“Yeah, me too,” Elena agreed. “I ended up letting Chauncey go outside by himself for a minute without keeping an eye on him. That’s when he found that hole.”
“Well, maybe I shouldn’t have been so lost in thought -” I closed my mouth, cutting myself off as I realized this was never going to end. Elena was too polite to let me have the last apology. “Let’s just call us even.” I suggested.
Elena nodded and craned her neck to find her daughter as she handed me the water bottle. “More than ever, after what you did for us. Again, thank you. Although thanks doesn’t really cut it… I don’t know what Oscar would have done if you hadn’t shown up.”
“Oscar?” I asked casually, pleased to have a name for the asshole. So, now maybe I could find him and give him a piece of what I thought about people who assaulted women and scared children. Elena was surprisingly calm about it, though. Impressively calm. I had dealt with a lot of traumatized people in my business. People who had experienced a break-in or some kind of altercation usually acted panicky, tearful, terrified or angry. They shouted and cursed, angry at me for not showing up sooner and angry at the culprit for causing trouble.
Elena didn’t seem angry, just worried and tired. After she grabbed a water for herself, her eyes strayed to her daughter playing on the floor in the living room. Her face lightened visibly, and her angled brows relaxed, knowing her child was safe and sound.
Elena reminded me of my own mother. Beautiful, kind and willing to do anything for her child. How had I ever yelled at this woman?
“Yeah, Oscar. He’s my ex. Bree’s father.” The child heard her name and came toddling toward the kitchen, still clutching her doll. She watched me with curious, wonder-filled eyes as I came around the counter to hear Elena better when she moved across the kitchen. “You want some juice, Honey? Juice?”
That magical word brought Bree to Elena’s side in no time, and she filled some kind of a baby’s cup with juice as red as her hair. “There you go, sweetie.”
Bree looked from the doll in her hands to the cup of juice, then back again.
“Here, give Gloria to Mommy,” Elena coaxed, holding out her free hand.
Bree looked from the doll to her mother, then turned around and marched over to me. I froze, unsure of what to do. Bree looked up, her babyish face evaluating me, then held the doll out with both hands.
“Oh, wow. She wants you to hold Gloria for her. It’s a great honor,” Elena told me with a proud smile. “She never lets anyone but my best friend and me hold Gloria.”
I knelt down. At Bree’s level, everything looked bigger and taller, and I suddenly had a glimpse of how I must have looked to a little girl – a tall, imposing man with a big voice. But somehow, she could tell me apart from the other man, the one who had been yelling at her mother, and she had decided to trust me with one of her treasured toys.
I took the doll. I didn’t say anything, but I didn’t need to. I held her carefully with both hands, waiting for Bree to turn away, pleased before I stood up. “Really?” I answered her mother, still using both hands to hold the doll in case Bree turned around to check.
“Yeah. She likes you.”
I made a new friend.The thought put a smile on my face. This hadn’t been at all what I expected when I went on my afternoon run, but I didn’t regret any of it.Maybe two new friends,I realized, looking up at Elena, who had handed the cup to Bree and was watching as she made her way back into the living room to sit on the soft carpet. “I like her too. She might be the most adorable tiny human I’ve ever seen.”
Elena giggled, seeming much more relaxed now. I hated to bring up her ex again, but I had to know. “What did your ex want? Why was he here?”
“Do you want to sit down?” We sat together at the dining room table. “He told me he wanted to be in Bree’s life. But he never wanted that before a few months ago, when he called and asked to see us. I told him, no, and I thought that was the end of it.” Elena watched Bree solemnly and intently raise her cup to her lips. “I guess it wasn’t.”
“Is this the first time he’s come here?” Some people just couldn’t take no for an answer. Maybe it would take a fist in his face or some jail time instead.
Elena hesitated. “No. He… I think he left me a note yesterday. And I think it was him who slashed the tires on my car two weeks ago. But the police weren’t much help. They told me since they couldn’t prove anything, they weren’t able to charge Oscar with property damage or stalking, yet. But they took my statement and said they would look for him. And if they found Oscar they would take him to the station for questioning.”
Rage ran like blood through my veins. “What kind of note?”
“A threatening one. But I didn’t think he would actually show up and do anything…” Elena’s voice trailed off, but her anxious glance through the front window said it all.
“Okay. Here’s what we’re going to do. I’m in the private security business. I want you to leave this to me and not worry about a thing.” I crushed the empty plastic water bottle and tossed it in the trash. “Just go about your life as normal, keep your doors and windows locked… I’ve got this.”
Elena looked a bit stunned. “Uh…thank you for the thought, but I could never afford to install a security system or anything like that right now.”
Smiling, I put my hands on my hips. “Like I said, just leave it to me and don’t worry about the money. It’s the least I can do for the way I acted last week.”
I sensed Elena’s relief when she agreed without further argument. “I guess… I mean…that would be wonderful then. I really appreciate you doing this for us. Honestly, I had no idea what to do lately,” she admitted. “The police aren’t very helpful.”
“They need solid evidence. Otherwise, their hands are tied. I can get it… that’s what I do,” I explained. “If he comes around again, we’ll have the evidence law enforcement needs, and he’ll be out of your life for good.”
We chatted for a few more minutes, then Elena said, “I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but I’m going to need to fix Bree’s dinner soon.” I looked down, realizing I was still holding her doll in one hand. “Can I drive you home first?”
I could have said no. I could have told Elena that I had a ride lined up – I didn’t, but I could have called Nate. Instead, I said, “Yes, that would be great, thanks,” because I didn’t want to say goodbye to her - not yet.
Before we left, I checked every window in the house and the locks on the back doors. Then, I scratched my private number on a sticky note and stuck it to the table - making sure Elena knew where it was, just in case. When we stepped outside, I watched as Elena double-locked the front door. Finally, I handed Bree her doll to hold on the ride to my mansion before I got into her car.
