Just as he wasn't in the parking lot.
Or near the car.
Or anywhere.
But now I could feel him. The power of that ugly gaze. The wrath behind the fire. The utter desperation of a man that may have nothing left to live for but to win. No, Joshua was coming.
And there was no way to stop him.
24 Mark
By the time we made it back to the car, Stella trembled.
I slung the grocery bags in the seat, shoved the cart with a bunch of others, and climbed inside. Her fingers shook against mine when I grabbed her hand and steered us away from the parking lot. What I wanted to do was pin her against the truck, wrap her in my arms, and help her speak. But I had little doubt as to what happened, and if Joshua was even maybe near, she'd want out of here.
So I settled for holding her hand as we disappeared down the canyon, toward Adventura. A warm fall sun beat down, as if scoffing at the idea of snow that was supposed to descend.
By the time we returned, her uneasy breathing had calmed. She tracked every car that passed us, but especially the ones that followed behind. No one seemed to tail us through the canyon, and just to be sure I pulled off once or twice. No one followed and she didn't ask what I was doing.
Silently, we unloaded the groceries into the kitchen fridge, then the creamer and snacks at the cabin. Not for the first time, I thought about the almost-desperate need to remodel the cabin. It was all just a distraction, though, from what really simmered beneath the surface.
Joshua. Joshua. Joshua.
Finally, Stella paused, her hand halfway to the table, when she realized there was nothing more to put away. Then she turned to face me and her eyes were drawn. The rage I battled ebbed slightly in the face of her fear.
“Stell?”
Without a word, she stepped into me and buried her face in my chest. Relieved, I wrapped my arms around her and waited. Minutes passed while she breathed into my shirt. It wasn't until I felt something damp that I realized she was crying. To comfort myself, I ran my fingers through her hair.
“I saw him,” she whispered.
“I figured.”
While she explained what had happened, goosebumps formed on her skin. I kept her anchored against me as I listened, but my mind spun with ideas in the background. Could I call the owner of the store to look at the security tapes? Call Dad, for sure. Confront this guy myself? Go to all the hotels in Jackson City and see who is booked there? No, that would never work. Hadn't in Pineville, anyway. Plus, there were too many places a guy like him could disappear here. For all I knew, he'd pitched a tent in the forest.
I didn't realize how far into my thoughts I'd spiraled until a little sniffle drew me out. Sheepishly, I realized Stella had pulled away and been staring at me. Her fingertips touched my face.
“Where are you?”
“In my head, beating the sh—”
“Mark, it's—”
I pushed her hand away. “I'm sorry, Stella. I'm not mad at you. It's . . . him. I need to call my dad.” I shoved a hand through my hair and began to pace. “He can let his buddies in Jackson City know that Joshua is confirmed here. He's already passed on the pictures and information we sent earlier this morning, so he can send them to Jackson city.”
“But Joshua still didn't do anything wrong.”
“He looked at you.”
She laughed, but it was forced. “Yes, he looked at me. How dare he? He walked into a grocery store and he looked at me.”
“With the intent to frighten you! It’s a threat, Stell.”
Her hand grabbed mine, stopping me. My whole body had become tense, and under her touch, I only calmed slightly.
“I need to lift,” I muttered. “And throw something very heavy many, many times.”
A half-smile found her. She nodded.
“You should.”
“Or we could go on a run together.”
She nodded. “We could.”
Her calm softened me. Why was I the one freaking out? She should be able to do that. I should be the calm, steady one in the face of danger. But isn't that how we saved each other all the time?
“I'm sorry.” I closed my eyes and pressed our foreheads together. The steady warmth of her breath on my cheek reassured me. “I'm sorry.”
“Don't be.”
When she curled into me, I pulled her close. We stood there for several moments before she tilted her head back to look at me. I tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.
“I have to confess something,” she whispered.
“What?”
“I paid the Adventura bills.”
I frowned. “The mortgage is an automatic withdrawal.”
“Right, but you needed more, so I mailed in the credit card payment and the rest of the mortgage. Justin took it into town with him the other day.”
Several questions bubbled to the surface all at once, but before I could ask any of them, she said, “I paid the credit card a little bit early, and did the minimum balance with a little bit extra.”
“But—”
She pressed the tips of her fingers to my mouth. “I did it a few days ago and didn't want you to know. I know you never check and would be upset so I didn't want to tell you until it was already done.”
If I hadn't been so heated already, maybe I wouldn't have felt the bubbling frustration under my skin. The humiliation. The annoyance. The—
“You save me,” she whispered, “I save you.”
All the tension died down. A rare tear seemed to have formed in her eyes and they
