Page 71 of Ripped & Shipped
“I’m going to tell Mom and Dad soon. Duke and I talked about it. It won’t be fair if they hear our big news from someone else.”
“Good call. I’d love to be there when you break the news.”
“I’ll make sure we tell you when we plan to go over there. Were you here to see Dad?”
“Actually, I want to talk to Meg for a minute. Is she with a client?”
“No. She’s free. Let me tell her you’re here.”
Shannon stands up, walks past me, and heads behind the dividing wall between the reception area and the offices. I hear the knock on Meg’s office door and the sound of their voices, and then Shannon returns to the waiting area telling me I can go on back.
I step into Meg’s office, shutting the door behind me. I hope my hunch is right and coming here is a good call.
“What can I do for you, Chris?”
I get right to the point.
“It’s about Ella Mae.”
Meg looks at me with a knowing look. What she knows, I can’t tell. Maybe she could enlighten me. I’ve never been as confused as I have been in the past few weeks.
“May I?” I ask, pointing to a chair in front of Meg’s desk.
“Sorry. Yes. Have a seat.”
“So, here’s the thing. I’m concerned.”
I practiced what I want to say. I’m going to present this in a way that doesn’t give away Aiden’s identity, and doesn’t reveal my profession.
Meg nods, indicating that I should go on.
“After that night Ella Mae and I were on her live together, I got on social media. I just wanted to see who was saying what about me after that evening we spent together.”
“Makes sense.”
“When I went on her page, I saw that BeefItUp guy’s comments. They were over the line.”
“That’s what I kept telling her!”
Okay. Good to know.
“Well, I tried to tell Ella Mae to block him. She resisted, but she finally listened to me.”
“You’ve got the magic touch when it comes to her, Chris. She wouldn’t listen to anyone but you.”
What? I have a magic touch? Hardly. Ella Mae fights me more than the town’s rogue cow, Lulabelle, fights a team of men trying to get her into her trailer.
“Well, anyway. She listened to me, but I still thought that guy might be a threat. His comments escalated in intensity. He seemed to be more than a fan.”
“A stalker, if you ask me,” Meg says plainly.
“I don’t use that term loosely, but yeah. Probably something of a stalker.”
Meg nods.
“So, I have some friends who know how to track people.”
Meg does this little bouncing thing in her seat. She actually rubs her hands together like she’s excited. “And you got them to track this BeefItUp guy?”
