in if he wasn’t sure he wanted to start a life with you. He’s very picky, that one.”
Hearing that made Lynn feel a little better even though she already knew that about him. He’d admitted it on more than one occasion. With everything else that had happened, Lynn hadn’t really had the opportunity to be happy about the change in their relationship dynamic.
“I’m happy. For the first time in a long time I feel like I’m doing what’s right instead of doing the right thing, does that make sense?”
Jessica nodded.
“Yeah, of course. You’re doing it because you want to, not because someone else wants you to. I get it.”
Lynn felt relieved that someone did, because her family had been a little less than supportive about it, saying that she was only going to make the same mistake that she’d made with Jake. Except, Jake wasn’t Aiden and Aiden wasn’t Jake, and even though only she really needed to remember that, it was fact.
There was nothing wrong with moving forward with him if it made them both happy.
“I like it here.”
She admitted that to Jessica outright.
She smiled knowingly.
“Home is a feeling, not necessarily just a place. Does he feel like home, Lynn?”
“He has since I laid eyes on him. It can be a little intimidating to me at times, I won’t lie about that. But, it’s a good thing. If I didn’t care about him then it wouldn’t scare me a little and I wouldn’t be here.”
Jessica gripped her glass in her and looked around the living room.
“This house has been in the family for so long, and now you’re living here. A little crazy to me, because I thought you two would hit it off, and you two hit it off. This is so cool.”
Lynn’s expression softened as she wrapped a blanket around her lap.
“I know. Just a couple of months ago we were laughing about me meeting him in my apartment, drinking wine, and I never thought in a million years it would actually work out.”
Jessica laughed.
“Shows how much you know! I think I may have a little magic in my touch,” She joked.
Yeah, Lynn was inclined to agree, just a little bit.
“You’re right. I owe you a big, whopping, thank you.”
“You don’t owe me a thing, babe. I got you two together, but the two of you? What you have? It’s magnetic. Watching you two makes me so happy, because you deserve each other.”
We deserve each other…
“I like the sound of that.”
Jessica raised her glass and held it out to Lynn, her smile still in place.
Lynn clinked their glasses together and they both took a liberal sip of their Pinot.
“Me too,” Lynn admitted.
Just like that, the fear and unease Lynn had been bottling up inside of herself dissipated. She was comfortable, she was happy, and even though tomorrow held the promise of more drama, she didn’t focus on it.
She was with her friend, her sister as Jessica loved to say, and she didn’t have to question that. Tomorrow could hold whatever it wanted, but right then and there, all she cared about was the story Jessica was telling her and the wine staining her lips.