Page 4 of A Soldier's Pledge
“No way, I’m vetoing that option. I know you’ll be in the office until at least seven. It’s how you are, and I’d end up getting a phone call saying you worked too late and went to bed.”
Her eyes widened, then she arched an eyebrow. “You think you have me down, huh?”
“Yup. I know you want to see me. What I can’t understand is why you always have to fight it so hard.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he wanted to take them back or kick himself, or maybe both. It was definitely not the time for this discussion, even if they needed to talk about it. They’d been dating for a year. He wanted more, and she kept holding back.
Her gaze turned frosty, and hints of gold glittered in the chocolate brown depths of her eyes. A sure sign she was pissed off. Why couldn’t he learn to keep his mouth shut? “I’m sorry. I know it’s not the time...”
“You’re right, it’s not. We need to clean up. I’m sure I’ll have buyers here soon.” And that was that. With one comment, she closed up tighter than an oyster, and he had no one to blame but himself.
“Anna, look…”
“It’s okay, I get it. I do. But I have to work now.”
“Okay. But I am sorry. I’ll have dinner ready by seven.” She was already standing and wrapping up the rest of her sandwich. At first, she didn’t answer, and he figured he was fucked, and she’d back out of their date. But after a long—too long—sip of her iced coffee, her eyes met his, and they’d softened again. Thank God. Maybe he hadn’t fucked it up totally yet.
“What are you making? Do you want me to stop and get anything on my way?”
“It’s a surprise. And nope, I’ll have everything we need.”
“Should I be worried?”
“Babe, where’s your sense of adventure?” But he already knew and wasn’t surprised when she raised that expressive eyebrow again as she took another sip.
The sound of a car parking in front of the house ended their little interlude. But Ethan figured the way it had been going it was for the best. He needed to do some major damage control later, or he might as well flush all the progress he’d been making right down the toilet. If nothing else, Anna kept him on his toes.
Chapter Two
It was after five by the time the last couple left, but she was pleased with the turnout. It had been a successful open house, and Anna was sure one or two couples would put in an offer before the week was out. Even though she was exhausted from being “on” all afternoon, it was a good tired, not like when she’d spent the afternoon poring over documents. In lots of ways, she missed the selling and interactions, but the business was so big it needed all of her time to keep things running smoothly.
She’d really hoped that Tag would decide to come on board, especially after he was discharged, but he’d found his purpose finally, and she was excited when they’d found the perfect property for his new rehabilitation facility or as he kept calling it his Double R—rehab ranch. It hadn’t been open for long, but he and Mac really put a lot of time and energy into making it the perfect place for not only physical therapy but helping Vets with PTSD. Of course, that meant she was on her own with Willow Haven Realty, at least for now.
With a sigh, she double-checked that everything was back to the way she’d found it and set the lockbox on the door. As she grabbed the sign from the front lawn and headed toward her car, she noticed a guy leaning against the side of an old rusted-out green pickup truck. Their eyes met, and the hair on the back of her neck stood at attention. There was something sinister about the way he was staring at her.
When she looked up again after putting the signs in the trunk of her car, he was still there and still watching her. Not anxious to see if he was going to be trouble, she got into the car and made sure to lock the doors. She glanced up hoping he’d be gone, and that the entire thing had been her imagination, but it wasn’t. Instead, he was still staring at her. Even from across the street, she picked up on his menacing vibes, there was real hatred there. But they didn’t know each other so it couldn’t be directed toward her, could it? While she watched, he flicked his cigarette. Her gaze followed the glowing ember as it arced in the air before bouncing on the asphalt. With one last look in her direction, he climbed into his truck and pulled away.
For a few seconds, she contemplated calling Ethan but talked herself out of it. “You’re overreacting.” The neighborhood was quiet, no one else was out, and he was just grabbing a smoke. Since she was the only other person around, of course, he’d be watching her. Maybe she needed to stop watching all the Criminal Minds reruns.
Even though she didn’t call Ethan, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. She’d never seen the guy before that she could recall. Why would he be watching her? Trying to shake off the ‘willies,’ she decided not to take any chances he might follow her and turned down every side road possible on her way to the office, even going so far as to drive by the police station. After not seeing any sign of the truck, she pulled into the office parking lot.
The office was deserted, but considering it was after six on a Saturday, she wasn’t surprised. Most open houses were done by four and the agents went home from there. But this one had run late, very late and then with clean up, she was running behind—again. Just like Ethan said would happen.
Jenny only worked until four. For the most part being a realtor was a lot like being self-employed, at least the way she ran the business. No micro-managing for her. She despised it, so she sure as hell wasn’t going to do it to anyone else. It was one of the first changes she’d made when she’d taken over, and morale had soared.
She stopped by Jenny’s desk to check for messages then went into her office. Seeing the mountain of paperwork on her desk was like being doused with a bucket of ice water. It was the last thing she wanted to deal with after the busy afternoon. Knowing Ethan was already at her house preparing dinner sealed the deal. “Screw it. It waited this long, it can wait until Monday.” Nodding at her decision, she leaned the signs against the wall, put her go-bag on one of the chairs, locked the office, and left.
The sun was still shining, and she stopped to grab her sunglasses from her purse after locking the front door of the building. That’s when she noticed the truck, at least she thought it was the same truck. Was it a figment of her overactive imagination? Her mother always told her she should be an author since her imagination was out of control. Funny, she hadn’t remembered that until just then. But it really did look like the same run-down truck. It was too far away for her to get the license plate, and she hadn’t thought to check for it while at the open house. Were there that many old green pickup trucks in Willow Haven? Maybe. But it was weird that out of the blue today she was noticing them. If it was the same truck, where was the guy?
As she’d learned in her self-defense class, she checked her surroundings. Taking the class had been a knee-jerk reaction to losing control of everything in her life after Ryan was killed. But it was good to know, especially since she spent so much time alone, or had, until she met Ethan.
After a quick scan of the parking lot, she hurried toward her car, she slid in and locked the doors. Once again, she was tempted to call Ethan but felt silly. He’d be busy making dinner and waiting for her to show up. What could he do anyway? She did decide to drive past the truck and try to read the license plate number. Better safe than sorry.
No sooner had she started her car when the truck peeled away from the curb. Coincidence? She didn’t think so, and it reinforced her uneasiness. Why was he following her? For that matter, who the hell was he? She couldn’t remember ever seeing either him or the truck before. Had she just been oblivious to her surroundings? Goosebumps rose on her arms. Was he watching her before today? Did he know where she lived?
For once she was glad she’d listened to her parents and had the alarm system installed at her house. Along with the self-defense classes, she should be okay, right? Taking a circuitous route home, she wondered whether to tell Ethan. She was most likely making a big deal out of nothing and needed to lay off the Tami Hoag books for a while. But it didn’t stop her from routinely checking her rearview mirror for any sign of the green truck or its creepy driver.
Worried that he’d follow her home, she took the most out of the way route hitting every back road possible. It turned a ten-minute ride into twenty and pretty much ensured no one had followed her. It was a good thing she knew Willow Haven like the back of her hand, or she’d probably have gotten lost. By the time she got home, she was convinced she’d probably blown the whole thing out of proportion. Just because she’d seen the truck twice in one day didn’t mean he was following her, it wasn’t like the town of Willow Haven was huge. Maybe he lived in the neighborhood or was a guest, and they wouldn’t let him smoke inside. When she thought about it that way, it made much more sense than a stranger following her, especially after there was no sign of him since she’d left the office.
As she turned into her driveway, she pulled past Ethan’s car and into her garage. It had been thoughtful of him to pull over to the side so she could pull inside. Turning off the car as the door closed behind her, she took a deep breath. It had been a long day, longer still after she’d gotten herself all worked up, and taken the scenic route home.
