In the Eye of the Storm (9 page)

“I see you’re a health food addict.”

Nearly jumping out of her skin, she whirled around and came face to face with Beau Callahan. He had a baseball cap on, pulled low near his eyes. He was understandably trying to be incognito.

“You just scared the bejesus out of me! Why do you sneak up on people like that?” She scowled at him, her hand over her heart.

He raised a brow. “You’re in a grocery store, Kate. There are likely going to be other people around.”

“Well they don’t usually creep up behind me like a cat burglar. What are you doing here?” Had he been following her?

He gestured to his cart, which was full of far more nutritious things than hers was—eggs, milk, bacon and fruit. What was he, a health nut? “Most people come here to shop,” he answered dryly.

She supposed that was true enough.

“You know it’s no wonder you’re cranky all the time. Look at the crap you’re eating.” He lifted a box of chocolate toaster pastries. “Healthy. You could have at least gotten the ones without frosting.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Now why would I do that? That’s the best part.”<7K4KE">“/p>

He grinned and tossed them back into the cart. “Where are the cookies and the ice cream?”

“I haven’t reached aisle eight yet.”

“I do have a weakness for Rocky Road. Maybe I’ll follow you there.”

For some reason, his presence put her a little at ease. She still had the uncanny feeling that she was being watched. There was nobody to make him feel better. with di around but Beau though—at least not that she could see.

“Why are you here this late at night?” she asked. It was after eight. She had been working all day, he hadn’t.

He grabbed a box of whole-wheat crackers and tossed them into his cart. “I’m bored. Trey and Kylie went out to dinner and I had some time to kill. I thought I would get some stuff so I can make them breakfast in the morning.”

She wished someone would make her breakfast in the morning. Maybe then she’d be buying something other than toaster pastries and Super Sugar Puffs.

“I like to cook,” he went on. “Mamaw, my grandmother, taught me a lot about the kitchen when I was barely old enough to turn on the burner.”

Kate had met Mamaw at Trey and Kylie’s wedding. She was deeply loved by all of her grandchildren, that was obvious. “I’m impressed. I can cook a mean toaster pastry.”

He chuckled, but didn’t comment.

“My car runs great by the way. I should thank you for that.”

“Not a problem.” He grabbed a loaf of whole wheat bread. “I can do your brakes too when you get some time. You really should have those taken care of before they cause a problem.”

“I’ll get to it eventually.”

“I can drive you to work some time and take the Explorer if you want. I’d be finished before you’re done at school.”

This guy was either really bored or a saint, she thought. He was bored, she decided a moment later, when he grabbed every sports magazine he could find off the shelf and tossed them all into his cart. Then he went after the auto mechanics.

“How about tomorrow? Drive over and you can have breakfast with us. Then you can drive to school with Kylie.”

“A real breakfast, huh? With eggs and bacon and French toast?” The mere thought of such food was making her mouth water. She was starving.

“I can probably manage that. How about if you come over around seven?”

“I’m not letting you pay for my brakes, Beau,” she finally said. “You’ve paid for too much already.”

He studied her for a moment. “Brake pads are thirty bucks or so, Kate. They’re not going to break my bank.”

“Still, they’re my expense, not yours. I can’t let you keep paying for things.”

“Suit yourself. I won’t argue with you about it.” They reached the ice cream aisle. Both looked over the selection carefully. Beau selected some Rocky Road and some Butter Brickle. Kate went for Vanilla with Carmel.

After that, they headed to the counter to pay. He went first. She watched as the sales girl stared at him intently while he slid his debit card through the machine. She may as well have been batting her eyelashes at him. Her lips spread into a wide grin.

Kate rolled her eyes and waited.

“You look real familiar,” the girl said.

Beau smiled halfway and took the receipt she offered him. “I get that a lot. They say everyone looks like someone.”

Kate tapped her foot impatiently. The girl behind the counter looked her way and glared,

7

True his word, Beau was up at five-thirty and went to work making a breakfast fit for a king. He fried up some eggs and bacon, whipped up some of Mamaw’s famous cinnamon French toast and even squeezed some fresh orange juice. By the time Kylie and Trey came out, showered and dressed for work, breakfast was on the table and Kate was knocking on the door.

“Kate’s riding to work with you,” he told Kylie as he walked over to let her in. “I’m doing her brakes today.”

Kylie exchanged a glance with Trey, who shook his head in warning. Beau saw them in the mirror over the fireplace and frowned. He opened the door and let Kate in, who cursed a blue streak.

“It’s getting colder than Alaska around here. I’m going to move to Hawaii.”

“It’s getting close to winter,” Kylie reminded her. “Sit down. Beau made enough food for an army.”

Kate took her coat off and set it on a chair with her purse. Then they all sat down.

“You didn’t have to get up so early and go to all this trouble. I usually just do cereal during the week,” Kylie said, digging into her French toast.

“Me too,” Kate agreed.

“You mean toaster pastries,” Beau said, grinning as he drank some coffee.

“I like cereal too.”

“Super Sugar Puffs, I know.”

Almost forgetting about Trey and Kylie, Beau straightened. They were both staring at him as though he’d gone n a breakfast fit for a king.s b the babyuts.

“We ran into each other at the store last night,” he said innocently.

“Oh,” Kylie said, taking a drink of orange juice. “I was wondering how you managed to figure out all that information.”

“You can tell a lot about a person from the contents of their grocery cart,” Beau replied, matter-of-factly. “Usually people who buy the things Kate buys have six kids at home.”

Trey snickered at that.

Kate frowned and then shrugged her shoulders. “I like sugar.”

“Lucky for you, you don’t gain weight,” Kylie said. “So how are things with Mrs. Pendleton?”

“Don’t ask,” Kate snapped.

“Who is Mrs. Pendleton?” Trey wanted to know.

Beau listened with interest.

“She’s the parent of a kid in my class—David. He’s got some social issues. He doesn’t like hanging out or interacting with the other children. He’s been biting, hitting, kicking and so on. His mother thinks I should just let him be and not make him take part.” Kate took a drink of her coffee.

“What did Principal Wilson say?” Kylie asked.

“What do you think he said? He told me to work it out.” Kate grimaced. “I really don’t know what I’m going to do with this kid. He plays alone every recess. If anyone tries to play with him, he gets nasty. It’s just not normal.”

“He any good at sports?” Beau asked.

Kate looked surprised. “What does that have to do with anything?”

Beau shrugged. “Some kids don’t like to play with the other kids because they aren’t good at things and they’re afraid they’ll get made fun of. I went to school with a kid like that. Do you remember Butch Walter?” Beau looked at Trey, who made a face.

“Didn’t I kick his ass once?”

Beau grinned. “Yep. He was twice my size. He pushed me down on the playground when we were playing baseball and I caught his fly ball.”

“That kid was a creep,” Trey mused.

“David’s not a creep,” Kate said thoughtfully. “But now that you mention it, he is a little uncoordinated. Do you think he’s being teased on the playground and that’s why he hates all the kids?”

“It’s possible,” Beau said. “The kid may just be antisocial though. It’s hard to say.”

“Well if his mother would take a little more interest in his mental health, instead of telling me to just do what David wants and leave him alone, maybe we could get to the bottom of things. I’m really worried about this kid.”

Beau saw yet another side of Kate that surprised him. She obviously cared about her students. “I wouldn’t isolate him,” he finally said. “I mean I’m no doctor but I’d find some way to showcase something he’s good at. Make him feel good about the other kids seeing him do something well.”

She appeared to think that over. “Maybe you have a point.”

“It’s worth a try,” Kylie said, standing up. “Are you ready? It know what onhe was have to grade a few papers before the bell rings.”

Beau went to work clearing the table.

“You’re not what people think you are, are you?” Kate asked quietly, stepping up behind him.

He shrugged. “Most people don’t really know me.”

“Most people don’t really know me either.” She gave him half a smile and turned around to follow Kylie out the front door.

Kate climbed from Kylie’s Jeep and hoisted her purse up over her shoulder. That’s when she saw Wick. He wasn’t standing plainly out in the open where anyone would have seen him. He was standing off to the side of the parking lot, his head barely visible behind a large elm tree.

Her heart began to pound almost uncomfortably inside of her chest and she froze. He was following her. She looked around the parking lot for his car. She didn’t see it.

“What’s wrong?” Kylie wanted to know, following her gaze.

“Nothing. Let’s go.” Quickly, she herded Kylie into the school building, thankful once they were safely inside.

“What’s wrong with you? You’re acting funny.”

“I’m fine,” Kate said, stopping at her classroom. “I’ll see you after school.” Hurrying inside, she shut the door behind her and took several deep breaths. Clearly, Wick Meyers was not in his right mind. Something caught her eye and she looked down at her feet. There was a white envelope on the floor with her name on it. Leaning over, she picked it up and carried it back to her desk. She set her things down and then glanced at the envelope for a moment before opening it up. She felt her face grow hot as she read the word.

“WHORE.”
The word was typed in Times Roman, all CAPS. Naturally, it wasn’t signed. Immediately Kate reached for her cell phone. She dialed Richard’s number. He answered groggily, and she let him have it.

“You tell that sonofabitch to leave me alone!”

“What are you talking about, Kate? What time is it?”

“Wick Meyers is stalking me.” Kate lowered her voice, reminding herself where she was. “He was here at school this morning, Richard. He left me a note.”

“A note?”

“I’m going to call the police.”

“Kate, calm down. You’re not making any sense.” Clearly wide awake now, Richard sighed. “What did the note say?”

“Whore,” she said, her anxiety surfacing again.

Richard let out a hiss of breath. “How do you know it’s from Wick?”

“Because I saw him outside the school building this morning, Richard. And I’m pretty sure he was following me last night.”

“Kate, those are some pretty serious accusations. Do you have proof? Did anyone else see him following you?”

“Damn you, Richard. You set me up with this maniac. Now get him off my back or I’m going to call the police. I’m not kidding here.”

“Wick isn’t dangerous. I’m sure he didn’t leave any letter. Now if he followed you, it’s probably just because he likes you.”

She counted to ten, her blood beginning to boil. “Is this how you let someone know you like them? By scaring the hell out of them?”

“No,” he said emphatically. “It’s not. But I’m not convinced Wick is responsible for that note. You have to admit you’ve shut down half of the male population in this city. What makes you think one of the other men you’ve dated didn’t leave you this note?”

“I told you, I saw Wick here this morning. I know it was him.”

“I talked to him yesterday, just like I told you I would. He told me you were nuts and that he had just come by to apologize and you went off half-cocked screaming at him.”

Of course he had told Richard that. “He’s lying, Richard. You can ask any one of my neighbors. We had a very quiet exchange and I asked him to leave. That’s it.”

“You’re sure you didn’t raise your voice at all?”

“Even if I had—which I did not—it wouldn’t warrant him bothering me like this. It’s harassment.”

“Don’t call the police. I’ll talk to him again. I’m sure you won’t have any more problems with him.”

“See that you really handle it this time. I’m not kidding about the police.” Kate hung up as she heard the bell ring.

Her nerves frazzled, she gave the class their weekly reading work and settled down at her desk, trying to calm her nerves. It took a while, but she managed to get her anxiety under control and get her class under way. After lunch, she felt significantly better. She’d been checking the parking lot and there was no sign of Wick or his car. Perhaps Richard had gotten through this time.

She was about to set up the class in their daily clean up assignments when there was a knock on the door. She walked over and opened it, surprised to see Beau in the hallway, a black plastic bag in his hand.

“What are you doing here?” she managed to ask, caught off guard by the sight of him. He looked casual, wearing his typical blue jeans and T-shirt. He had a ball cap on his head turned backward and a pair of sunglasses over his eyes.

“I thought about what you said about visiting your kids and I decided it’s a good idea.”

She couldn’t hide her surprise. “But what about remaining invisible?”

“They’re a bunch of second graders. How bad could it be?” He stepped into the classroom and received a chorus of oohs and ahs when he slid his sunglasses down his nose. Most of the boys knew who he was right away and started talking excitedly amongst themselves.

She moved aside, still dumbfounded. Technically any visitors were required to check into the office before entering the classroom, but she decided to forget about that rule where Beau was concerned. He’d already mentioned he was trying to remain under the radar and she was shocked that he was putting his anonymity at risk to spend a little time with her kids.