Chapter 11
Audrey’s stomach twisted at Josh’s piercing stare. She couldn’t swallow, her mouth was too dry. Coming up with a reasonable explanation seemed impossible.
“I’m so sorry, Josh, I―”
Toby’s fierce barking interrupted her. Josh instantly went to the sliding glass door where Toby was barking and growling at something outside. Josh pulled open the door. Toby darted toward the tree and resumed a ferocious bark at the base.
“Do you see that?” Josh pointed to a large man’s boot on the ground below the tree. It was wrapped in long, gray faux fur. The furry foot.
Her blood ran cold. “Th-that’s not my shoe.”
Josh backed Audrey into the house and to the hallway.
“Stay here.” Josh dashed out the front door and left it open. She saw him retrieve something from his truck and rush back inside. He returned to the sliding door, flipped on the porch light. She spied a pistol in his hand and she followed as he walked toward Toby. Audrey came to Josh’s side and touched his arm.
“Didn’t I tell you to stay inside?” he muttered and pushed her behind him. “What are you doing here?” Josh shouted at the tree.
“Hey, man, don’t shoot!” a man’s voice came from the branches.
“Tell me who you are and what you’re doing here and maybe I won’t. Maybe.” Josh kept the pistol trained on the tree. Audrey peered around him at the rustling branches.
“You don’t understand, man, I can’t live without her.” The voice was familiar, but Audrey couldn’t place it. Her fingers trembled. The figure was concealed with branches.
“Who are you?” Josh asked.
“Her boyfriend!”
Audrey blinked. “Jon? What the heck are you doing?” I can’t believe this guy would stalk me like this. What a creep!
“Come on, baby,” Jon said. “Get him to put the gun down. You know you still want me.” His suggestive tone raised the hair on the back of her neck.
“Is this guy really your boyfriend, Audrey?” Josh’s eyes narrowed but he kept the gun pointed at Jon.
“Not anymore. And we were never serious.” She certainly had no idea he was like this or she’d never have given him a second look.
“Tell him, Audrey. You belong with me.” He sounded so deranged she wondered if he was really dangerous.
“You know, doomsday’s coming and if I’m the last man on earth, I need you with me. You have to come with me. You can’t say no.”
“So you’re hanging out in her tree to convince her?” Josh asked, not moving his gun. “Or staking out the place for a kidnapping?”
“I need her,” Jon said more fiercely.
“Well, sorry, but you’re not getting her,” Josh said sternly then looked at Audrey.
“Babe, call off this guy and let’s talk.” Jon’s teeth rattled in the cold breeze. “Please let me come down.”
Josh glanced at her and she nodded. “Let him come down. He’s crazy, but I don’t think he’s going to hurt anyone.”
“Okay, you can come down.” Josh’s voice was a growl, almost like Toby’s. “But I’m calling the police right now, and don’t you forget I’ve got a gun.”
Josh whipped out his cell and called the police while Audrey took Toby by the collar and led him back to the house. She closed him in the kitchen, and Toby growled at the glass, not wanting to give up on the intruder in his yard.
A shiver ran down her spine as Jon jumped down from the tree. She’d thought the guy had problems before, but this was beyond anything she ever expected from him. Audrey gasped when she saw him clearly in the outside light. He was wearing a thick fur coat and a raccoon-style hat. He’d grown a thick mustache and a long beard clung to his face like a bushy animal. He smelled horrible. It was nothing like the last time she’d seen him. No wonder I thought I had a Sasquatch in my tree!
“I’m so cold,” Jon moaned. “Can’t we go inside to talk, Audrey? I really need to talk to you.”
“Talk right here,” Josh snapped, “but don’t get any closer to Audrey.” Then he recited Audrey’s address to the emergency operator.
She felt sorry for Jon and his pitiful state, shivering by the tree. Audrey hugged herself tightly; it certainly was chilly, but nothing all that fur he wrapped around himself couldn’t handle.
“I don’t know what happened to you, Jon,” Audrey said slowly, her voice shaking. “But you can’t follow me like this.”
Josh said something else to the police but Audrey focused on Jon.
“Could I at least sit down?” Jon nodded his head toward the lawn chairs on the patio and sniffed loudly. “I hurt my leg when I came down.”
Josh rolled his eyes. “You’re welcome to sit down right there.”
“Can I at least have my boot back? It’s so cold.”
“Whatever.” Josh’s voice was only slightly less hostile. When the police sirens sounded, Toby’s growling became an ear-piercing howl. Josh turned to shush Toby and walked over to grab the boot for the pathetic man on the ground. The minute Josh’s eyes turned away, Audrey saw Jon slide a grimy hand into his coat pocket.
Time became slow motion and Audrey’s heartbeat pounded in her ears. She knew what was going to happen. Jon had a gun. He’d shoot Josh right in front of her. There was only an instant to save his life. “Josh, look out!”
Sore ankle forgotten, Audrey ran toward Jon and barreled into the hairy man, knocking him to the ground.
“Audrey!” She felt Josh lifting her off the human Sasquatch and into the safety of his arms.
“My leg!” Jon writhed in pain on the grass.
“What were you doing? Are you crazy?” Josh muttered into her hair as he held a hand tightly around her waist while the other aimed the pistol at Jon, moaning on the ground.
“He was reaching for a gun.”
“I don’t have a gun,” Jon moaned. “You attacked me!”
“Just the same, keep your hands where I can see them.” Josh backed Audrey to the kitchen door. “Go inside.”
“But I need to talk to her,” Jon wailed, still on the grass.
“You’re not getting anywhere near her.”
***
Two officers came through the gate into the backyard, handguns out and ready. Josh’s heart was racing as the police took over, and he clicked on the safety then let down his pistol. The officers handcuffed Jon on the ground then jerked him up, wailing and crying, begging to talk to Audrey.
They searched his pockets and found a long knife.
Josh exhaled slowly. Audrey could have been killed. And she’d tried to save him. Though sweat trickled down the back of Josh’s neck, the air didn’t seem cold to him. Anger and frustration rolled over him. He couldn’t believe he’d lost control of the situation. Maybe he should have locked Audrey in a closet to keep her safe.
“We’ll need you to come down to the station to make a statement,” one of the officers said.
Josh nodded and looked at Audrey’s pale face through the sliding glass door. She sat on the floor, stroking Toby, who had finally stopped growling as the police led Jon out of the yard with one bare foot.
“I need you, Audrey,” Jon shouted behind him. “You’re gonna miss me.”
Josh slid open the door. “They want us to go to the station.”
Audrey nodded. “I heard.”
“So was that guy the hoarder you told me about?”
“The doomsday prepper/hoarder. I didn’t realize he was also a stalker. He’s obviously disturbed.”
“Come on, we can take my truck.” He held out a hand to help her up, and her magical touch sent warmth shooting up his arm.
The silence between them in his truck was awkward. He felt shaky inside and couldn’t believe he’d almost lost her. What would he have done to Jon if he’d knifed her? He probably would’ve shot the pathetic man.
They spent a good hour at the station, answering questions and filling out paperwork. With everything taken care of, Josh drove Audrey home and the silence between them continued. He had no idea what to say. He’d been so angry when he showed Audrey the card from Carly. But then she’d sacrificed herself, thinking he was about to be shot. And he could have lost her forever. He was beyond relieved, but also shocked at how devastated he was at the thought of losing her.
He pulled into the driveway and walked around to her side to open the door for her. She didn’t get out right away and sat like a statue, staring straight ahead, seemingly unaware of his presence. “Are you okay, Audrey?”
She shook her head. “I just don’t believe what happened tonight.”
“Not sure what you ever saw in that guy.”
“Believe me,” she said as she finally met Josh’s eyes. “He didn’t always look like that. And people have a way of concealing who they really are.” She took his hand and stepped down from the truck.
“They certainly do.”
***
Audrey fought back tears, nearly trembling from the emotional strain of the evening’s events. She thought about how angry Josh must be with her and a tear escaped from the flood she held back. “Josh, I’m…I’m sorry about Carly.”
Josh turned his head and gazed at the dark street. “It’s hard to swallow. This whole time you knew who I was and said nothing.”
“It’s confidential who my clients are and what they tell me.”
He turned back to her and his piercing stare made her knees go weak. “Okay, I get it, but I’m pretty sure I can guess what she told you. Here’s a little of what she said to me when she finally left me: I’m a lousy electrician, I’m too obsessed with baseball, I hunt Sasquatch and hang deer in the yard just to freak her out, no other reason…is any of this close?”
Audrey ran both hands through her hair. “Josh, I’m sorry but it’s…”
“The good news is she isn’t your client anymore. She told me she’s done with therapy.”
“She is?”
“Yep. She recommended you as an amazing therapist to help me with my large collection of issues.” He paused. “But if you believed any of those things, I wish you’d…”
“Look, I know there are two sides to every story, I encounter it all the time. But I didn’t know what to believe…or what to do about this situation.”
“I realize we don’t know everything about each other, Audrey, but I thought you would have been around me enough at this point to know what I wasn’t.”
“I think I do know.” Her heart sped up. “But I may have a few questions.”
“No, I don’t believe in Sasquatch. Never have.” He put his hands in his pockets. “Carly caught me watching one Bigfoot reality show, and I joked about looking for him when I went hunting with some friends. I think I mentioned she has no sense of humor. She never got me. When I got back from the trip, my friend wanted to hang up his deer in my yard. I have a big yard in the house I just built, and his wife didn’t want him doing anything like that at their place, so I agreed. Carly came over, saw it, yelled at me for a good fifteen minutes about everything that she thought was wrong with me, then left.”
He stepped closer to her. “You know, I was angry earlier. Then you jumped on that guy to save me and everything changed.” The muscle along his jaw flexed and he squeezed his eyes closed. When he opened them his hazel eyes were so penetrating her chest tightened. “You could have been killed.”
“I’m sorry, it was reckless of me, but―”
“No, you don’t understand.” He slipped his fingers through hers and held her gaze. “I could have lost you and I realized…I don’t know if I could live without you.”
Audrey listened, her heartbeat thumping in her ears. What is he saying?
“Carly also told me I have a fear of commitment. And I did, I’ll be honest. I was scared to death of committing myself to her.” Josh gazed at Audrey with his captivating eyes and she couldn’t speak. “Yeah, so her bringing up marriage was like a horror film. You think your ex has issues, get to know Carly a little better.”
The warmth of his hands in hers made it hard to unstick her tongue from her dry mouth. “I don’t have any room to judge in the ex-relationship department.”
His hands tightened on hers. “I was ready to kill that guy when he said he needed you. And I think I would have if he’d hurt you.”
“Thank you…” Audrey struggled to form a coherent thought. There wasn’t anything more enchanting than Josh’s face in the soft moonlight. She was keenly aware he was still holding her hands as tingles shot through her arms. “Thank you for being here, for coming to the rescue again…”
“But you’re the one who jumped on that crazy man.”
“What if…what if we never speak about Carly again? What if…” She looked up at him, and his expression softened.
“What if what?” Josh moved closer, lifted her hands, and placed a kiss on her fingertips.
Her knees felt like they were made of Jell-O. “What if we start over? Pretend that I don’t know anything about your ex-girlfriend and that you didn’t just see my ex pulled out of a tree dressed like Davy Crockett and…”
“And?”
She gulped, heart racing as he slipped his hand around her back and drew her closer. “And…” What had she been about to say? Her mind was becoming mush.
“I haven’t been able to get you off my mind, Audrey,” he whispered.
Audrey’s lips parted as he bent closer and pressed his forehead against hers.
She was certain the anticipation would kill her. She flattened her hands on his chest and she felt his heart thumping, his nearness warming her all over. “I haven’t stopped thinking about you either,” she whispered.
His lips met hers in a tender kiss that increased in intensity until her knees buckled. He tightened his arms around her, holding her up. She never wanted to let go as her whole body felt like electricity was coursing through her.
When he broke the kiss, he was breathing hard, but didn’t loosen his grip. “If we went back to the beginning, then there are so many wonderful things I wouldn’t know about you. And it would be too soon for me to tell you…” His voice was soft and tender. “I’ve fallen in love with you.”
Breathless, she didn’t say a word, but she moved forward to capture his lips with hers. She’d never felt so safe, so loved…
She barely heard Toby’s loud whimper inside the house and broke the kiss. “I think I’m in love with you too, Josh.” Her heart fluttered as he moved a lock of hair behind her ear. “I know you’re done with my wiring, but do you want to come over tomorrow? And the day after that?”
He grinned and his eyes sparkled. “I could probably find an excuse to do that, maybe change a light bulb or something.”
Audrey chuckled and rested her head on his shoulder, breathing in his cologne and feeling warmth surround her.
She couldn’t remember feeling this way. Ever. Her amazing electrician had wired her house for power, but his greatest accomplishment was lighting her heart. At last…she was home.