Protecting Her(55)

“Where?”

“At the day care center. We don’t know those people. I don’t want him there without you.”

“It’s staffed by older women, and it seems very clean and organized.”

“I don’t care. It’s not safe.”

“Pearce, you just scolded me for being too overprotective. And now you’re the one being overprotective.”

“I didn’t scold you for protecting him. I just didn’t want you overreacting to him getting a cut or falling down. That’s different. When it comes to his safety, we can’t be too cautious. And since we don’t know anything about this place or the people who work there, I don’t want him left there alone. Even for an hour.”

Garret crawls off him to get his ball and Pearce joins me on the couch. “Can you teach classes on the weekends? That way I could watch him while you’re gone.”

“What’s going on, Pearce? Is there something you’re not telling me?”

“Rachel, this isn’t anything new. We’ve talked about this before. We have a lot of money and people know who we are. That means we always have to be careful, especially when it comes to our son.”

We watch him, babbling to himself as he pushes the ball around the floor.

“I have something else to tell you,” I say quietly. “Maybe I’m imagining it, but I think someone was following me today.”

Pearce abruptly turns and faces me. “When? Who was it? Could you see who was driving?”

“It happened when Garret and I were coming back from the gym. It was a black car. Some kind of sedan. Four doors. The driver had a suit on and a chauffeur cap.”

“Are you sure he was following you?”

“He was behind me all the way from the gym to the town square. I circled the square and he followed me until I pulled into a spot in front of the diner.”

He rubs his jaw. “Too obvious,” he mumbles.

“What?”

“If this person was following you, he wouldn’t be so obvious about it.”

“That’s true. So maybe he was just lost.”

“Why didn’t you call and tell me about this?”

“I did, but you weren’t in your office.”

“Then call my cell phone. That’s why I bought it. So you’d always have a way to reach me.”

“I didn’t want to bother you if you were in a meeting.”

“I don’t care if I’m in a meeting. If you need me, you call me.”

“Okay.” I pause. “I should probably tell you something else.”

“What?”

“When your father was here, I kind of, um…I asked him if he was having me followed.”

“Why would you ask my father that?” Pearce sounds angry.

“I don’t know. I was still shaken up from the whole thing and then your father threatened me and—”

“My father WHAT?” He raises his voice and Garret looks over at us. I nudge Pearce and he lowers his voice. “My father threatened you?”

“Maybe it wasn’t a threat. It just felt like one. He said I was never to challenge him. That he’ll always win. And then he told me to be careful because I’m in danger just being your wife.”

Pearce faces forward, his body tense, his jaw clenched. “I’ll have a talk with him.”

“No. Don’t say anything. He already hates me. I don’t want to make it worse.”

“He’s the one making it worse. He can’t speak to you that way. I won’t allow it. And he is not to be here when I’m not around. If he comes to the door, don’t answer it.”

Garret crawls over to Pearce, pulling on the leg of his jeans. “Dada! Bah!”

He smiles at me. “Guess halftime is over.” He gets back on the floor and grabs the football. Garret watches him, his eyes wide and a big smile on his face as he waits for Pearce to throw it. He tosses it so that it lands right in front of Garret, who pounces on the ball and laughs.

It makes me so happy to see them together like this. I could watch them for hours.

The pizza arrives and we have dinner. As we’re eating, I keep thinking about that car. Something doesn’t feel right. I swear that car was following me. But why?

And why did Holton say I needed to be careful? Was he warning me about something? Or was he just talking in general? He’s said things like that to me in the past and I’ve just ignored him. Maybe I should do that again. Just ignore him and not let his words have power over me.