For now, though, I think round two is in order.
I finally made it home after round two, a shower, and a very long kiss goodbye.
An attempt was made to sleep, but I found myself standing in my workshop wide awake and needing to do something. My computer shows a couple of new inquiries for builds, which I promptly email back to work out more details.
I inventory all the projects I’m currently working on or that are coming up, as well as materials, and set my calendar accordingly so I can stay on track, but my head is still firmly distracted by a certain sheriff.
Things have changed, and although I’m still not sure what to do with the fact that we’re still married, being together feels more right than anything has in the last decade. It’s terrifying, exciting, and downright perfect all at the same time. My head is all over the place, and the only thing that will clear it is working.
My computer pings with an incoming email, and I’m thankful for the timing. I just finished everything organizational I had available.
Thanks for the quick reply. Ideally, I’d want you to do whatever you want. Whatever your perfect bed is, that’s what I want. Moneyis no object.
-T
I stare at the email, getting a weird feeling about it. It’s not uncommon for people to defer to my expertise, but they all still have some idea of what they want. It’s strange that a client wants “my perfect bed” when it’s their furniture and in their house. Something grates in my head, this sense of unease, and I’m not sure what to do about it. I rarely turn down clients if the build is feasible for me, but I’m questioning this one.
This sounds interesting. Would you mind giving me more information, like if you’re able to pick up or if it’s for delivery? Where you are located and general size specifications for the project. And wood preferences. Also, a good number to reach you at.
Thanks,
Rina Hutton
Hutton Custom Furniture
It may not lead anywhere, but at least I’ll have more information and I can pass it along to Arlo to look into. This stalker situation is causing me to want to be more thorough with everything.
Since they wrote back so quickly the last time, I decide to stay at my desk while I wait for their reply.
My mind wanders to Arlo’s bed that we broke, and I pull out my notebook with all my plans in it. Opening to a fresh sheet, I start sketching the bed I’ll eventually make for him, for us. God, that feels weird to say, but my pencil starts moving before my mind can catch up.
I’ve got the basics down before my laptop pings again. Opening up the email, I shudder runs through me at the response.
I will be picking it up from your workshop. A king is perfect unless you prefer a queen. Wood preference is whatever your favorite wood to work with is, and my number is 555-1845.
I look forward to seeing the progress,
-T
I stare at the email and immediately know something is up. The wording is too much to ignore, and I internally start to panic. What if this is the stalker? What if I start making this and it ends up being the way he really gets to me?
Just send everything to Arlo and Oakley, and let them take over. Don’t do anything else.
Logically, it makes sense, but I’m having a hard time separating that voice from the one that hustles for business, that treats every client like their family. Shutting my laptop, I decide I’ll deal with this mysterious T character tomorrow. For the rest of the night, I sketch out not just a bed for Arlo but furniture to fill a whole house.
Chapter 30
Arlo
It’s been a week since we broke my bed and decided to make a real go of things. Of course, that was the same day that some creeper decided to ask Rina to make her a bed. Ever since she forwarded the email thread, I’ve been her silent shadow. She doesn’t know I’ve been following her and basically living out of my truck. If she did, she’d probably kill me.
But her instinct was right. There was something wrong with whomever sent the inquiry, and I couldn’t leave her by herself until I figured it out. Audrey’s been up my ass about working out of the office, and Oakley’s annoyed he can’t just walk across the street to brainstorm and come up with a plan to catch whoever is stalking Rina.
We did finally have a breakthrough with the damn box that was left on Rina’s doorstep.
A scrapbook of pictures, date ideas, and house plans were inside, and it made my stomach physically roll when I dug deeper. Combining that with this new furniture inquiry, Oakley and I are ninety-five percent sure they’re connected. The number he gave was a dead end, but we’re working on getting through the red tape to locate the IP address, so hopefully that narrows thingsdown for us.
Thank God Oakley decided to help out on a case-by-case basis because his connections and knowledge have eased me off the edge with Rina’s case. I think I’d be losing my mind every day if I didn’t have his help.
