Always You

Tessa stood over the lone grave, the flowers she'd brought clenched so tightly in her hand that the crushed petals fell to the ground, littering the fresh dirt packed around the newly buried casket. Tommy, her childhood friend, was dead and it was all her fault. Raising her face to the sky, Tessa offered a prayer and an apology in case he was up there listening. I'm so sorry, Tommy, she whispered heavenward. I should never have told you what happened. I should have kept it to myself. Knowing there would be no absolution coming, she placed what was left of the flowers she'd brought to honor the memory of her friend on his grave and made her way back to her car. Guilt weighed heavily on her as she made the drive back to the small house she owned in St. Augustine, Florida. She'd been so excited the day she moved in. Tommy had helped her carry in her boxes and set up her new home. She remembered the excitement of signing the papers when she bought the house and how having Tommy with her made it that much more special. He'd been the one constant in her life since childhood and the person she ran to when her heart was broken time and again because of her unrequited love for Jack. Now her house was just a reminder of how horribly her life had changed. Opening her front door, Tessa smiled as Toby, her Bernese Mountain dog, ambled from the bed he'd been sleeping on and made his way to Tessa for the affection he'd come to expect from her. Toby had been her constant companion since the day she got him some three years before when she bought the house. Because she was a female living alone, she had first gotten Toby so she would feel safer knowing she had a large dog around to protect her. It didn't take long to learn that while he was a large, intimidating animal, Toby was also the gentlest of souls and would more than likely run from anything scary coming through her front door rather than attack and protect. By the time Tessa realized his fear of everything, including loud noises, she'd fallen hopelessly in love with the mutt and couldn't bear to part with him for anything more menacing. "Hey, Toby," she whispered, kneeling down and cupping his large face in her hands. "How was your nap, big guy?" she asked, kissing the top of his head and putting her arms around his neck for a tight squeeze. Hearing a loud crash from another room, Tessa jumped up, tensing with fear. Breathing heavily, she gave herself a silent lecture to do something other than stand there. Grabbing the bat she'd taken to leaving near the front door for protection, she grasped the handle and tiptoed toward her home office where she thought the noise had come from. Taking a deep breath, she threw the door wide and walked in swinging the weapon in the hope that she would hurt whoever had broken into her house before they could get to her. It took several seconds before she realized she was alone. Lowering the bat, she looked toward her window and saw that the plant she'd had on the windowsill was on the hardwood floor, the glass pot shattered into pieces with soil spilled all around it. The curtain around her window was billowing in the breeze and must have been the culprit. Racing over, Tessa slammed the window shut and locked it. Someone had been in her house. She never left her windows open...especially since the attack. Sitting on the floor next to her broken flowerpot, Tessa wrapped her arms around her knees and gently rocked back and forth. Lowering her head, she rested them on her clasped hands and closed her eyes. She really should check out the rest of the house to see if whoever had broken in was still there but truly, her knees would not allow her to stand. And besides, what more could he do to her? And it was him...she was certain of it. There was never a long period of time when he wouldn't do something to make sure she knew he was always watching. Breaking into her house was child's play to him, a simple reminder to let her know that he could get to her anytime he wanted. If killing the one person she'd gone to for help wasn't reminder enough, the mangled pictures of her family and Jack she'd found spread across her bed one night did the trick. Lesson learned...she was alone. It was her responsibility to make sure that the people she loved most in the world stayed safe. If that meant staying away from them, then she could do that. As long as she knew they were safe.