Sharon’s eyes widened. “Someone at Little Lambs?”
“No. Maybe. I’m not sure.” Lynn tried to slow her breathing. It felt as though the pick were burning a hole in her pocket. She took it out and showed it to Sharon. “This was on my front porch, and it’s not mine.”
She suspected Sharon was going to argue against Lynn’s suspicions until she saw the pick. “I wonder who left it? No one here has ever acted as though they know something.”
Lynn crossed her arms, suddenly chilled. “I should’ve known I wouldn’t be able to keep this up forever.”
“Don’t go throwing your new life away just yet.” Sharon gave her a side hug. “Maybe your landlord’s granddaughter recognized you and just wanted you to know. Maybe she’s hoping you’ll sign the back and leave it there for her.”
“I think you’re reaching.” If only it were something that simple and innocent. All she knew right now was that the pick in her hand was making her feel incredibly exposed. “I’ll be right back.” She went into the restroom, snapped the pick in half, wrapped it in a paper towel, and put it in the trash.
It didn’t matter if some kid wanted an autograph. If that were the case, he or she could come and ask for one.
By the time Lynn got back out to the nursery, she was starting to feel a little less shaky. Especially when she saw Nathan and Mia waiting at the counter. Just having the chance to talk to them both helped a little.
Even though her interaction with Nathan was short, the slight brushing of his hand against hers had her heart singing. She went to work with Mia in her arms. Focusing on her little charges was exactly what she needed.
She’d get through today, see Nathan again tonight, and everything would be fine. It was probably just her landlord’s granddaughter, like Sharon said. Lynn would mention it to her landlord tomorrow. That would probably clear everything up, and she’d feel silly for reacting so strongly.
Later that evening, she called her landlord and ended up having to leave a message on the machine. There were no new guitar picks waiting for her at the front door. She’d watched traffic all the way home for signs of someone following her. No strange cars on the street.
Even still, she moved a kitchen chair and put it in front of both the front and back doors. If someone was going to break in, he’d make a whole lot of noise doing it. Thai meowed as he looked up at her in curiosity.
Lynn chuckled. “I know. I was a little crazy before I became the crazy cat lady.” She bent down and scooped him into her arms. “Come on, let’s go to bed.” She turned the kitchen light off, but flipped it back on again before leaving the room.
The next morning, she was relieved to find no more guitar picks on her door mat. By the time she got to work, she wasn’t feeling nearly as vulnerable as she was before.
That’s exactly why, when she went out to her car to get her lunch box later that day, she didn’t think anything about the piece of paper stuck under her windshield wiper. It wasn’t unusual to find advertisements for local restaurants offering lunch specials.
Lynn pulled the paper out and was about to crumple it up when she noticed it was blank except for something taped to the other side. When she turned it over, another guitar pick stared back at her. She dropped the paper and pressed a hand to her mouth.
She’d been kidding herself. It was happening again.
What was she supposed to do? She didn’t want to touch the paper again, but if this turned into something more, she might need it as evidence. Lynn carefully retrieved it by one corner, took a picture with her phone, and went back inside the day care center.
She found Sharon in the nursery and held the paper out, her hands shaking.
“He knows where I work. This isn’t a coincidence. It’s him.”
Sharon had been burping an infant who’d fallen asleep on her shoulder. She stood carefully and laid the baby down in one of the cribs.
She took a closer look at the paper. “Call the police.”
“And tell them what? That I’ve been living under a different name and someone is leaving guitar picks? The guy got away and was never arrested in the first place. They won’t be able to do a thing.” Lynn ran her fingers through her hair several times before letting her arms drop. “He hasn’t broken into anything. No scary messages. I can’t even give enough evidence to completely convince myself the guy’s back because they gave out a million of these stupid guitar picks back in the day.”
“You could come stay with me and Walt for a few days.”
Lynn shook her head. “I can’t do that. I can’t just come live with you forever.” She groaned. “I hate this. I should have known better than to move back to Texas. If I’d been smart, I would’ve moved to Nevada. Oh, or Alaska. I could have disappeared there.”
“Right into the belly of a grizzly bear.” Sharon snagged Lynn’s arm and pulled her to one of the rocking chairs. “You need to take a few breaths.”
Lynn tried to relax as she sank into the chair.
Sharon dragged another one closer and sat down as well. “So far, we don’t know that this is the same guy who was stalking you before.”
“True.” Sharon was the only person Lynn had told the whole story to. At the time, the stalker had not only broken into her bus to get to her, but had followed her from concert to concert for months before that, yelling that he was in love with her.
Whoever this was, he seemed relatively hands-off. Maybe it would stay that way.
