With a start, River remembered her abandoned cell, and reached into her hoodie to pull out the device. She unlocked the home screen and opened the messages. But when she saw the sender ID, she froze.
She didn’t know how, she didn’t know when, but she knew that her ex was out on bail. Nervously, she tapped on the message.
I know where you are.
That was all it said. Five words that would be innocuous to anyone else, but five words that made River let out a yelp. Her cell clattered to the floor, the screen cracking as it hit the floorboards. Her hands flew to her mouth and tears began to stream from her eyes.
Betty turned around with alarm and rushed over to her niece.
“What is it? What happened?” she asked desperately. But River couldn’t answer, she was filled with dread and fear that threatened to completely destroy her.
“Harry! Harry!” Betty yelled and the chef appeared at the dining room door.
“What? Oh shit!” he said as his eyes fell on River. “I’m on it!”
Harry disappeared from the doorway and grabbed the phone mounted to the wall in the kitchen, his voice carrying easily to the almost deserted dining hall.
“Daniel? Harry. Get over to the inn,” was all Harry said before putting the phone down.
River barely knew what was happening around her. She was vaguely aware that Betty was beside her, she was vaguely aware that the chef was doing something in the kitchen, but she couldn’t bring herself to think of anything but the text message.
She thought she had escaped, made it clean away, but the man who had destroyed her, taken everything but the little she had brought to this sleepy little town, knew where she was, and if he knew where she was, he was coming for her.
Outside the inn, tires screeched and a moment later, Daniel, breathless, and lacking in color, burst through the door.
“What happened?” he asked Betty was he came into the dining room and dropped to his knees beside River.
“I don’t know. She had her breakfast, I was getting her coffee. Then she screamed, dropped her phone and was like this.”
Daniel snatched up her phone and stared at the screen for a moment, sparing River from having to remember how to talk.
“Bastard,” he growled.
“What? What is it?” Betty asked.
“River? Can you hear me? It’s Daniel,” he said gently as he placed his hands on her shoulders and slowly turned her towards him. She looked down at him and suddenly everything that had happened yesterday didn’t seem to matter anymore. She didn’t carewhathe was—he was here, and that was all that was important.
“Oh, Daniel,” she sobbed and threw her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her and gently lifted her into his lap on the floor, then held her tightly and let her cry.
“Betty, can you call Grant and James, hopefully Alice is with Grant, ask them to come over if they can,” Daniel said.
“Not until you tell me what is happening,” Betty replied crossly.
“How much do you know about what has happened in the last year,” Danel asked Betty. “To River, I mean.”
“I know she’s had a tough time. Money and work problems. There was something about a guy too,” Betty shrugged.
“That guy was behind her money and work problems. He stole from her, took everything she had, left her with almost nothing and then tried to sell little she had left,” Daniel said withscorn. “He was arrested for stealing her car and trying to sell it, and now he’s out on bail it seems.”
It sounded so awful when Daniel said it all out loud. How had she ever allowed things to get so bad? She bit back a sob, not wholly successful.
“Oh River, I am so sorry,” Betty said as her hand flew to her mouth.
“Can you make those calls for me?” Daniel asked.
“Of course, I’ll be right back,” Betty said and disappeared to the front desk.
River curled into Daniel’s shoulder, grateful they were alone, away from prying questions.
