Phantom Lessons, Book #2
Copyright© 2023 by Lynn Donovan
Chapter 10
“I love you, Paul Hourton.” Samantha mumbled as she slipped back into an unnatural sleep. Between the concussion, pain pills, and Tyler’s threatening visit, she couldn’t seem to get enough sleep. With Paul lying beside her, she didn’t want to get out of bed, ever.
But he left for work. Tyler was in jail. She had a new door and locks. She was safe. Paul had the extra keys. He could let himself back in. He said he’d be back for lunch. He said—
She sat straight up. He said he loved her. Was she dreaming? The narcotic fuzzy brain caused her to miss him saying he loved her!
Did he say it?
She lifted her phone. “Was I dreaming, or did U spend the night?” she texted.
A bubble trailed three dots. She waited for his reply.
“I didn’t want U 2 B alone. Is it alright? Slept most of the time in chair. U owe me a chiro visit. LOL,” he texted back.
Sam smiled. “OK by me. I know a good masseuse. She married my cousin. CU@Lunch.”
Sam lay back down. Her mind wandered over the last few days in the hospital. Mysti and she had talked about Paul. How much time he’d spent at the hospital with her. He was amazing. His unique gifts were wonderful. Even Dad seemed to like him. And Dad never liked anybody Sam had dated before.
“Dad!” Sam suddenly remembered he’d said something about a bad heart. Uncle Hal always said he had a bad heart whenever he wanted his children to do something for him that they didn’t want to do. But surely her dad wasn’t trying to pull something like that. Sam lifted her phone again. He’d be at church. She lowered the phone. Did Mysti know about this? She’d be at church, too. How about Harry?
She texted him. “Hey cuz. You know anything about Dad’s ticker being bad?”
“?” was all he replied. Probably busy with breakfast and check outs.
Man. How could she find out? She tapped one fingernail on the back of her phone. There was tons of food in her fridge. It would spoil before she could possibly eat it all. Unless Paul put most of it in the freezer—But Dad didn’t know that. She smiled and lifted the phone again. “Lunch on me, after church. Potluck. LOL,” she texted both Mom and Dad’s group text.
Her phone indicated delivered. But no bubble with trailing three dots signaled a reply. Not during church. She chuckled.
Then she considered this decision and decided Paul should know she’d invited her folks for lunch. For a split second, she smiled. She’d never considered anyone else in such a basic decision in her life. Interesting how quickly her mind had moved into a couple mentality. Lifting her phone one more time, she texted Paul. “Invited Mom and Dad 4 lunch. FYI.”
“K,” he replied. She rose from bed and loaded in a Keurig package, poured a cup of water, and waited for her cup to fill. Um. Coffee smelled good.
She showered, washed her hair, being careful around the stitches, which still felt tender, and dressed. The energy it took to do all that exhausted her body. She gathered the maroon throw and settled on her couch. Thumbing through the choices on Netflix, she laid her head down, and drifted to sleep. Did he really say he loved her?
----
“What’re you doing here?” Paul stomped straight to Tyler Adcock.
Tyler grinned while he plugged a camcorder battery into a charger and put a fresh battery in the camera. He looked up at Paul and chuckled. “They held me overnight, but let me go with a fine. Alan came and got me. Paid the fine, too.”
“Alan?” Paul looked for the man but didn’t see him. “Since when is Alan your buddy? You need to remember who you work for, Tyler.”
“Yeah, I remember.” The confident smirk slid from Tyler’s face. Anger drew his eyes nearly closed. “I work for Lucas Hart. I’m on PE’s payroll, Hourton, not API’s.” Tyler stood stoic against Paul’s extra four inches in height.
Paul turned his glare to the crews busily taking down last night’s surveillance and setting up for today’s interviews and alternate filmings. “I’ll just see about that.” He stalked away, leaving Tyler and his smug attitude in his wake.
“Lucas!” Paul called him from the group he was speaking to. Lucas glanced at Paul and nodded. “Yeah, what’s up?” Lucas handed a clipboard to Jorge Ortiz, a camera tech, and approached Paul.
Paul rubbed the back of his neck. “Look man, we’ve gotta problem.”
“What’s that?” Lucas’s brow came down over his eyes.
“You’re boy, Tyler, is causing problems with the locals. Apparently, his ex and his son live here in Phantom Horse. I understand he’s accosted them two or three times.” Paul sighed and glanced out across the river. “Last night he ... well, he broke into Samantha Gladstone’s apartment ‘cause he wanted her to” —Paul wiggled his fingers in the air for quote marks— “convince Violet Snow to forgive him and forget his wrong doings. Lucas, he kicked her door in! Busted it to pieces.”
Lucas stared at the ground but didn’t say anything. The muscle in his jaw bulged as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“Well?” Paul’s fists tightened. “You gonna let the bastard go or what?”
Lucas’s eyes shot up to Paul’s. “No, I’m not gonna cut a crew member loose in the middle of an episode. We can’t spare him right now. You know that. It’s been hard enough with you gone for the past three days.”