Page 18 of Blue Norther
“Sounds lovely, to feel at home in so many different places.” I held back the shudder I felt bubbling up from my stomach. ButI must not have hid it well enough, because Stone switched into serious mode.
“Where were you before you came to Silver Springs?”
“New York City.”
His eyes went wide. “Wow. This is quite the change.”
I nodded in agreement. “I prefer it here. There were just a lot of painful…memories I was running from. I wanted somewhere that wouldn’t make me think of home.”
Stone nodded. “Did it work?”
“Not at all,” I laughed, but there was no humor behind the sound.
“But now you’re back, and I imagine with a baby on the way, you want just another layer of protection.”
“I really wasn’t going to…even after my dad suggested it. But Colt mentioned there had been some teens breaking into places, and I had a bit of an issue with someone in New York before I left. I just feel like, yeah, maybe I do need something to put my mind at ease.”
His fingers stopped typing. “What kind of an issue with someone in New York?”
“Oh, nothing that I think will spill over here. Everything in New York happened under my pen name. I…” I leaned back, the baby kicking my side letting me know he wasn’t happy with the space I was giving him. “I’m an author. And I really did try as best I could to keep Violet Murphy separate from my author business.”
“Okay, so this wasn’t someone who knew you personally?”
“No, God no. I think it was just a reader. Someone who sent me some notes to my business manager. Got a little too comfortable with thinking they knew me personally.”
“You responded to them?”
“No. Never. But maybe they came to a signing or something, you know?”
Stone’s jaw clenched. “Okay. So, only ever mailed to a PO Box?”
“Mhm.” Shit. No, shit. How had I not realized?
“Violet?”
“The last note…uh, why I decided to get out of New York for a while…it came to my apartment. I think I have it here…” I looked down to the folder in my lap, my hands shaking as I tried to rifle through the papers.
Stone stood from behind his desk, but I still hadn’t found the paper I was looking for by the time he came to sit next to me.
“Here. Why don’t you take this, and I’ll look through those?” He held out a water bottle to me.
“Oh, no. I mean, it’s not that big of a deal. I can find it.”
Again, his eyes dropped to my belly. “I’d feel better if you took a drink of water. You’re looking a little pale.”
“I’m being ridiculous. It’s just that…I didn’t think about the apartment being in my name. My real name.” I took a deep breath. “I’m so sorry.”
“No need to apologize. You’re scared. And that’s okay. You’re in the right place to make sure you’re protected at home. I don’t know if Mae mentioned this, but I’m also a paramedic. Of course, I’d really like to not have to use those skills today. So maybe you can take a sip of the water for me while I look these over?”
I nodded, unable to get my voice to work as I handed over my folder and accepted the water bottle.
“Can I call someone for you? I’m sure Jessie and Mae would be happy to sit in with us? Or maybe I could call Colt?”
“No!” I almost jumped out of my seat in my hurry to answer. “No, that’s so kind of you, but I’m perfectly fine. I was getting thirsty, so thank you for the drink. You’re more than welcome to look through the file. I already showed it to Colt before coming here.”
That seemed to surprise Stone. “Alright. And he didn’t say anything about the person knowing your address?”
“I only thought of it just now. I left New York because of what the note said. I was so worried about it, that the fact it came to my apartment instead of to my manager completely slipped past me. But I’ll tell him. I really just want to be able to say there is someone coming out to install the system and my cabin is safe.” God, I was second guessing my decision not to accept his help. “He tried to get me to move back home with him, and it’s all just way too complicated for that.”
