“That no one else has seen.”
“Doesn’t mean they aren’t real.”
“That makes it worse. If they are real, you definitely can’t call the cops.”
Her mother sat up, and her brows furrowed. “Why? It doesn’t make any sense.”
Sloan had avoided telling her mom this part, but now she had no choice. “Yesterday’s note said he’d hurt you if I told the police.”
Her mom slowly took her hand down and placed it on the island. “I see. And you take that seriously?”
Duh… “Well, yeah. I mean, don’t you?”
“I don’t know what to think. I do know the police need to know.”
That was the worst that could happen. One, if she was crazy, they’d never believe her again. Two, if it was Boyd or someone else threatening her, they could make good on his or her threat and hurt her mother. She couldn’t let that happen. No matter what, she had to protect her mother. It wasn’t like her father was around to do it now that he had Tiffani.
A plan, she needed one. “I’ll make you a deal. If I get flowers today or a note or anything weird, I’ll call Detective Morgan. Okay? It could just be a prank to freak me out. Now that I have freaked, maybe they’ll stop. Or maybe Aaron’s right, and it’s all in my head.”
Her mom smiled slightly. “Aaron. Speaking of…”
Oh glory! Here we go…
“I saw you two kissing yesterday.”
“I know. It just happened. It’s not like I meant for it to. I don’t even think he thought about it. It was just like, bam!” Thinking about that kiss made her heart flutter and her toes tingle. Funny, she never got those feelings kissing Ray.
The problem was she wanted those feelings kissing Ray. She wanted to like him more than Aaron because he seemed much more reliable and honest, trustworthy, and just more her type. Aaron was brash at times, didn’t sugarcoat things when he talked to her, and was sort of a loner.
Still, he had those soul-cutting brown eyes and the looks of a Greek god.
And Ray had the face of a Malibu doll.
But looks weren’t everything.
“Uh, Sloan.” Her mother cut into her very important and deep thoughts on the Hunter men’s looks. “Did you zone out?”
“Apparently.” She left her seat and got a toaster pastry from the cabinet.
“Thinking about the Hunters. Trying to figure out which one you like most?”
And that’s when everything came flooding out. “I want to like Ray. Like really like him. I love having him around. He’s a great guy. He even got saved at church Sunday.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah. So he’s a church-going feller, which I need. He’s a good guy. A very good guy, and he tries to take care of me.”
Her mom smiled a knowing grin. “But…”
“But, Aaron is… he’s so awesome! He is not the nicest person ever, but he tells the truth. He talks me down when I get way too hyper about things, and he isn’t bad on the eyes either. And can that boy kiss.”
She knew she had a dreamy look in her eyes as she leaned back against the counter with a piece of food hanging out of her mouth. Probably not the best look in the world, but it was what it was.
“I think you have your answer.” Her mom grinned.
“But then there’s Ray.”
“And you don’t want to hurt him.”
“Exactly. Plus we are going to prom together, and I don’t want it to be horrible. I do like him. Just not like I like Aaron. I don’t have the same feelings or whatever. Ugh.” She threw the nearly uneaten breakfast in the trashcan, suddenly not hungry. “I’m a bad person.”
Her mom laughed. “No, you’re not. You’re human. It’s okay to be human. We all are. And no one says you have to like Ray best just because he’s saved. Aaron goes to church too, right?”
“Yeah, with us, but who knows how long that’ll last?”
Her mom got up and put her hand on Sloan’s cheek lovingly. “In matters of the heart, one can’t help who she loves. It just… happens. Now, with that said, it was just one kiss. One kiss. You don’t have to marry the boy. Or either boy for that matter. Take time to think about things. Don’t rush into anything. You’ve been through so much. You’re still going through it.” She kissed her on the forehead. “Don’t worry about it. God has a way of figuring this stuff out.”
“You’re not much of a believer, Mom,” Sloan reminded her.
“Been talking to Donna. She’s a smart lady.” Her mom grabbed her purse from the island. “You sure you’re okay going to school? You don’t have to, you know.”
“I know, but I want to go. I have a project due in Biology soon, and I need to finish it.” A project with Ray. That wouldn’t be weird at all.