Maggie laughed, wiping her face on the hem of her tee shirt. “Who knows if I’ll be dating him after this whole mess. Jeezalou, this says issues from about five miles away. I appreciate the offer of a place to stay but I’m fine. I’m going back home tomorrow after my windows get replaced. Will you call Dee for me? I’d hate for her to drive by and see the boards and not know what was happening.”

“You bet, dollface. Are you going to call your family?”

“No, what’s the point? Anyway, I’ll be hearing from my mother soon enough, I told Janie off tonight, or rather, Kyle did. She’ll run straight to my mother with it.”

“Okay, you must tell me the whole story very soon. I may be able to wait until our Pumphouse date but not a moment more. Now, go to sleep and call me if you need me.”

Maggie hung up and snuggled down into the bed. It was indeed Kyle’s old boyhood bedroom, the bed smelled of him. She drew it around her, letting herself be comforted by that.

Downstairs, Polly placed a platter of sandwiches on the table. “I can’t believe all that girl has gone through.”

“Well, I just hope Alex pleads out. A trial would suck for her. I’m not even sure the pictures would get out. They may not be admissible. But the scandal would hurt her. Doesn’t matter that Alex is the one who did wrong.” Shane spoke around his ham sandwich with extra mustard.

“Enough people saw the incident at The Pumphouse and I’m sure Liv would be happy to testify about his comments at the market, too. I’m betting that some of Maggie’s neighbors saw Alex lurking around the neighborhood as well. I’m hoping that the evidence is such that Larry just advises him to take a deal. He most likely won’t even do time, just a fine and anger management.” Edward sighed.

“He won’t even go to jail for that? After he terrorized her and broke her windows?” Marc said, outraged.

“I doubt it,” Shane said. “Even if they did have a trial and he was found guilty, he’d still probably only do two or three weeks. The court will see it as he didn’t hurt her physically. And of course he’ll promise to never do it again. He’s a librarian, they’ll want to go easy on him. They’ll see him as a positive influence in the community.”

“Does he have any priors?” Edward asked. “I find it hard to believe that he would suddenly obsess over one woman like this. This kind of stalking behavior is usually a long term thing. I’ll have one of the investigators I work with do a bit of checking with Alex’s old girlfriends.”

“Good idea, Dad. I know he doesn’t have any priors here in Petal. I ran his information myself when we booked him.”

“He went out of town to college. UGA if I recall,” Matt said.

Shane picked up his cell and dialed the station. He spoke to the officer on duty, telling him to check to see if Alex had a criminal record either at the University through a grievance system or in other cities.

Chapter Six

The next morning Maggie woke up, getting ready quickly. Her hair up in a triple twist at the nape of her neck made her feel sleek and classy and a bit untouchable. She silently thanked Polly for packing professional looking clothing when she unzipped the garment bag. Choosing a black skirt and a cream colored blouse and some black pumps, she checked herself over in the mirror one last time before leaving the room. Chin up, she headed downstairs.

“Good morning, Red.” Kyle came out of the kitchen to greet her. He kissed her quickly and gently on the lips and then placed another kiss on her forehead. “You look nice. Momma’s got breakfast just about done. Come on into the dining room.”

She walked into the dining room and saw that Edward was already there dressed in a suit and Matt was there too. “I thought you two lived on your own?” She asked Kyle.

Edward laughed and went back to his newspaper.

“We do. But I wanted to take the day off to help you, to be with you. My loser brothers are here all the time to scrounge free food from Mom.”

Touched, she reached out and squeezed his hand. “You took the day off for me? You didn’t have to do that.”

He brought her hand to his lips. “I know I didn’t have to, I wanted to. Now sit down. You want some coffee?”

“That would be nice, thank you.” She sat, looking to Edward. “Mr. Chase, what time should I go to see the judge?”

“Edward please, darlin’. And I’ll come with you. He does ex parte motions at ten thirty on Thursdays. I’ve had my assistant get the paperwork filled out—what parts you don’t have to do that is—and we’ll swing by my office to finish them first. We can leave here by nine thirty. You can ride in with Kyle. I’ll need my car later.”

“Don’t I need to fill out a fee agreement or something?”

“Honey, this is not something I’d charge for. You’re like a part of our family! I wouldn’t dream of charging money for it.”

She shook her head. “Edward, I can’t let you do that. You’re providing professional services and guidance to me. It wouldn’t be right to take advantage of that.”

Kyle narrowed his eyes at her as he put a mug of coffee in her hands. Damn but she was independent. He wasn’t worried though, if Edward Chase could handle Polly, he could handle Red.

“I would be insulted if you pursued this any further.” Edward looked down at her face, putting on his uber father mask, throwing in a bit of lawyer for effect.