What else can I do? If someone came up here, I’d have heard them on the stairs. I can’t just freak out at every little noise.
I climb back into bed and pull the covers up to my chest. No one could have gotten in. Everything’s locked. I have to go to sleep. Maybe that’s what I’ve been missing—why I’m imagining things, making it out to be worse than it is. Stress from all the changes—that too.
I cuddle up beside Stevie and rub her head until my arm tingles, falling asleep. As I pull it under the covers, the aching subsides and I begin to drift off, still clenching my covers in my other fist.
I have to tell someone what’s going on. Even if they don’t believe me, I need someone to call if it happens again to help calm me down so I don’t get so worked up. Just having someone to listen to my concerns would be nice.
Who will I tell? Mom? No, I can’t worry her. That’s out of the question. Not after everything that happened with Dad. It would either seem trivial or she’d be terrified for me.
The Hildens? They told me to come to them if I needed anything. Yes. I’ll tell them. If nothing happens to me tonight, I promise I’ll tell them in the morning.
Chapter 13
It cannot be.
Come crashing down on me.
I step outside onto the porch, light grey clouds filling the sky overhead, and lock the front door behind me. The loose sleeves of my cardigan hang just over my knuckles, keeping me warm from the crisp late-afternoon breeze as I take the porch steps down to the path, across our driveway, and onto the Hilden’s.
Their jack-o-lantern’s crooked smile greets me as I climb their porch steps and knock a few times on their door. I normally go to the pumpkin patch with my mom this time of year, but with everything going on, from Byron’s death, to the band, to whatever’s happening with me, I haven’t even thought about it.
I stare into his carved-out smile until the front door opens. Alex stands in their foyer with a big metal spatula in one hand and an apron tied around his waist. “Lynda, hi! How’s it going?”
“Hi Alex. Umm, is this a bad time?” I nod to the spatula, secretly hoping it is a bad time, and I won’t have to try to explain what’s been going on.
“Oh, no. We’re just barbequing out back. You should bring Stevie around and she can play with Ace. You should stay for dinner, too. Homemade hamburgers and Carol’s potato salad. I highly recommend both, and I’m not biased whatsoever.” He chuckles, tossing his head back slowly as his shoulders bounce and jiggle.
Rather pleased with yourself for that one, Alex.
I smile, trying not to laugh at him, and shift my weight to my other foot. “I appreciate the offer, but I have to get ready to go out. I was hoping maybe you or Carol could come over and let Stevie out once around nine tonight?”
He presses his lips together and raises his brow, leaning in a bit.
“Or anytime around eight, nine, whenever’s good for you. I won’t be home until late, so I just—”
“Of course, we can,” Alex says. Carol joins him at the door. “Hey hon, Lynda asked if we could go over to let Stevie out tonight.”
“Oh, yeah, for sure.” She gives me a big smile, matching Alex’s. “No problem. Hey, I’ll bring the Shop Vac back, too.”
“Okay, sure. Oh, I actually don’t have a spare key.” Hadn’t thought of that.
“We do.” Carol folds her hands in front of her. “Your mom and Ron gave us one a while after they moved in, just in case. Looks like it’ll finally come in handy.”
“Thank you.” I play with my heart ring, sliding it up and down my finger as I work up the courage to confide in them about my concerns. “One other thing. This might sound strange, but have you seen anything… weird happening around here? Anyone lingering around, or parking in front of the houses?”
Alex frowns and shakes his head. “Not sure what you mean. Have you seen anyone? Is someone bothering you?”
“No—well—I don’t know. Just some things are happening, and I can’t explain them, except, have you seen a dark car on the road?”
“What make?” Alex asks.
“Maaaybe black?” I don’t know about makes and models, and I probably sound ridiculous.
“With tinted windows?” Carol asks, her smile disappearing.
“Yeah, exactly.”
She turns to Alex. “There was a car parked in front of our house last night.” She turns back to me. “Black, I think, but too hard to see with the streetlight on the other side of your house. The windows were dark. I saw it right before we went to bed. I figured it was a friend of yours.”
“No, definitely not. I saw the car two nights ago and it was like it followed me. I’ve never seen it around here before.”
“That is strange.” Alex leans on the doorknob. “We’ll have to keep a lookout.”
“Well, and there was also the day Stevie got out. The gate is usually closed, locked. I don’t know how it got open.”
Alex rests his hands on his hips. “Yeah, that’s concerning. If anything happens, that car comes by again, or you feel nervous, just come on over here. Stevie, too.”
My shoulders relax and I let my hands fall by my sides. “Thank you both. I appreciate that.”
“And don’t worry about Stevie tonight.” Carol wraps her arm around Alex’s waist. “We’ll check on her. In fact, how about she stays with us tonight?”
“I guess she could…”
“She gets along so well with Ace.” Alex wraps his arm around Carol’s shoulders. “We’d love to have her. You can stop by tonight to get her
