Stepping out, she put her hands on the wooden railing, peered over the side, and looked all around.
Not a person in sight.
Kendrick’s truck wasn’t parked in the grassy lot beside her house, either.
Strange.
The tiny hairs on her arm stood on end as the sensation of being watched swept over her.
“Hello?” she called out.
She could see part of the street that ran directly in front of her place. There were a couple of people strolling on both sides of the road, along the jagged sidewalk that was overgrown with weeds and grass that poked through the cracks.
A bus rolled by, followed by a small car and then a garbage truck.
But no one paid her any attention.
She shut her door enough so that she could look at the front of it, wondering if someone had put a takeout flyer or something there.
Nope. It was bare.
It could have been a bill collector, she realized, but the odds of them actually dropping by the house were pretty much slim to none. They just called and sent certified letters. And the mail had already run that day, so it wasn’t the postman bringing bad news.
She decided to check one more thing before heading back inside. Keeping the door closed so she could step to the rear of the tiny square patio—that was really only big enough to hold one person at a time—she leaned against the railing and looked into the space behind her apartment. She couldn’t see much around the corner. But there wasn’t anyone in sight.
It was possible someone was out of view, lurking near the dumpster.
Remembering the view she had of that from the window above her kitchen sink, she went back inside, locked her door, and hurried to the spot. She had to hoist herself up a little, and she was thankful it wasn’t to climb down this time around.
Opening the window, she poked her head out and looked straight down.
Still nothing.
“Maybe it was someone who realized they had the wrong address and left.”
She yelped and jumped a little as another knock at the door startled her.
Hurrying toward it, she wondered if she should actually answer it. What if this was some creep playing psychological games or something? Someone who thought it was funny to mess with a young woman who lived all alone.
She inched her eye to the peep hole and smiled.
Daddy was there!
Well, the guy she thought was her Daddy. She hadn’t exactly called him that yet. But if the kiss they’d shared last night was any indication…
She threw the door open, wrapped her arms around his neck, and squealed in delight.
“Mmm. You seem happy to see me. I like that.”
She confirmed his suspicion with a nod and a smile. But a frown turned her lips down a second later. “Did you just get here?”
“Yep.”
“Did you see anyone running away from here?”
She felt his body tense as she continued to press herself against him.
“No. Why? Did something happen?”
