I head back to the living room, switching off lights as I go.
Time to reset.
Tomorrow will be normal again, filled with cleaning, prepping, and shopping. Preparing for Labor Day.
A noise outside stops me cold.
A scrape against the front path. Not the wind or a branch.
Footsteps.
My pulse leaps, beating a panicked rhythm against my throat. I freeze and listen. More footsteps draw near. Then all goes quiet.
They’ve reached my door.
Don’t be ridiculous, Chloe. It’s probably just Mrs. Chen checking in. Or the wind. Or a stray cat.
But my body knows better. Every instinct shrieks of danger. I creep toward the door, silent on bare feet, and peer through the peephole.
Oh my god.
Kolya’s impossible to miss silhouette eats the yellow porch light. He stands motionless, hands at his sides, staring straight at the door like he can see through the wood grain.
My heart pounds, wildly and frantically. He followed me home.
Of course he did.
That’s what dangerous men do.
He doesn’t ring the bell. Just waits like he knows I’m peeking out at him and expects me to open the door for him.
No. Nope. Not doing that.
Oh, heck.
My hand spins the doorknob before my brain can process my actions. Because I refuse to succumb to cowardice, I open the door a tiny, brave crack. The chain I leave on couldn’t stop a determined cat, but it’s the principle of the matter.
If I pretend everything’s normal, it will be.
He doesn’t shove his way in. Simply radiates that strange, heavy stillness.
I’m vulnerable despite the chain, despite my nighttime attire, despite the facade of normalcy I’m desperately clinging to.
“Kolya?” I whisper his name. “What are you doing here?”
I swear his dark eyes never blink. “You dropped this. At the restaurant. The server ran it out to me right after you pulled out of the parking lot.” He lifts his hand, and my phone screen flickers in the porch light.
My stomach drops straight through the floor.
“Oh, wow. I didn’t even realize. I would have, though, when I tried to listen to my bedtime podcast.”
My attempt at levity doesn’t earn me a smile. Tough crowd. Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned bedtime.
I poke my hand through the space between the door and frame.
For a second, he keeps hold of the phone, then he drops it into my waiting palm.
I snake my arm back inside with my cell in hand, breathing heavily for some absurd reason. “Well, thank you again. You caught me just in time…I was about to go to bed.”
