Secret Admirer

Chapter 13

Aubrey keeps low and crawls down the row of plants to get to where she keeps her tools. Reaching into the bin, she pulls out a wicked looking tool that looks a bit medieval. I'm sure what exactly it's for, but it looks like a pretty decent weapon.

"What's that for?" I whisper, not sure what she has in mind.

"Normally, weeds, right now, Lindsey if she gets any dumb ideas about coming after us. Get yourself a weapon, Mia. You need to defend yourself," Aubrey orders, as she points to the bin.

Not sure what I'm supposed to do, I grab a tool that looks a bit terrifying. It has a short handle on it but the blade itself is long and curved almost like a sword. I'm not sure if I picked a good choice.

"That's a scythe, be careful with it. The blade is really sharp and will slice your finger off if you don't watch yourself," Aubrey warns me.

"That's not in the least bit terrifying," muttering to myself, I continue following Aubrey around the green house.

"Stay here, keep down and don't let her see you," Aubrey told me, then she turned to the dog, "stay put Lady, stay with Mia."

She patted her thigh and Lump followed without a word from her. Aubrey seemed to know exactly what she was doing where I would much rather hide from Lindsey than try to fight her off with this lethal looking sword.

Curling up under the counter, the dog and I waited together listening to the storm pound down on the metal roof. I didn't feel safe. I wasn't comfortable, I wasn't safe, and I was alone with a dog to protect me and a really big knife.

I'm so out of my comfort zone it's not even funny.

"Get out and meet new people, Mia. Take some chances in life. You're too boring, too shy, no one is going to show you any interest the way you are. Well, Mama, what do you think about me now?" I asked softly knowing my mama wouldn't recognize her little wallflower now.

The sound of metal grinding against metal had my ear ringing. I hate that sound. Ducking down, I hid further down behind the pots and bags of soil as I heard her laugh echo in the room.

It didn't sound like Lindsey. It sounded like someone who had lost their mind. Someone from one of those horror movies where the lunatic runs loose in the abandoned building chasing the idiots who decided to spend the night there on Halloween.

"Mia..." Lindsey sang out her name so sweetly, I cringed wanting to cry wishing Aubrey hadn't left me here alone. "Mia, I don't want to hurt you. I'm not after you. You are innocent in all of this.... If you tell me where she went you can go home and get back to your boring little life with your flowers."

It was tempting to just say what she wanted to know and leave. I'm a lot of things, naive is probably at the top of the list. But I'm not stupid. I know better than to think that Lindsey is just going to let me leave her without a single scratch on me. No, I'm not getting off that easy.

Lady didn't move, neither did I. I didn't say a word. She just wants me to give my hand away. I won't turn on my friends. Georgia stood up for me. She protected me when Kevin tried to grab me, she pulled that trigger and told me to run. I owe her.

"Mia? They aren't going to come for you. You aren't one of them. You aren't a Bradford, you don't run in their circles. They've set you up to take the fall, honey. You're the one who will be blamed for everything," Lindsey tries again to convince me that they will turn on me. "Where's your boyfriend now when you need him?"

That hurt.

"He isn't here is he?" I didn't have to see Lindsey to know she was smiling. "He didn't believe in you back in the preserves. He didn't think you could make it through there without his help. He thinks you're not as smart as he is. He thinks he's better than you. You know that as well as I do. Why do you want to be with someone who doesn't believe in you?"