“Yes. Thank you for being here. I’m sure it’s boring for you.”
“It’s not. I really love to read. I always have. I’d spend hours in the library when I was a kid. Coming here is a joy because of what you’ve done to the place.”
“Thank you.” She felt herself blush, so she turned away to grab her purse.
“I’ll follow you to your house,” Dirk said.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Yes, I do. I want to make sure Sean’s there.”
She almost rolled her eyes as she locked the library door. “Is he going to make you come here again?”
“I sure hope so.”
She snorted and then froze when she caught sight of her car. Both tires on the driver’s side were slashed, and it looked like someone had taken a key and ran it down the outside. She had no idea and didn’t want to know what the inside and the passenger side looked like. “Oh, God.”
“Fuck.” Dirk immediately got on the phone while he grabbed her arm and took her across the street into a coffee shop. “Sit down before you fall down.”
“Why would someone do that?” she asked as she stared across the street and dropped into the chair.
“I don’t know. But we’ll find out. Stay there.”
She wouldn’t have been able to stand if she tried because she was shaking so hard. She thought she had gotten away from violence when she’d left Alan, and now she was afraid he might have followed her. But why would he do that after so long? It didn’t make sense. The fact that she could ruin his reputation with the pictures she had should have been enough to keep him away.
She had no idea how long she sat there before seeing Travis and Nia come into the shop and head toward her. Nia hugged her.
“How are you doing?”
“I … I’m not sure.”
He nodded. “That’s understandable.”
Nia squeezed her hand. “I’m so sorry about your car.”
“Thank you. Who would do something like this?”
“I don’t know, honey. But the look on Sean’s face told me he’s not going to stop until he finds out,” Travis said.
“He’s here?” She looked around, trying to spot him.
“Of course,” Travis said. “He called us to come to sit with you until he could get you. Right now, he’s talking to the police.”
“Will they want to talk to me?”
“Probably. I’m going to get us some coffee. You girls sit tight.”
Nia squeezed her hand again. “Who do you think it might be?”
“The only one I can think of is my ex, but why after this long would he want to harass me?”
Nia shrugged. “You never can tell, and don’t try to understand it, either.”
Ava sighed and nodded. There was a crowd standing by her car now, and she could see Sean talking to a few men. She couldn’t get over the fact that she trusted him already, but she did. After what her ex put her through, she never thought she’d want to try another relationship. At least for a long while.
“Here you go. I made it sweet, but try to drink it. You need the sugar and caffeine right now because you’re still in a bit of a shock.”
She nodded. “Thank you.” She’d do anything to keep her mind off the destruction the person did to her car. It showed how mad they were at her for some reason, and she wouldn’t rest easy until she knew who.