“No! You know that’s not at all what I meant.” Georgie reached up and touched her friend’s arm. “You deserve a man who can handle his business and be okay with you handling yours. Yet he’ll be there, if you need him. Of course, he’ll need an iron constitution and balls of steel. I’ve got it! I’ll notify the cavalry, armored division.”
Yardley burst out laughing, feeling the sadness and doubts drift away as she raised her glass. “To the cavalry.”
After the toast Georgie looked around for something else to talk about and spied her gift under the tree. “We didn’t open our presents. Open yours first.”
As Yardley reached for the brightly packaged box, something fell from the bottom. It was a red envelope with sticker wreaths decorating it. She picked it up.
“A card, too?” She faked surprise. “Oh, you shouldn’t have.”
Georgie smiled. “I didn’t. It was on the doorstep when I arrived earlier. I forgot to tell you. Maybe you have a secret admirer.”
When she opened it, Yardley’s mouth turned down. “Not exactly an admirer.”
“What is it, Yard?”
Yardley hesitated, then offered it. “See for yourself.”
Georgie gasped softly. It was a cover from a porno magazine featuring bondage. The disturbing graphic picture was of a nude woman tied up in very painful ways. A photo of Yardley’s head had been Photoshopped over the model’s and her eyes blacked out. “That’s disgusting. What are you going to do?”
“What I usually do.” Yardley took it from Georgie and tossed it toward the flames in the fireplace.
“Wait.” Georgie jumped up and snatched it out. “You might need this. As evidence.”
The image had shaken her, but Yardley stuffed down that feeling. “Your FBI boyfriend is rubbing off on you. I don’t jump at every insult lobbed my way.”
“Have there have been others?”
“About once a year someone thinks it will make them feel better to threaten me with retaliation for my decision not to pass them as certified handlers.”
“And you get this?” Georgie held it up with two fingers.
Disgust shuddered through her. “No. Nothing like that.”
“You need to tell the authorities.”
“Where would I start? My clientele comes from around the world.”
“But this was delivered today. Without a stamp. This guy’s local.”
Yardley rolled her eyes. “I hate having smart friends.”
“I hate it even worse when my smart friend doesn’t act like one.”
“There’s no one local I have a beef with. We did have to scrub a Georgia police officer trainee a few weeks back after he deliberately set his dog on another student.”
“Sounds like the kind of guy who’d do this.”
“Maybe. But I can’t accuse anyone without proof.”
“Still, you should notify the sheriff. When will your staff be back?”
“First thing Monday morning.”
“That leaves you alone tomorrow and Sunday.” Georgiana reached for her phone. “I’ll ask Brad to come out here when he gets off in the morning.”
“No. Don’t!” Yardley wrapped her fingers around her friend’s phone to prevent her from texting. “I won’t be responsible for ruining your getaway. I’ll call the sheriff in the morning. Okay?”
Georgie glanced at the front door. “It’s not safe to be alone. Promise me Oleg will sleep in your room from now on.”
“Done deal.” Yardley felt suddenly teary for no good reason she could think of. Then she did something totally out of character. She reached out and hugged her friend, hard. “Thank you for caring. Now can I open my real gift?”
*
It was nearly eight a.m. but the sun had yet to climb the dark summit of hills to the east. At the moment the frigid gray sky was clear of the thunderstorms that were predicted to precede even colder weather by nightfall.
Yardley adjusted the headband covering her ears to shut out the wind swooping down the shoulders of the nearby mountains. The pink crocheted headband was part of her Christmas gift from Georgie. Otherwise she wouldn’t have been seen dead in it. She suspected it was a gag gift because the box had also contained another gift, a beautiful sterling-silver heart necklace with a paw pendant.
She and Oleg had been for a brisk jog. They were still getting to know each other. But now, in the deep shadows on the side of the road, she felt the nagging fatigue of too much champagne and too little sleep. She paused and reached for the cell phone in her pocket.
Her heartbeat quickened as she stared at the blank screen. Only one person had the number. For the past three months, six days, and innumerable miserable hours, she’d carried it with her, as if it were as necessary to her heartbeat as a pacemaker.
She squeezed the phone until the pressure equaled the tightness around her heart. She hadn’t expected to fall for David. Hadn’t wanted a real entanglement. That’s why she’d been so slow to recognize what was happening.
The last time they’d met, in late September, he’d been moody, worried even. He wouldn’t say why. But as they were parting at the airport in Antigua, he’d suddenly asked her about the future. Their future. Did she think they could have one? If so, would she be willing to drop everything and just come with him on a moment’s notice? No questions asked.