Making the Rules Read online

  Making the Rules

  Emma Leigh Reed

  Contents

  Other Books by EMMA LEIGH REED

  1. Isabelle

  Chapter 2

  3. Jack

  Chapter 4

  5. Isabelle

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  8. Jack

  9. Isabelle

  Chapter 10

  11. Jack

  12. Isabelle

  13. Isabelle

  14. Jack

  15. Isabelle

  16. Isabelle

  17. Jack

  18. Isabelle

  19. Jack

  20. Isabelle

  Chapter 21

  22. Jack

  23. Isabelle

  24. Isabelle

  Chapter 25

  26. Jack

  27. Isabelle

  Chapter 28

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Other Books by EMMA LEIGH REED

  Making the Rules

  A Fine Line

  A Time to Heal

  Second Chances

  Trusting Love

  Mirrrored Deception

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, events, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any re- semblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2019 by Emma Leigh Reed All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission from the author.

  Published by ELR Publishing. ISBN-13: 978-1-944550-10-3

  Cover and interior design by Kenny Holcomb kennyholcombdesigns.com

  Printed in the United States of America

  Created with Vellum

  1

  Isabelle

  “Are you freaking kidding me?” I stood at the open door to my apartment, exhaustion pulling at me. All I wanted was a hot shower and to crawl into my bed. Instead I stared at the cushions from the couch scattered about. Pictures broken and glass shards littering the carpet. I’m not sure how much time passed before reality seeped into my brain. Who would do this? What the…

  I backed away from the door and reached in my purse for my cell phone. I punched in 9-1-1 as I stared at my apartment. Letting the dispatcher know that my apartment had been broken into, and that there seemed to be no damage to the door, I was told to wait outside until an officer arrived. I stayed on the phone making small talk with the dispatcher, waiting for what seemed an eternity before an officer arrived on the scene.

  “Miss, this is your apartment?”

  “Yes, sir. Isabelle LaFayette.” I answered.

  “Officer Terrell.” He waited for me to continue.

  “I just arrived home and when I unlocked the door, I found the mess.”

  “Stay here.” He pushed opened the door and ventured into the house. “All clear, come on in.”

  I pulled my suitcase in and placed it against the wall.

  “How long have you been gone?” Officer Terrell pulled his small notebook from his shirt pocket.

  “A week.”

  “Take a look around and see if you can determine if anything is missing.”

  I took a slow look around the living room. Other than pictures being smashed and the couch cushions on the floor, nothing was missing. The television still sat on the stand in the corner. I moved to the kitchen and stopped just inside the doorway. I had been eclectic in my choice of kitchenware, with most of it coming from thrift shops, but almost all the dishes and glasses were smashed on the floor.

  Tears caught in my throat as I looked around. Who would do this to me? I turned and went to the bedroom. The bed was untouched, but my clothes from the closet were strewn over the floor. The box where I had kept my poems from college and Jack’s pictures was torn apart. The poems shredded. Thankfully, I had taken Jack’s pictures with me or I would have lost those, too.

  “Miss?”

  I shook my head. “No, nothing seems to be missing.”

  “There isn’t any damage to the door. Does anyone else have a key to your apartment?”

  “No, no one.” Anxiety pulled at me. How could I sleep here tonight? “What about the balcony?”

  “It wasn’t tampered with either. In fact, the bar is still in the track.” Officer Terrell stood at the door. I could feel his gaze on me as I bent down and picked up a few pieces of my poetry. I would not cry over this. It was just papers and the most important things to me, I had carried with me to New Hampshire.

  “Is it safe to stay here tonight?” I stood and turned towards the officer.

  “I believe so. I would change the lock on your door though, just in case.”

  Isabelle frowned. “Do you have any recommendations at this time of night?”

  “I can call a locksmith that I have used who, I’m sure, can be here shortly.” Officer Terrell replied.

  I nodded and he moved to the living room to make his call. I sat on my bed and just surveyed the room. With a sigh, I stood and started picking up the clothes and hanging them back in the closet. There didn’t seem to be any damage to the clothes themselves.

  “Miss, he’ll be here within thirty minutes.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I’m just going to look around the complex here. I’ll come back to check in with you before I leave to make sure the locksmith got here. His name is Adam.”

  I nodded and walked him to the door. I reached for my phone to call the landlord. I already knew through the lease that changing the lock was not a problem as long as I gave the landlord one of the original keys, and since there was no number for emergencies, I knew it was not a problem to get this done immediately and deal with the landlord the next day. I locked the door after him and let my head drop, closing my eyes. Immediate thoughts of how ‘this is what I get for challenging my mother’s attitude’ towards me started flooding my mind. I shook my head. No. I wouldn’t allow those thoughts to creep in. This was not my fault.

  I picked up the couch cushions and straightened around the living room, taking care to pick up frames and bigger pieces of glass off the carpet. I glanced at my watch. Nine p.m. At least, it wasn’t too late that it would be a nuisance if I vacuumed the place. Before pulling the machine out, I grabbed the broom from the pantry closet and swept up the kitchen floor. Once it was clean of all but the shards of glass, I went to the cupboards to look. There was a couple of plates left and one glass along with my travel coffee mug. The coffee pot was intact.

  A knock at the door drew my attention away from the fact that I would need to restock my kitchen with plates and glasses. I peered through the eyehole in the door and saw a young man with a shirt that read Adam above the words Sawyer’s Locksmith. I opened the door and gestured him in.

  “I’m Adam.” He kneeled at the door, reaching for his toolbox and a screwdriver. “Won’t take but a minute, ma’am.”

  “Hi. Thanks for coming out on such short notice.”

  “Always on call to change locks in these situations. Officer Terrell thought you might like a deadbolt installed, too.”

  “Yes, that would be great.” I turned towards my suitcase still sitting by the wall as my cell phone dinged a notification of a text message. Home yet?

  Nick. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to talk to him tonight. I answered: Just got home. I’m exhausted. Talk tomorrow?

  Sure

  I couldn’t even second guess the meaning behind the one-word answer. Was he ticked that I hadn’t invited him right over? We hadn’t talked my whole time i
n New Hampshire. I had stayed focused on what I was there to do. And emotionally draining it was, without adding more pressure to it.

  “All set. Here’s your new key.” Adam handed me the key. I hadn’t realized he was done and had packed everything away.

  “Thank you. I really appreciate it.”

  “No problem. Have a good night.” He was gone before I could respond and just as suddenly, Office Terrell was in the doorway.

  “New lock already?”

  I nodded and gave him a faint smile. “Everything is all set. Thank you for everything.”

  “Nothing seems out of the ordinary. If you hear anything, don’t hesitate to call, although I’m sure someone knew you weren’t home and took advantage of that. Probably were looking for money since they didn’t take anything.” He paused. “You going to be okay?”

  “Yes. I’m fine. Just a long trip and now this. A good night’s sleep will do me wonders.” I gave him a sincere smile. I clicked the new lock in place on the knob and threw the deadbolt across. There was a sense of security with the click of the locks into place.

  I vacuumed the living room and kitchen to make sure all the glass was up so I wouldn’t have to worry in the morning about walking barefoot. I pulled my suitcase to the bedroom. I had hung up the clothes already. The rest of it…I just couldn’t deal with it. I went to the bathroom, which, ironically, was spotless, just like I left it. I peeled off my clothes and turned the shower on full force. The hot water rained over me and I allowed my stress and anxiety to dissipate.

  When my alarm went off, I laid there groggily as the previous night’s events slowly came back. With a sigh, I pulled myself from the comfort of the bed and dressed for the day. The plan had been to arrive at work early and catch up on emails, hopefully, before Gayle arrived. Dressed to exude confidence I wasn’t feeling this morning, I started the coffee maker and waited for the faithful beep so I could have my first cup of coffee. I made a mental note to look for new dishes and glassware after work.

  Just as I finished getting everything together, coffee in hand and starting for the door, my cell phone beeped. I hesitated, but then ignored it. I knew it would be Nick and I just wasn’t ready to face him. I hit the silence button and never gave it another thought. Arriving at work, I glanced at my watch. Six. No one would be in for a couple of hours. I loved the quietness of the office this time of the morning.

  I let out a sigh of relief when I got to my desk and realized that Gayle wasn’t in yet. I sipped my coffee, enjoying the warmth and familiarity of the routine as I went through emails. Not as bad as I had expected. By the time, I had finished reading and answering my emails and perusing new manuscripts that had come in, Gayle had arrived.

  “Isabelle, so glad to have you back.” Gayle stopped at my desk.

  “Thank you. Good to be back.”

  “Good trip?”

  I nodded. “Very good trip.”

  She nodded before heading into her office. “Marketing meeting in an hour,” she spoke over her shoulder before she disappeared.

  I pulled my phone from my bag to see that I had numerous unread text messages and five missed calls…all from Nick. Time to face the music. I read through his texts quickly, all pretty much saying the same thing. Got sucked into my emails for work. Sorry, just seeing this.

  I was getting worried. Lunch today? I sighed. Could I push him off? I knew I needed to face him at some point, but I was reluctant to, and yet I couldn’t put my finger on why exactly.

  Meetings and working late. Didn’t realize how much I would have to catch up on, I responded.

  You’ve got to eat. He was persistent, that’s for sure. Though wasn’t that one of the qualities I liked?

  I will at some point. I’ll text you later. Meeting. My new excuse apparently was a meeting. I smiled as I put the phone in my desk drawer. I glanced at my wrist. I had some time before the marketing meeting. I opened my social media and started looking at pictures of Jack. The pictures he had online were very limited. I closed it and sat back. There was going to have to be a meeting with my favorite shrink, Mary, soon, to discuss everything that had happened.

  In the meantime, work was waiting and I easily threw myself into the day. Before long it was seven at night and even Gayle was preparing to go home. I packed up my things. Take out tonight and I’ll get dishes another night was one of my last thoughts before I went into acquiring mode and thinking of the newest manuscript I wanted to dive into.

  2

  I climbed the stairs, my laptop bag weighing heavy on my shoulder and my Chinese food in one hand. I had my keys in my other hand; my mind already making a mental list of all that needed to be done tonight. I stopped short when I came face to face with Nick standing outside my door.

  “How long have you been here?” I tried to keep the irritation out of my voice.

  “About a half hour. I thought I would make dinner, but looks like you already got some.” He gestured towards my take-out bag.

  “Yeah, I was running late by the time I left work and didn’t feel like cooking.”

  Nick’s face seemed to scowl for a moment, but it was so fleeting I thought I had imagined it. “I wanted to surprise you, but, for some reason my key isn’t working, and what’s with the deadbolt?”

  Every part of me froze in fear. Nick had a key. It came flooding back to me. I had given him a key right before I left so he could keep an eye on the place and put my mail inside. I hadn’t seen any mail in the house, but I hadn’t really looked for it either with the mess I had come home to.

  “I had to change the locks. I came home and my apartment had been broken into.” I wanted to scream at him and yet I stood outside of my apartment door wondering how I could get into my apartment and not let him in. “I’m assuming you didn’t stop by with the mail while I was gone. I didn’t see any.” I waited for his reaction.

  “Oh, my God, Isabelle. Do they know who did it?” The shock on his face seemed to be genuine enough and I felt a twinge of guilt for thinking he would have done it. He took a step towards me, but I side stepped him and unlocked the door.

  “No. They said it looked like someone was looking for money since they didn’t take anything really. Just a lot of smashed stuff. I just was so busy dealing with that and tired from the trip, I fell into bed to crash as soon as I could last night.” I shrugged and opened the apartment door. I waited for him to answer the question about my mail.

  Nick followed me into the kitchen. My nerves were frayed and I, really, just wanted to curl up with my dinner, a glass of wine, and a new book to read. “You should have called me last night. I would have come over.”

  “And brought my mail?” I shrugged. “I had it under control.”

  “We’re back to that…you don’t need anyone to be there for you. Well, it must have been a great reunion with Jack.” The snarkiness in his voice shocked me. “And you didn’t have any mail in the week you were gone except for a couple of advertisements so I didn’t bring them in.”

  I ignored the comment about the mail. “Reunion with Jack? What are you talking about?” I turned to look at him.

  “You and I both know your real reason to return to New Hampshire was to find him.”

  “You are unbelievable. You know damn well Jack had nothing to do with my return to New Hampshire. For your information, not that it’s any of your business, but I did not see Jack.” I paused and took a deep breath. “Nick, you should go tonight. I have a lot of work to do and I’d rather be alone.”

  We locked eyes and, for a moment, neither of us moved. I had no idea what he was thinking, but I was praying he would just leave and not cause problems.

  “You didn’t see him?” His whole tone had changed, shoulders visibly relaxing.

  “No.” I turned back to my food and grabbed a fork from the drawer. I walked past him and sat on the couch with my dinner and started eating.

  “I’m sorry, Izzy.”

  “Yeah. This jealousy thing you have going over a man w
ho is no longer in my life is unreasonable. It shouldn’t be a shock to you that I need time to process things.” I turned the tables. I felt stronger than I had ever been since my confrontation with my parents, my aunt and father…whoever they were now.

  “I think I’ll go tonight.” Nick walked to the door and paused.

  “Good night, Nick. We can talk tomorrow, if you can be reasonable.” I knew I was being bitchy by this point, but I didn’t care.

  Without a word, Nick left the house and I let a sigh of relief escape me.

  Although I knew it was late, I opened my laptop to send Mary an email.

  I’m back and I think a session might be a good thing. Do you have any time soon?

  I knew I wouldn’t hear from her until probably tomorrow, but knowing I had taken the first step in getting back to my counselling felt good. I switched gears and opened the new manuscript that was begging to be read and settled in to finish dinner and read. I was so thoroughly engrossed in this new writer, that I was startled when my phone beeped with a new email.

  Glad you’re back. Tomorrow at 6 pm. Can’t wait to hear how it went. ~~Mary

  I smiled. There was no question as to what time would be good for me. Mary had a knack of just saying things, no nonsense. She knew I would balk if I thought about it too much, or, at least, the girl who hadn’t made a trip back to New Hampshire would have. Yet, an excitement filled me with the prospect of seeing her tomorrow. I could talk through the break-in and Nick’s having a key. Could he really have done it? Or was he truly shocked like he appeared? I pushed away the suspicions, knowing that, more likely than not, I was looking for an issue so I could return to being alone.