Page 30 of Til Death Do Us Part

Leo looked around the room as if someone might jump out at any moment. “I thought you were joking when you said a serial killer was in your town.”

“It does sound crazy, doesn’t it?” Coco answered him with a tentative smile. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready to get out of here and for my husband to take me on our date.”

I knew Coco was taking the attention off the topic of Oasis serial killer in case Trixie got triggered.

Leo smiled and waved as Coco and Bodhi left out the front door. “Well, it was good meeting you. I’m sure I’ll be seeing more of you.”

Trixie locked the front door before she turned to him. “Yes, now that you’ve married our girl, I expect to be seeing lots more of you.”

I gave Trixie a side hug and whispered in her ear, “If you give him too much of a hard time, he might regret his decision and file for divorce.”

“Then you’re not seeing the way he looks at you.” She nudged me in the side and winked at me. “Go have fun and be open to living with him because he’s right.”

I gave her a fake smile and called out, “Good night!”

Wrapping my hand around his elbow, I dragged Leo out the backdoor of the salon. “Please ignore Trixie. She means well, but can be a bit much sometimes.”

“It didn’t bother me.” He held open the passenger door for me and didn’t close it until I was safely inside and buckled up. I had a feeling he wanted to say more, and I was right. The second he sat behind the steering wheel, he turned to me with a question on his face.

I wasn’t sure if it was about something he heard inside or if it had to do with me living with him.

“What?”

He looked around the parking lot, and his shoulders shook. “I’m kind of dumbfounded by this town and the people you know.”

“What do you mean?”

“Hearing about stalkers and serial killers isn’t normal, Everly. These are plots to movies my brother’s in, and to think it happened here is…I don’t have words for it.”

“Well, my thought is that since all that has already happened, what else is there to throw at us.”

“I’m sure there’s something.” He chuckled. “Was your boss a part of it?”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “She doesn’t like to talk about it, so I don’t know much. What I do know is one of her customers was almost abducted outside in this very parking lot, but managed to get away. Trixie hid out or something with her and the two cops. One thing led to another and now Tate is her boyfriend. It was before I started working here, so I haven’t asked questions.”

“I wouldn’t either. Do you think that’s why I got this sweet job?”

“What do you mean?”

“Because no one wants to move to a town where there are stalkers and serial killers.”

“If that was the case, no one would live in lots of towns. I think you got the job because you’re a good architect or whatever you do.”

“Whatever I do.” He chuckled to himself. “How about you and I go on a date and learn a bit more about each other?”

I leaned over the console and kissed his cheek. “I’d like that.”

Turning the car on and pulling out of the parking lot, Leo didn’t look at me as he spoke. “Yesterday I didn’t think much of your place being broken into, but after learning about all this other stuff, I really don’t like it.”

“Me either. Especially knowing no one else’s was broken into, but what am I going to do?”

“I know one thing. This weekend we’re going to pack up your apartment and move the rest of your things to my house.”

And then I knew he was crazy. “Don’t you think you should live with me for more than twenty-four hours before you decide that?”

“Nope, we may be doing everything backwards, but I’m not letting you go back there. Not to a place where I can’t protect you from all the bad people in the world.”

11

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