“I’m fine, slept okay, no nightmares, no more weird packages.”
“You’re still having the nightmares?” Michael asked, smoothing his tie against his dress shirt. He used that matter-of-fact tone that irritated Josie to no end. The tone she had nicknamed his “Dad” tone.
“Shouldn’t you be getting to work?” Josie asked, trying to avoid the question.
“I’ve got time,” Michael answered. “Can I see the package?”
“Yes, it’s right here,” Josie answered, irritation dissipating a bit since she did not mind if he looked. She showed him the box on the table.
Michael picked it up, looking at the address and lack of postage on the top of the box. He opened it and pushed the packaging aside to pull out the music box.
“Whoa, this is heavy, nice, it’s beautiful.” He opened it, looking at the necklace first, then the note. “So, are you Celine? Why would you think I sent this?”
“I don’t know, I didn’t think it came from you. It was more of a hope because it’s disturbing to realize that some random person dropped it off.”
“It was definitely not me. But it concerns me that some strange person who thinks you’re someone else dropped stuff off on your doorstep. You should contact the police. And it may be a good idea if I stayed here, just in case.”
Typical Michael, Josie thought, using the situation to his advantage to try to push back in. Growing up in a prominent family, Michael Carlyle had never wanted for anything. He was a savvy businessman, learning from his father and grandfather who had taken a small family business to a multi-billion-dollar international industry. Michael’s split-second decisions and overconfident behavior sometimes drove Josie to the point of madness. “Neither is necessary. I mean it’s creepy but I don’t think it’s dangerous.”
“How do you know? This person sounds like a whack-job. Calling you Celine? Talking about this being a piece of your past and hoping it leads you back to …whoever this is? It’s crazy.”
“We’ll be fine,” Josie said, crossing her arms, trying to dismiss the conversation.
“I’d like to be sure. I can sleep in the guest room, you won’t even realize I’m here.”
“Won’t I? Really?” She raised her eyebrows in disbelief.
“I’m not going to argue about this, Josie, I’m not taking any chances. Sorry, I realize it bothers you I still care, but I do. I can stop by my place after work, grab my gear and be over.”
“You want to help out here?” Josie said turning to Damien.
He shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, unwilling to get into the argument. Josie threw her arms in the air, sighing. “Fine, whatever, the more the merrier, I guess.”
“Great! I’ll see you later then,” Michael said, squeezing Josie’s arm before turning to head out the door. “Damien, nice seeing you again.” He nodded to him as he left.
“Thanks so much for the assist, D,” Josie said, after Michael left.
“I’m not getting in the middle of that and besides, I wouldn’t mind having someone else here, between your nightmares and the creepy stalker. Sometimes you listen to him more than me.”
“He’s not a stalker. We have no idea what’s going on. Oh, never mind, never mind, let’s just forget about this stupid thing,” she said, stuffing the music box back in the box and shoving it into the nearby coat closet along with the discarded bat. “I’ve got some errands I need to run. I’m going to head out. I’ll be back later.”
“Okay,” Damien answered, knowing when she needed to cool off. “I’m heading into the office for a few hours. See you when I get home?”
“Yep, have a good day, D.”
Josie stormed up the steps, trying to push the morning’s events from her mind. It was barely 7 a.m. and she’d already had enough of this day. Stepping in to her room, she closed the door behind her, shutting her eyes and taking a deep breath. She opened them and scanned the room, seeing the air mattress lying on the floor. She gave it a half-smile. She was glad Damien had stayed with her last night. Thinking about it, perhaps it wouldn’t be half bad having Michael in the house, too. She hated to admit it but she had some unresolved feelings about him. Perhaps this would help resolve them.
She would not dwell on it now; she’d concentrate on getting dressed and out of the house to run her errands. One perk of self-employment was running errands when most other people were at work. She hopped into the shower, dried her hair, put on some makeup and was out of the house within the hour.
She made a few quick stops, picking up some various household items that she needed and a few food items from the store now that they would be entertaining and eating for three. She dropped everything off at home. Checking the time, she saw that it was only 10 a.m. She didn’t have much on her work schedule for the day, but she figured she would get a start on them and clear them off her plate.
Upon sitting down at her desk, she found herself distracted. She pushed through a few items but found it difficult to focus. She checked her window often, which overlooked the front of the house, making sure no strangers were lurking around. After about thirty more minutes of work she found herself too distracted to continue. Despite her words this morning, she really was unnerved being in the house alone. Her mind lingered on the strange package that was delivered and on the person who had delivered it.
Not being able to focus, she gave up on work. She settled on getting out of the house and doing some shopping. Whenever she was stressed, she found that shopping was a great way to relieve her mind. With her mind made up, she grabbed her keys and headed out the door.
Josie eased her car into a parking space at
