Keep Me Safe (5 page)

Stephannie walked into our office about five minutes after I did. We had the usual conversation about what happened over the weekend and I told her about the barbecue, minus the Parker part.

“It was really nice; just being around people who didn’t pity me or have a million questions, that didn’t care how I was feeling or if I was okay.” Stephannie knew all about my situation with Brent. I stayed with her for a couple months while I looked for my new house. She and I hadn’t been all that close before, but when I started coming to school acting differently she took notice. She really was the only friend I had now, but I didn’t see her outside of school very often. She was married and had two rambunctious boys, so she stayed pretty busy. Not that I minded; I had pretty much gotten used to doing things alone and being by myself.

Just as I finished checking my school emails and getting the new concert pieces divided into folders, the first bell rang and it was time for first period. I loved teaching concert band. It was much less chaotic than marching band for the obvious reasons, but it was inside where all the unique instrument sounds and notes came to life. It was the one place where I could close my eyes, escape the noise of life and just be happy - even if it included a student who played the wrong note on purpose just to be a jackass.

I got through my first three classes drama free. Surprisingly, since there was usually one or two girls who needed to run to the bathroom to see a boy or cry over one. Fourth period was my planning period and it worked out that it was Stephannie’s too. We always had lunch together and talked about her boys getting into trouble or her husband’s latest business idea. He owned a landscaping company, but he was always coming up with ideas for new business ventures every couple of months. We were laughing about his idea for decorative planters when there was a knock on our office door. A guy in a delivery uniform walked in with a huge bouquet of flowers. He walked over and put them down on Stephannie’s desk and took his little computer off his belt loop so she could sign for them.

“Are you Sadie Montgomery?” he asked as he held the handheld out for Stephannie to sign.

She pointed over towards me and said, “That’s Sadie over there.” He turned and walked over to my desk. I signed for them and he turned and walked out. The flowers were absolutely gorgeous. It was an entire bouquet of calla lilies and greenery.

“Um, who is sending you flowers?” she asked giving me a funny look as I pulled the card out from the flowers. “They better not be from Brent.”

You don’t strike me as a typical roses kind of girl.

Thanks for coffee. Hopefully I’ll see you soon.

- Parker

“Not from Brent.” Stephannie’s glare was staring a hole into me. “They’re from this guy Parker. I met him at the barbeque Saturday and we had coffee yesterday morning.”

“You seem to have left that tidbit out about your weekend! Why are you holding out on me?” she impatiently asked.

“I wasn’t sure what you’d say. It hasn’t been that long since I was staying with you going through a terrible ordeal and divorce." Going on a date with a guy six months after my divorce probably seemed pretty rushed.

“Whatever Sadie. You know I want you to be happy. You’ve dealt with a douchebag for way too long now. I'm a little mad at you for hiding it from me, but you can make it up to me by telling me how hot he is.” Stephannie stood up and walked over to smell the flowers. “If you’re keeping him a secret, it must be because you like him. Is he hot?”

I laughed and slapped her on the waist and leaned forward to smell the beautiful lilies. The scent was already filling the air in our office. “He
is
hot. He has short dark hair, the most beautiful blue eyes and a nicer body than Brent from what I can tell.” Stephannie always said it was a shame Brent was so nice looking when he was such a dick. “His brother and sister-in-law live next door to me. They’re the ones that invited me to the barbecue. It's kind of funny, he pulled me over Friday night on my way home and then I ran into him again Saturday which was a total embarrassment for us.” I noticed myself smiling just by talking about him.

“Pulled you over…he’s a cop? Man, he just got way hotter. I need to see a picture!"

“Yeah, he’s a cop and a good looking one, but I don't have a picture.” I took my cell phone out of my desk drawer to send Parker a text to thank him.

Thank you for the flowers. They’re gorgeous. I guess that means I have to say yes about dinner ;)

I hit send and shoved the phone back into my desk as the fifth period bell rang. I really hoped I was doing the right thing by exploring things with Parker. I had to believe that Stephannie was right though; I did deserve to finally be happy and a big part of me hoped that meant with Parker.

I got through my last two classes and went in my office to finish up my daily paperwork and emails. I was done by five and grabbed my purse and phone out of my desk. I checked it and saw that Parker had sent me a text back.

Parker:
Glad the flowers persuaded you. How’s Saturday? I have the day off.

Me:
Saturday night is a movie with Beth and her friends. How about Friday night?

Parker:
Friday is great. Pick you up at 7?

Me:
Sounds great. My office smells amazing, BTW.

Parker:
Guess the lilies were a good choice. Wear your hair up again ;)

I smiled like crazy and put the phone in my purse. What was with him wanting my hair to be up again? He didn’t seem to notice on Sunday that I wore it up.
Hey, whatever works.

I left school and drove home, careful not to speed this time. When I made it home, I ran a couple miles on my treadmill and then made a grilled chicken salad for dinner. I’d always been a runner, but I hated running in the dark. Brent bought me a treadmill for my birthday two years ago and it had certainly paid for itself already.

After working up a good sweat, I took a shower and dried my hair. I slipped my tank top over my head and pulled it down as I caught a glimpse of the scar that stretched across the left side of my lower stomach. It triggered a memory of who I thought I would be forever; a useless piece of someone’s property. I tugged the shirt over it and shook away the thought.

I did a couple loads of laundry and got a couple of the remaining boxes unpacked. I didn’t want Parker picking me up Friday and seeing my messy stacks of boxes I hadn’t gotten to yet.

Five

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. Minus a fight outside my classroom on Tuesday, there wasn’t any major drama at school. I was questioned by Stephannie whenever she saw me texting with Parker and we did talk a couple times. We both did our share of innocent flirting, but nothing more than that. Somehow Parker knew where to draw the line and I was thankful for that. I really did like him, but I wanted to move forward when I was ready.

Friday finally arrived and I was glad I wasn’t a nervous wreck. I expected to be a lot more anxious considering this was our first real date, but I was surprisingly calm. I got home from work at 5:30 and quickly showered so I’d have time to get ready. Parker said he would pick me up at seven, so I wanted to finish with a few minutes to spare. I had decided on my outfit the night before and was still really happy with my choice. I had picked out a pair of dark skinny jeans, a navy blue shimmery V-neck top and a pair of silver flats. After I dried my hair, I put it up in a messy bun and added a silver flowered clip to one side to dress it up a little bit. I wasn’t overly fond of wearing my hair up since I had a round face, but I was curious as to why Parker kept asking me to wear it up.

I was finished by 6:45, so I cleaned my purse out while I waited. I looked at the clock on the microwave and only five minutes had passed, so I put on my lip gloss and sat down on the barstool in the kitchen. I was playing a game on my phone when I heard the doorbell.

I opened the door and my senses were flooded with Parker’s scent; the same cologne from the night on the beach. I started at his feet and my eyes made their way up his entire body until I reached his blue eyes.

“Hey you, ready to go?” He had his hands in his pockets and a sexy grin on his face. I wondered if he could hear my heart beating; it was certainly pounding loudly in my ears.

“Yep, let me grab my purse. Come on in. Excuse the mess, I’m still not totally done unpacking.” We walked back towards the kitchen and I grabbed my purse. He stopped in the hallway and looked at the picture frames I had hanging up on the wall.

“Are these your parents?” He pointed to the picture I took of my parents on their thirtieth wedding anniversary last year.

“Yeah, that’s them. They live back in Wisconsin.”

“You look just like your dad. Do you get to see them a lot?”

“Not as much as I’d like, at least not since I moved here for college.” Truth be told, I probably only saw my parents every six months during my marriage to Brent. They usually came to Florida because he didn’t like me traveling and even then, I didn’t let them stay too long. I never told my parents about the issues Brent and I had. Their perfect marriage made me feel like a failure and I didn’t want them to guilt me into moving back to Madison. Looking back, I should’ve told them what happened, but lying seemed like the best option at the time. I did a lot of that. 

“You graduated from USF? What do you teach at Prine?”

“Music…band mostly. I teach the concert and marching bands and I also teach an A.P. Music Theory class.” I noticed his sideways grin and should’ve predicted what was coming.

“So, this one time…”

“…at band camp?” I interrupted. “If I had a dollar for every time I heard that, especially once people find out we really do have band camp in the summer.”

“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.” Parker laughed and turned back towards me. “Got everything you need?”

“Yeah, let’s get out of here.”

I flung my purse over my shoulder and we headed out the door. When we got outside, I noticed Parker’s car; a bright red Mustang convertible.

“Wow, nice car. Is it a ’68?”

“Yeah,” he said with a look of shock on his face, “How did you know that?”

“My dad has one. He’s had it since I was little and he taught me how to fix the basics. He said he didn’t want me to rely on a man to do it for me.” I laughed and ran my hand down the side of the car. I missed that car. It was the best bonding experience for me and my dad. My mom and I shared our love of music and although my dad had the skill, it just wasn’t something he ever pursued. He spent his time at his job or working on that car. Mom always complained he was wasting money, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I’m impressed. There aren’t too many women who could recognize a ’68 Mustang, let alone work on one.”

“Well, I guess you’ll find that I’m full of surprises.” By the time I finished walking to the side of the car, Parker was there and opening the door for me. I went to put my hand on the door frame and my fingers grazed his and the goose bumps immediately sprung up on my arms.
Maybe I should’ve brought a sweater. It’s going to be a long night if this keeps up
. He shut the door, got in on the driver’s side, and started the car. He looked behind us to pull out of the driveway and stopped halfway to meet my gaze. He winked at me and pulled into the street.

“Is this why you wanted me to wear my hair up? Since most women complain about their hair getting messed up in the wind?”

“Um, sort of. I don’t like to put the top up unless I absolutely have to. Is that okay or do you want me to close it?”

“No it’s fine. I don’t mind. That was my favorite part about riding in dad’s car.”

“Sounds like your dad and I would get along.”

“I think you might be right about that,” I agreed and I honestly believed it. Just from the tiny amount I knew about Parker, he and Brent were complete opposites. My dad and Brent never really got along, but he did right by my dad and my dad respected that. As far as my dad knew, he took care of me as a husband and a provider. If only he knew.

Twenty minutes later, we pulled up to a hotel and I could see the little outside restaurant out back. I had been to Sandbar Bob’s once before with my roommate from my first year at USF. It was a very small place, but packed full of personality. Parker got out and came around to open the door for me. I thanked him and we walked down the wooden-planked sidewalk to the restaurant. Once we were seated at one of the very few tables, we both ordered our drinks and grabbed a menu.

“The weather is amazing tonight,” I observed while facing towards the water. The breeze was barely warm, but amazing.

“Yeah, I don’t take enough time to enjoy it.”

“Me either, I tend to forget all about it. I’ve wanted to set up my back porch so I can spend a little more time outside, especially since it’s cooled down, but I haven’t gotten to it yet.” I didn’t get a response right away, so I looked over at Parker who seemed to be staring out at nothing. “Were you born in Florida?”

“Yeah, my mom and dad moved here from St. Louis the year before Matt was born; he’s older than me by two years. We visited there a lot, especially in the winter.” He was running his finger around the rim of his beer mug and staring down at the table. I sat for a minute waiting for him to continue on the conversation, but he just sat there.

“Is everything okay? You seem preoccupied.”

“I’m sorry; I didn’t realize I was staring into space. I’m fine; there’s just a case at work that’s starting to get to me.” He tried to smile, but I could tell it was really bothering him.

“Do you want to talk about it? I understand if you can’t.”

“Have you seen the news at all recently? There’s a guy stalking and attacking women. I hate that we can’t seem to find him. I can’t imagine one woman having to go through that, let alone five.” His frustration was apparent.

“I did see that the other night. That’s terrible. Is it known why he went after those specific women?”