Page 60 of To Believe In You
Tim lifted his eyebrows, silently telling her to reconsider that statement.
Shane had affected Matt and to a lesser extent, Gannon. Tim would go to any lengths to defend his assets.
She sighed. “Right. What was I thinking?”
“Is he going to keep showing up?” Tim managed a group of men. They probably responded better to his bossy and gruff manner than she wanted to.
“Hard to say.” An image of Shane slithered to mind. The tension in his face as he’d grown more desperate. “I didn’t expect any of this.”
“You live alone in the country.” He waited, but if he expected her to disagree, she couldn’t. “You shouldn’t come and go by yourself. Here or there.”
Lina lifted an eyebrow. “Are you volunteering to escort me?”
His expression soured. “Do you have any kind of security system?”
“A couple of motion-activated doorbell cameras.” To date, they had only captured images of Lina and woodland creatures. She’d stopped paying much attention to the notifications until returning home on Sunday. Since turning up the app’s sound, she’d jumped each time it went off. A family of raccoons seemed to enjoy waddling across her driveway.
“What time do you go home?”
“I don’t have a firm plan for tonight.” But Matt’s last lesson ended at six thirty, and if she stayed, she could probably snag a couple of minutes with him before he rushed off to wherever he needed to be next. “Six thirty or seven?”
“Make it six, and you’ve got yourself a deal.”
“A deal?”
“I’ll meet you here and make sure you get home safe. I can probably swing following you into town most days too. You don’t come in most of the time until almost lunch, right?”
She blinked at him. If she hadn’t already said she didn’t have a firm plan, she’d decline tonight’s offer for the chance of talking with Matt. But given Matt’s loaded schedule, he probably wouldn’t be able to accompany her home, and maybe Tim had a point. Maybe she shouldn’t be alone. Just in case.
Of course, she would be alone when she was in her house, but maybe arrivals and departures were when trouble was most likely. Especially the routine trips, like driving to and from work. Hopefully random outings to run errands didn’t require the same precautions, because she didn’t want to lose the independence to leave when she wanted. Besides, she’d hate to ask anyone to go so far out of their way for her.
Even the offer to follow her to and from work seemed extravagant. “You’re sure?”
“I’m not a gorilla either.”
He’d prove that claim more easily by sitting instead of wolfing down his meal while pacing the office, but Lina held her peace. He finished eating and left her to complete her work day.
She mindlessly checked off tasks as she told herself over and over again to appreciate the space from Matt. After her bad decisions with Shane, she needed to be cautious. So, as six neared, she shut down her computer. No sooner had that screen darkened than her phone lit up.
The sight of Dad’s number twisted her stomach. She’d much prefer another false alarm involving raccoons. She would let his call go to voicemail, but she hadn’t left enough information in her own message for Dad to know why she’d called. They needed to have a conversation.
In the sitting area, Matt’s next lesson waited while he finished with thirteen-year-old Luke. Carrie worked with a young violinist in another practice room. For privacy, Lina would have to step outside or into the back hall. Since it was a cool September evening, she opted for the hall, swiping to answer.
Pleasantries with Dad were short, as always.
As they petered out, the front door opened, and Tim blustered in. When he spotted her in the back, he lifted his eyebrows.
Lifting a finger, she stepped out of sight and sat on the staircase. The back hall was one of the only dim places in Key of Hope. Since she hadn’t flicked on the light in the stairwell, the only illumination came through the frosted glass window in the door leading outside.
She leaned her shoulder on the wall, her head tipped against the railing. “Shane has been reaching out to me. He showed up at Gannon’s wedding and caused quite a scene.”
“Oh?” Dad’s tone embodied false innocence.
“He said you sent him.”
“Why would I do that?”
Really? He wouldn’t own his actions, even after his accomplice had implicated him? Maybe the consequences of what he’d done would coax him to take some ownership. “I have to imagine it’s because you didn’t believe me that he’s untrustworthy. It’s been over a year, and he still hasn’t returned a dime of what he gambled away. He’s also violent. He started a fist fight in the lobby.”
