It was obvious where I felt the safest—with Hector—but I didn’t want to bother him either since he currently had his hands full with a long list of orders he needed to make.
Still, I found my way into the kitchen, feeling slightly better simply by being in his proximity. It wasn’t enough.
I still felt too exposed.
I tried to sneak past him into the back, but he caught sight of me. Hector called something my way. I didn’t really hear him. I think I tried to yell reassuring words back, but I couldn’t really be sure.
My body was on autopilot. I wasn’t even fully aware of where I was heading until a cold blast of air hit me in the face and I was shrouded in darkness.
Yes, this was the safest place right now. The walk-in freezer only had one entrance, and I was certain Hector wouldn’t let anyone find me in here. With not a single light on, nobody could see me. Nobody couldwatchme. And that was the only reason I was able to take deep, chilly breaths of air to regulate my emotions.
A couple of breaths later, the door of the walk-in freezer opened. I froze, relaxing when I saw it was Hector. He flicked on the light before letting thedoor fall closed.
“Are you okay? Did something happen?” he asked and walked over to me, arms open.
I crashed into him, finally feeling like nobody could get to me now with Hector protecting me. I was an idiot thinking that I could solve this alone. I was in a perfectly safe space surrounded by people who I knew had my back, but here I was, still having a panic attack.
Hector lifted my face and furrowed his brow at what he saw. I hadn’t realized I was crying until he used his thumb to wipe the liquid from my cheeks.
“What happened? Did somebody hurt you?” he asked, voice stony, like he was about to raise hell if someone had made me this way. The sheer seriousness in his tone had me choking out a sound that was a mix between a laugh and a sigh of relief.
One sentence from him was all that was needed to calm me down. I pressed a kiss to his lips. He happily accepted it and deepened the kiss until the only thing I could think about was him.
The air was icy around us, but my body was warmed by Hector holding me and breathing stability back into me.
When we parted, he wiped the rest of the tear tracks from my cheeks. I couldn’t stop smiling even if I’d wanted to.
“What happened?” he asked. His thumb was still rubbing the area under my eye. The callouses didn’t hurt, but the roughness stationed me in this moment with him. I was safe.
“I’ll tell you later. We should get back to work. It’s packed out there,” I replied and tried to detangle myself from him, but I wasn’t successful.
“They can wait. You’re what’s important right now. Nothing else matters.”
If I were anyone else, I might be shocked to hear him say that. From the outside looking in, they would think The Diner was everything to Hector. It was his top priority.
Getting to know him meant I learned it wasn’t The Diner that was important. It was the space he created that gave anyone who came a safety blanket they might not be able to find anywhere else. Of being the place someone could go to late in the night when they had no other options.
All Hector really cared about was people. He cared about the people in his town more than he let on, and I loved being included with those he considered his to protect.
Maybe it was time I stopped feeling bad about accepting his help and got it into my head that I was lucky I didn’t have to do this alone.
I held out my balled fist and unfurled it to show him the note. Hector tensed as soon as he saw it. He didn’t need me to tell him what it was.
The receipt it was written on was crumpled into a ball, so he carefully smoothed it out. His face was hard as stone as he read it quickly. I closed my eyes and repeated the note in my head.
Seven tiny words, and it was enough to send a chill down my spine.
“I’m going to kill him when I find out who this fucker is. I’ll give them a real reason to send me to prison,” Hector hissed. He usually wasn’t one to show his emotions so plainly, but now his rage was in full view. He was angrier than I’d ever seen him before, seething as he glared at the note like he wanted to tear the thing apart.
“No, you’re not,” I said and cupped his cheek. He caught my eye, and I kissed him. Some of the fury melted from him. “What scares me more than this stalker is the thought of losing you.”
Hector sighed and crumpled up the note once more. “No, you’re right. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I didn’t mean to get violent.”
“You? Scare me? You could never scare me,” I told him, hugging him so my chin rested on his shoulder. “You’re a giant teddy bear, and nothing could convince me otherwise.”
Hector’s deep rumble echoed in the tiny freezer. It was awkward, like he was unused to laughing. I was going to change that.
“We should close for the rest of the day and call Clay over. I’ll pull up the tape, and maybe we can finally catch this damn stalker.”
