A soft rapping on the door startled me, I held my breath, waiting with a pounding heart.
“Savannah,” Jackson’s voice came through the door, gentle and steady. I stayed how I was a moment longer, to regain my composure. My heart was such a mixture of emotions. I was confused and upset.
“Savannah, are you there?”
Before he could knock on the door again, I opened it, stepping aside quickly.
“Come in. Alana is still asleep." He stepped inside, closing the door behind him. I went back to make sure it was locked.
His eyes searched mine, filled with concern. “Are you okay? You don’t look okay.”
I stood there for a moment, feeling vulnerable, cold, and sad. My shoulders were slumped and my head was down.
I shook my head, trying to hold myself together. “I don’t know what’s going to happen now,” I admitted, my voice trembling.
“I thought Alana would be older when he got out. She’d have more time to grow up happy, to be strong enough to handle this.But now I have to decide—do I let him see her? What if he hurts her?”
My voice broke, and the tears came again. Jackson guided me to the couch, his arm draping around my shoulders as I leaned into him. His strength was steadying, but I felt so small, so powerless.
“I won’t let anything happen to you or Alana,” he said softly, his voice firm. “You know that, right?”
I nodded, dabbing at my face with a tissue, feeling a little embarrassed. I hated the prospect of losing Alana a couple weekends a month. I wasn’t going to give up any more time than that. Not unless I knew that Roger could be an exemplary father. His track record wasn’t so good so far.
“I don’t know what to do, Jackson. Him showing up here this late at night, you know he did that for a reason. He didn’t want to see my daughter. He wanted to see me. There’s no other reason to come here at eleven o’clock at night. I’m sorry you were bothered, too. It’s late. I’m sure you have other things to do. Thank you, Jackson. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he looked back at me. “I want you to know I’ve got time off from the fire department. I... took some leave. Just in case you needed someone around.”
My eyes widened. “You took time off? For me and Alana?”
He grinned, a little sheepish. “Don’t be too impressed. I’m still getting paid.”
I laughed, the sound breaking through my tension. “Getting paid to be a stalker, huh?”
“Hey, don’t call me a stalker!” he said, feigning offense. “Even if I watch through my windows and have cameras set up to record movement outside your house...wait, that does sound like……” He trailed off with a laugh.
“You’re the best stalker I’ve ever had,” I teased, finally feeling a bit of warmth seep back into my chest.
Jackson looked uneasy for a moment, which took me off guard. “I do want you to know that Marcus has told me a lot about your situation. We weren’t gossiping about you, I promise. I think he just wanted me to be in the know, so I could be... well, yeah, a guard dog for you. I don’t mind, I promise. I rather like it, actually.”
He put a hand on mine, creating a pleasant ripple of tingles to slide up my arm. I couldn’t resist pulling in a deep breath. I put my other hand over his.
“It’s okay. I don’t mind that he told you about it. And I certainly don’t mind you offering to be a guard dog for me and Alana. I’ll tell you what, you don’t know me really well and that’s something I’d like to change. But let me tell you this one thing, I’m not the kind of woman that won’t ask for help. I know my limitations. That’s why I had that.” I gestured to the baseball bat I’d left by the front door just in case.
Jackson looked around me at it. “Oh Lord, I’m glad you didn’t hit me with that.”
I let out a sharp laugh. “Of course I wouldn’t hit you with that. You told me it was you. You didn’t come barging in my house or anything. I really thought that’s what Roger was going to do.”
“I’m glad I was up. I don’t think I would have gotten any sleep anyway. I’ve been... pretty worried about you and your situation.”
“Thank you for being here. Will you stay on alert?”
He nodded. “You know I will. Do you want me to stay here with you?”
I thought about it for a moment. “Do you want to stay? Will you be up at your house? You’ve got cameras there.”
He pressed his lips together.
“You know, I’d feel better about it if I just stayed here on your couch. I’ll watch some TV. Make sure everything is kosher. Okay?”
