Room-maid(45)



I wondered if she was right.



When I got home, the first thing I did was put the new shoes in Tyler’s closet and throw the old ones (along with the shoe box and the receipt) down the garbage chute in the hallway. I also made sure that both his closet door and bedroom door were shut. I checked twice.

Pigeon was right where I’d left her: curled up in the corner of my bed.

To decompress from my day, I decided to watch one of the movies I had recorded on the DVR. I was a sucker for the sweet, cheery, comforting Hallmark romances but I also loved the women-in-peril suspense movies on Lifetime. Tonight I chose one of the high-octane ones, and it was about a former soap opera actress who was being stalked by an obsessive fan who thought the actress was her villainous character from the show and needed to be taken out. The actress moved into a high-security smart home in an attempt to stay safe, but her stalker was a computer genius who disabled the whole thing. After a drawn-out fight scene, the actress was able to push the stalker down the stairs, and the stalker died.

In the past I’d always gotten a bit of a rush from movies like that, imagining what I would do if I were in the heroine’s shoes, but this one felt like a bit too much. Like it had rattled my nerves in a way I didn’t fully comprehend. It wasn’t like I had anything similar happening in my life. I didn’t have any stalkers.

Maybe it was more of my guilty conscience because I’d been basically spying on Oksana earlier. It could be the universe was warning me that karma could be unpleasant.

I resolved to be a better person.

I decided I’d had enough excitement for one evening. I got ready for bed, putting on a tank top and shorts, something that had become a bit of a necessity lately. Even though it was winter and Tyler kept the thermostat a bit cold for my liking, Pigeon exuded a lot of body heat and when I wore heavier pajamas I would wake up in a sweat. I climbed in next to the dog, scooting her over slightly to make some room for me. As was my custom every night, I scrolled through social media and my in-box just to see if there was anything that needed my attention.

Usually the answer was no, but today there was an email. From Denny’s father.

It was short and straight to the point—he apologized for Denny’s outbursts and said that Denny’s mother had left the family and Denny was having a difficult time adjusting. He asked for my patience and said he’d be happy to meet with me after things had calmed down at their house.

I felt sick to my stomach for Denny. No wonder he’d been acting out. I put my phone down on the nightstand and began to think about what I could do to assist him now that I had this new knowledge. What did he need from me to help him be more successful behaviorally?

At some point I must have drifted off because a loud noise woke me up. It was one of those heart-pounding-unmercifully-in-your-chest moments, where you woke up suddenly and weren’t exactly sure why.

I nudged Pigeon with my hand but she only grumbled and went back to sleep.

There was another noise, a shuffling. I grabbed my phone. It was three o’clock in the morning.

My first delirious thought was that Oksana had returned to finish me off. I got out of bed quietly, listening with each step that I took. My pulse was pounding so loudly in my ears that it was hard to hear. I slowly opened my door and looked down the hallway. I tiptoed to the kitchen, looking around and not seeing anything. I grabbed Tyler’s cast-iron pan, because he always left it out on the stove top. Gripping it in both hands, I continued my search.

No one.

I glanced at the TV and silently cursed it. It was that movie that had me all worried and scared. I reminded myself, again, that I didn’t have a stalker.

Although . . . there was every possibility that Tyler had one. It didn’t even have to be Oksana. It could have been another woman that he’d bewitched who didn’t know how to let go.

Wondering if I’d imagined the entire thing, I started back toward my room when I realized that Tyler’s door was open.

A door I knew for a fact that I had shut.

My heart leaped up into my throat, making it hard for me to swallow. I pushed the door open slightly and saw a large, looming figure. Letting out a shriek of terror, I lifted the pan to swipe at the person when the lights suddenly turned on.

I blinked several times, feeling blinded.

“Madison! It’s me!”

“Tyler!” I protested, letting the pan fall to my side. “I almost Tom and Jerry’ed you! Which wouldn’t have been easy because this thing is really heavy!” And expensive, I almost added, but caught myself in time. “I thought you were a stalker or something!”

That movie had seriously rattled me.

He took the pan from my shaking hands, setting it down on top of his dresser. “It would be really hard for a stalker to get past one of the doormen.”

I nodded. This made perfect logical sense. But my body was still feeling totally illogical. “I just . . . I feel really freaked out. I’m having a hard time catching my breath.”

“Hey. Come here.”

Next thing I knew, I was being enveloped in a warm, giant hug. It was like coming in from the cold to a roaring fire and a mug of hot cocoa. I leaned into him, wrapping my arms around his waist, letting him press me firm against him.

His hand ran up and down my back. “It’s okay. Everything is okay.”

I believed him. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt so safe. Protected. I didn’t trust many people but right here? Right now? I trusted Tyler.

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