Safe at Home (Warm Springs Trilogy Book 1) (28 page)

Instead, he knelt down in front of Sam and took her hands in his. It made him feel better to touch her. As if the skin to skin contact would somehow let him know she was fine and it had all been a nightmare

“Officer Holloway.” Spencer nodded without taking his eyes off of Sam.

“Spencer, I think we’ve taken down all the information we need and I’ve already called a tow truck to come pick up the car.”

“Appreciate that. So, I can take her home now?” Spencer rose and pulled Sam gently with him.

Officer Holloway stood up and adjusted his belt higher on his hips. “That’ll be fine. I wanted to let you know we’re going to start parking an officer outside your house. Things seem to be escalating and after what he said to you, we don’t want to take any chances.”

Spencer’s head snapped in Sam’s direction. “What he said to you?” Sam tensed under his grip.

“Spencer, not here, okay? I just want to go home.”

Spencer rubbed a hand down her arm and looked at his friend. “Holloway, don’t worry about sending an officer to Sam’s until tomorrow morning. She’ll be at my place tonight. It’s closer,” he added before Sam could protest.

He put his arm around her shoulders and escorted her out of the station. The night had become cold and their breath formed white mist in the air. Sam’s came out faster when she saw her car being hooked up to the tow truck that had arrived.

He could tell by the color draining from her face, that it was the first time she’d seen her car. “Come on, let’s get you home.” Spencer pulled her along, opened the door and waited while she climbed up into his truck. They rode back to his loft in silence. Each lost in their own thoughts. Spencer couldn’t help but glance in Sam’s direction every few seconds, her pale face and taut expression a far cry from the warm, happy woman he’d come to love.

Once inside his apartment, Spencer began looking for food. He hadn’t expected Sam, so the place was in disrepair and since he’d been eating at her house almost every night during the week, the kitchen was pretty bare as well.

“Okay, I have a plan.” Spencer said after circling his kitchen twice. “How about I run downstairs and grab something to-go and you can take a hot bath.”

“That sounds perfect, but don’t stay gone too long, okay?”

“I’ll be back in ten. You can time me.” He kissed her cheek.

“Okay sounds good.” Sam offered him a half-smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

That night after eating subs, Sam laid in Spencer’s arms snuggled under the covers while he massaged her shoulders.

“Sam?”

“Um hmm,” she said almost dreamily.

“If you want, we can leave tomorrow.”

“What?” Her eyes popped open and she looked up at him, bewildered.

“We can go wherever you want to go. I’ll go with you. We can pack and be gone before lunch.”

“Spencer, I don’t know what to say,” she stammered.

“Say okay and let’s go.”

“But what about Ann and the baby? Is now really the best time for you to disappear? They’ll think I took you away from them. They’re your family.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Sam. They know this is a possibility. My number one concern is to keep you safe and I thought we were doing okay, until today.” He shook his head in disgust. “The thought that I wasn’t there for you.”

“Spencer don’t.” She turned and held his face in her hands. “You’re not my keeper. You can’t be with me every second of every day.”

“Well, if we go away together, I can sure try. I have a little bit of money saved and it wouldn’t be forever. Just long enough for the cops to catch up with him.” She didn’t need to say she wasn’t sure they would, he could see it in her eyes, the doubt, the fear. She was strong, but the worry was always there behind her words like a ghost she couldn’t shed.

She shivered.

“Are you cold?” Spencer asked.

“No, I’m fine.” A long time passed as he gave her time to think. “Okay,” she said finally.

“Okay?”

She nodded. “Let’s go.”

He squeezed her shoulder. “Are you sure?”

“Not really, but I don’t know what else to do.” Her fingers worked the buttons of his shirt. “And like you said, it’s not forever. We can come back and have a normal life, whatever that is.” She stroked his chest with light fingers, bringing his pulse to life. “I can’t take the risk of him hurting someone else I care about. It’s gone on long enough.” She kissed his chest. “I don’t know another way to stop it from happening again.”

“Tomorrow then.” Spencer crushed her mouth with his. He didn’t want to think about Eric anymore or how close he’d come to losing her.

Chapter 34

After a cup of coffee and enough time for Spencer to throw a bag together, they were in his truck and on the way to her house. The late night caused them to have a late start. It was almost lunch time before Sam opened her back door and entered her kitchen. There was a police car outside just as Officer Holloway promised. Spencer jogged out to talk to the officer and fill him in on their plans to leave town for a little while. She took in her kitchen with its white cabinets and red chairs, and sighed. It would be strange being gone, but at least this time she wouldn’t be alone.

She was happy to be home, even if it was only long enough for her to pack and close up the house. She hated the thought of leaving, but after everything that had happened, she knew she couldn’t stay. Earl, Betsy, and Jenny had suffered because of her and then last night. He’d been right behind her. If luck hadn’t been on her side, she could be dead right now. Her car easily could have flipped over and ended up in a ditch or worse. Her feelings of unease were back in full force this morning, but before they could leave she had a few things she needed to do, starting with a shower.

When she came down stairs with her wet hair wrapped in a towel, she could hear Spencer on the phone in the living room.

“I can be there in twenty minutes.” Then a pause while whoever was on the other end said their piece. “It’s fine. There’s a police officer parked out front.” Spencer was using his calming voice, but he was shrugging on his jacket and heading to where his boots were sitting by the back door in the kitchen. “No, it’ll be fine. Hang tight and keep trying to call him.”

“Hey,” Sam said, trying not to startle him when she stepped into the kitchen. “Is everything all right?”

“Leave it to my dumbass brother to go on a hunting trip where his cell service is bordering on non-existent.”

“He didn’t?” Sam shook her head and leaned against the doorjamb. “Is Ann okay?”

Spencer stopped tugging on his boot to cut his eyes up at her. “Ann’s in labor.” With a huff, he pulled on his second boot. “I need to go pick her up and take her to the hospital.” He stopped beside Sam and kissed her. “It looks like we’re going to have to put our plans on hold. I was calling Ann to fill her in when she told me.”

“Oh my gosh, you’ve got to go.” Sam practically pushed him out the door.

“I’m going. She’s been trying to call Jake for the last three hours, hoping to catch him when he got back to camp, but now the contractions are getting close and she said she needs to go, not to mention the baby’s early.”

“She needs you. Besides, I still have to pack and clean out the fridge. No worries. I’ll be here when you get back.”

“Are you sure you’re okay being here alone?”

“There’s a police officer right outside, so I’m really not alone, am I?” She smiled at him. Fortunately, Spencer didn’t know her experience had caused her to stop counting on the law to protect her. “Now go.”

“I’ll call you in a little while.”

She kissed his cheek and he was gone. It was fine. She would be fine. After a deep breath, she went upstairs to finish getting ready.

The clouds overhead started to drop a light rain. The air was cooling off in a hurry, it was going to be a cold night. Eric could barely feel the chill in the air. His blood pumped through his veins at the thought of seeing Samantha that night. He’d waited so long to get his hands on her, to beat her just to the point of unconsciousness and then watch the light leave her eyes as he choked her to death with his bare hands. He could almost feel her bones cracking beneath his fingers and he couldn’t hide his smile.

He could see her house from his perch in the trees. He could also see the cop car parked outside. It was unfortunate, but not impossible to deal with. What was one half-asleep gomer anyway? He hadn’t been sure she would come back to her house. He’d waited half the night in vain, but things had changed that morning and now the asshole cowboy was gone.

In a way, it was too bad. Part of Eric wanted to kill him just to torture her a bit more, but if he was gone, things would go much more smoothly. A few more hours and it would be dark enough to slide from his place in the woods and go visit the house and its occupant.

Sam’s phone rang thirty minutes later, distracting her from the contents of her refrigerator. “Miss me already?” She teased when she heard Spencer’s voice on the other end of the line.

“You know I do.”

“How’s Ann?”

“She’s fine,” Ann added into the speakerphone from the passenger seat. “Aside from all these contractions and having an idiot husband who likes to abandon his wife to go hunting.”

“I take it you’re on the way to the hospital?”

“Well, actually we’re on the way to your place to drop Alex off.” Spencer waited, but Sam was stunned into silence. “Sam? Hello? Are you still there?”

She remembered to blink and shut the refrigerator door. “Yes, I’m here.”

“Since the baby’s early, Ann’s parents aren’t here yet and won’t be until tomorrow morning. Earl and Betsy are still out of town visiting their daughter, so that leaves you.”

“I’m calling in that favor now,” Ann added sounding distant.

Sam paced across her kitchen and sat down at the table. “Spencer, did you tell Ann about last night?”

“I did and that there’s a cop there now.” After a brief silence he added, “It’s going to be fine. We’ll see you in a minute, okay?”

Sam stood and walked to the den. “See you then.” The police car was still parked out front. She exhaled. Spencer was right, it would be fine.

“Okay, Alex, the cookies are in the oven. What do you want to do next?”

He placed a finger on his chin while he thought about it. “Um, I don’t know. We could play ball.”

“Sounds good to me. Did you bring your baseball mitt?”

“Yeah, but what’re you going to use?” Alex asked looking crestfallen.

“Oh, I’m sure I can come up with something.” She winked. “Let me run upstairs for just a minute.” Sam took the stairs two at a time and went into the never-been-used guest room.

There were a few boxes of keepsakes stashed away in the closet. Now, if she could just remember which box contained her softball mitt. At some point, she was going to have to clean out the boxes. Some of them contained happy memories, but some needed to go. She spotted a trophy, which was a good sign. “A-ha,” she said triumphantly to the empty room. She didn’t want to go down in the books as the worst babysitter in the world.

“Got it, let’s go out back,” she said descending the stairs.

“You have a mitt?” Alex asked.

“I sure do.” She opened the back door for him to step through. “I played softball all through high school.”

“Softball, huh?” He squinted up at her.

She squinted back at him. “Hey, what’s wrong with softball?”

“Oh, nothing, it’s just that it’s for girls.” He threw the ball at her across the yard which she caught with no trouble.

“Well, in case you haven’t noticed, I
am
a girl.” She tossed it back.

“I know you’re a girl.” They played in companionable silence for a little while, but she could tell something was on Alex’s mind.

“I’m sure your mom’s doing okay.”

“Yeah, I’m sure she is. She’s tough,” he shrugged. “That’s what my dad says anyway.” They lapsed back into silence and then out of nowhere lightening lit up the sky.

“Whoa, I guess we better go in, huh?” They raced through the back door as thunder clapped overhead. The smell of the chocolate chip cookies filled the downstairs, making her mouth water. “How about pizza for dinner?”

“Does it have pepperoni?”

“Of course. What kind of person do you take me for?”

Alex giggled at her silly expression and the phone rang. “Hello?”

“Hey, Sam, it’s me. How are things going?” Spencer asked.

“Fine. We were just about to make pizza. How’s Ann?”

“She’s hangin’ in there. Doc says she has a long way to go.”

“I know she’s glad you’re there. Any word from Jake?” She bent to take the cookies out of the oven.

“Not yet, but I’ll keep trying. I’ll give you guys a call a little later and check in. Enjoy your pizza. I’ll just be here eating cafeteria food.” He used his most pitiful voice.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you, after pizza we have cookies.”

“They’re not chocolate chip are they?”

Sam grinned. “You know it.”

He whimpered on the other end of the phone and she laughed.

“Tell Ann hello and that we’re thinking about her.”

“Will do.” He hung up.

“Spencer said your mom is doing great, but it’s going to be a little while.” Sam noticed he still had the look of a man with something on his mind.

“Sam?”

“Yes?” She turned to put the pizza in the oven.

“Are you going to marry Uncle Spencer?”

She almost closed her hand in the oven. “What makes you say that?” She turned slowly to give herself the chance to recover.

“I don’t know. It’s just that you’re the first girl that’s hung out with us a whole lot and my mom says that when people kiss, it means they love each other and you guys kiss. And when you love each other, you get married and have kids, so I was thinking you guys were going to get married.” His words came out in a rush with no awkwardness, just pure childlike curiosity.

“Well,” she began, sitting at the table across from him, “I do care about Spencer, but I don’t know if we’re going to get married. There’s a lot going on right now.”

“Do you mean with the baby or with the Jenny thing?”

All the blood rushed out of Sam’s face at his comment and she had no idea how to answer.