The House That Built Me (Strawberry Inn Book #3)

Chapter 24

KELSEY

I spent the last twenty-four hours kicking myself for doing the one thing I swore I wouldn’t do. I started to fall in love with Chaz Barlow, just to have him pull the rug out from under me in such a cold, heartless way. I feel like such a dumb little girl for thinking that what we had meant something to him the same way it meant to me. How could I misread all the signs? He was the one that invited me to stay in his bed after we’d have sex. He was the one that acted protective of me and even jealous at times. Just when I was starting to think that maybe it wouldn’t be half bad staying in Strawberry, Chaz had to go and ruin it all.

Leaving the hospital to stay with him felt too much like torture, so I told him I would figure something else out. When Emory stopped by yesterday to see me, I asked if there was any way I could stay at her place. Once I recovered I was going to start looking for jobs and I swore I would pay her back. I know she wanted to ask more questions, but she didn’t. Instead, she agreed to open her house to me and also said I didn’t need to worry about paying her anything. I’ve taken advantage of the kindness of these people too much though and like it or not I would find a way to pay her something.

The doctor released me this morning after a full day and night of observation. The wound to my side missed all major organs and the only thing that I needed was time to heal. Keeping her word, Emory showed up today to help get me back to her place. 

“Do you need anything to eat or drink?” She asked as she got me settled into the bedroom that she was letting me stay in. It was the same one I stayed in before, the night that my dad and Orem first attempted to kidnap me. 

“I’m fine for now. The pain medication just makes me tired so I’m going to try and sleep for a bit.”

“I made sure that this TV was logged into all the major streaming services, but just text me if something isn’t working. I need to head to work for a bit and make some calls about the music festival.”

“I’m sorry again for keeping you from your regular work day.”

She waves me off, “Don’t worry about it, Kelsey. It is the least I can do considering this is kind of my fault.”

“What?” I ask inquisitively. “How in the world is your fault?”

Emory sighs, “It’s just that the only reason you left the bar that night was that I had pushed too far asking about Chaz. If you hadn’t left by yourself, this entire thing wouldn’t have happened.”

I could tell that Emory harbored a lot of guilt over the situation and that made me feel even worse. This wasn’t her fault at all, Orem had been staying at the Inn for a while, just waiting for his opportunity. “Emory, you were there when the police talked to me yesterday. Orem was stalking me since he came to town in the first place. It was never a matter of if, but when.”

“Maybe so, but when it happened was after I said something that made you leave and put you into a dangerous situation. Just let me repent my guilty soul by taking care of you now, okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll allow it. I mean what I said, when I’m better I’m going to get a job and figure out some way to pay you back. I don’t want to become an unwelcome house guest.”

“We’ll figure all that out another time, okay?”

“Yeah,” I nod, “that works.”

“Okay, you have my cell number, I’m going to grab you a bottle of water and some snacks just in case, and Angela will be here in a little bit with your clothes and stuff.”