Free Obsessed With You by Jennifer Ransom Page B

car.

    His muscles were aching when he
woke up at dawn’s light. His cell said it was just after six. There
was no choice but to go into Fort Walton and buy some furniture and
supplies. He really hadn’t planned things very well at all, and
that wasn’t like him. But he had not been like himself for months
now, ever since Cathy left.
    In the early light, the house was
a dingy white, with paint worn or peeling. There was no in between.
Aaron didn’t even bother to go inside. He went around to the back
and found a bush to pee in. Back there, in the yard, he could faintly
see the sun rising over the bay. He could make out the pier that was
a part of his new property. But all of that would have to wait. He
needed food and a bed.
    On his way down the interstate to
Fort Walton, Aaron stopped at a diner that was already open for
business. He ordered a huge breakfast of fried eggs and bacon, hash
browns and pancakes, and coffee and orange juice. He took his time as
he ate. He allowed the waitress to fill his coffee cup four times
before he paid his bill. Back in his SUV, he located a Wal-Mart in
Fort Walton and set his GPS to take him there.
    It took Aaron three hours and two
shopping carts to get dishes, glasses, utensils, pots and pans,
sheets and towels, cleaning supplies, and a few groceries. He had the
flat-screen TV he bought brought out to his car when he checked out.
Afterward, he stopped at a furniture store in a strip mall. A tiny
blonde saleswoman followed him through the store as he pointed at
what he wanted: a queen-sized bed, a dresser, a couch and recliner, a
kitchen table and chairs, a bedside table, a console for his TV, and
two lamps. He didn’t waste any time on it because it didn’t
matter.
    “ I need this delivered today,”
Aaron told the teenie woman. She was the size of a child.
    “ I think we can do that,”
Teenie said. “There will be a rush fee.”
    Aaron waved his hand to let her
know that didn’t matter to him.
    He made a final stop at a liquor
store for scotch and beer. He pulled back into his driveway a few
minutes before three. It took several trips to unload his car. When
he dropped the last bag onto the floor, he sat down on the floor.
There was nowhere else to sit. He looked around at the shabby
interior. Even though the walls needed painting, the exquisite crown
molding shone through the dinginess. The floors needed refinishing,
but they were in good condition. The kitchen needed a complete
overhaul, but it would serve his purposes for now.
    Aaron wasn’t used to doing a
lot of cleaning. He always had a cleaning service, and then after he
moved in with Cathy, she took care of the cleaning. He winced now to
think of that. He filled the white ceramic sink that had seen better
days with warm sudsy water and wiped down the counters, inside the
cabinets, and the stove. He shoved his groceries into the pantry and
the elderly fridge.
    The furniture store movers were
supposed to be there at five, but it was closer to six and already
dark when they finally got there. Aaron helped the young boys who
seemed like teenagers move the stuff in and set the bed up. He gave
them each a tip and shut the door. Finally, he was alone again in his
new lonely house.
    He ate a bowl of cereal and
stared around the kitchen wondering if he’d lost his mind, buying a
house next to Cathy’s with the intentions of spying on her. It was
the act of a desperate man, and he knew he was desperate. But he
wasn’t crazy.
    After the unsatisfying bowl of
cereal, Aaron made up his new bed and spread two blankets on top of
the sheets. With his laptop on his stomach, he checked his emails,
taking intermittent sips of scotch on the rocks. He keyed in British
clothiers to see if he could remember the name of the shop Cathy had
bought his tie from. But what did that matter anyway? So what if he
could find the shop? What would that accomplish in locating the
person who had set him up?
    No shop names seemed familiar,
and Aaron