Page 67 of Waitress at the Shadow Ridge Inn
“Are you okay?” Steve asked, running his arms over me, checking for injuries.
“I’m fine,” I whispered.
I wasn’t fine. Not even close.
24
Several hours had passed.The shock was wearing off, and exhaustion was taking over. I was on the couch in Steve’s house with a cup of herbal tea in my hands, a blanket over my lap, and Oscar curled up against me.
I couldn’t wrap my mind around the seething hatred Angie had secretly harbored all these years. Maybe I was every bit as naive as she’d accused. TSTL—Too Stupid To Live. That was what Angie used to call the heroines in the romance books I adored. The ones who needed to be saved by the big, strong alpha male heroes.
Was that what I was?
Steve and the sheriff were speaking quietly at the door. I’d given my statement, which was basically an abbreviated version of the last couple of years of my life. I went into more detail on recent events. I spoke mechanically and felt nothing. It had been like reciting someone else’s story.
Steve had wanted me to go to the ER and get checked out, but I’d declined. Physically, I was unharmed. Mentally and emotionally, I was dealing with things the only way I knew how. By temporarily shutting down until I could process.
Having Steve nearby helped. He was a calming, soothing presence. A balm to my frayed nerves. I was questioning everything in my life at that moment, but not him.
“What’s going to happen to her?” I asked softly.
“They have enough to hold her in the county lockup until they can figure things out, but based on what she’s already said, there will be more charges forthcoming.”
“She needs professional help.”
He nodded. “She’ll get it.”
“What about Aaron? Is he going to be okay?” I asked.
Steve sat down on the couch beside me and gently coaxed me against his chest. I went willingly.
“The doc is hopeful but said the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours are critical. He took a heavy blow to the head.”
I didn’t understand Aaron’s part in this, other than the fact that he seemed to be one of Angie’s obsessions. We’d have to wait for the answers. He’d been unconscious when they loaded him into the ambulance.
“I owe him my life. She would have killed me.”
A chill went down my spine at the truth in that statement.
Steve stroked my arm and kissed the top of my head. “He must care deeply for you.”
I heard his unspoken question.
“No, he doesn’t. That’s the weird thing.” As if there were only one weird thing about this whole situation. “He was my manager’s manager. We spoke maybe ten words in the years I worked there. He wasn’t interested in me.”
Steve laughed softly behind me. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that. You’re impossiblenotto notice.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. I’d never been particularly outgoing. I had a few close friends and a couple of boyfriends in high school. But after my parents died, I had neither the time nor the desire for a social life. I carried a full course load and worked part-time, waiting tables and interning, then trying to make a name for myself at the firm. I hadn’t wanted to screw that up by dating someone I worked with—and certainly not a superior.
We could speculate, but Aaron’s involvement wasn’t a question either of us could answer. I knew that in the coming weeks and months, I’d be combing over the last few years, looking for the signs I’d obviously missed.
We sat in silence for a while. I leaned against Steve, taking comfort in his warmth and strength and scent as I tried to process. Steve held me, gently stroking my arm, assuring himself that I was okay.
I closed my eyes and soaked it all in. I was lucky, and I knew it. If the sheriff hadn’t shown up when he did …
My eyes flew open, and I sat up. Oscar made a soft grunt of protest and resettled himself.
“How did the sheriff know to come to the cabin?”
