"Is this okay?" I questioned stopping at the door before going in. "Yea no, it's fine I'll sleep on the couch." He said shrugging me off.
       I slid the key into the door and pushed it open. He carried both of our bags and we walked into the room. We looked around. "Wow this is cheesetastic!" Jacob commented. There was a bottle of champagne chilling in some ice. Rose petals were scattered everywhere and the bed in the middle of the room was kind of tiny. But I guess after you've just gotten married you probably want to sleep close to your new spouse.
       "You Think this is bad? You should see the bathroom." Jacob called out. I followed the sound of his voice. "Is that a heart shaped bathtub? I don't think I've ever seen one in real life! That's hilarious!" I said laughing.
       Jacob came out of the bathroom and looked around. "No couch." He commented. "Right." I said looking to try and find a place he could sleep. "No big deal I'll sleep on the floor." He said matter-of-factly. "No, of course you will not. You can sleep in the bed. I can't imagine what this floor will do to your back." I said. "Are you sure? Because I really don't mind sleeping on the floor." He said.
       "Of course I'm sure! Let's get ready for bed. You go shower first." I said. "Okay see you soon." He said ducking into the bathroom. I got my stuff ready for bed and soon he was coming out. We traded places and I made quick work of shaving and soaping up.
       After I brushed my teeth and dressed in my pajamas I headed out. Jacob was sitting up in bed shirtless reading a book. I crawled in bed next to him. "You're hot!" I commented. "Well thanks!" He said. I shoved his arm. "Not like that you dork, I mean I see now why you don't mind the cold! You're like a human heater." He chuckled. "Yea I guess I am." He closed his book setting it on the table. "Ready?" He asked. "Yep." He clicked the light off and it took us both a moment to get comfortable.

       But I slept better that night than i had in ages. I think it was sleeping next to somebody so warm. It was just comforting. I felt safe. I wasn't worried about Kyle. It was probably because Jacob had all those muscles it would have to scare Kyle. I woke up the next morning feeling refreshed.

       We had stayed Friday night and would need the hotel again for Saturday night. We could stay a bit into Sunday but I had to be back at work for Monday. We headed to my moms house. There was a police car in the driveway. We knocked and Uncle Dom let us in. "I'm glad you're here the police would like to ask you a few questions." He said. "Me?" I asked. "Yea well you dated that guy that roughed your mom up. They need some more information." He said as if it was no big deal. And maybe to him it wasn't but I knew I'd tell them anything they wanted to know if it meant she was safe.

      We headed into the kitchen where my mom sat talking to an officer. "Oh here she is now. Glenn this is my daughter Meg. She dated that rat scallion." My mom said. "Mom!" I said. "Oh sorry dear, it's been a long night." Jacob offered to go pick up donuts and juice while we talked.

       I sat across from Glenn. "Well were trying to track down Kyle. Can you give me a brief description?" He asked. "I can do better than that." I said pulling my phone from my pocket. I showed him the phone displaying a picture of Kyle. "Great that's helpful. Could you text that to me?" He asked. "Sure." I sent it to the number he gave me. "Now how about what kind of vehicle he drives?" Glenn asked. "Grey Ford F 150. Older model. It's got some dents in the front." I said. "Okay now this next question might be uncomfortable but anything you can t ell me will be very helpful when we catch Kyle." He said. "Okay." I nodded.

       "Guys like Kyle don't just get mad and want to hurt people on the spur of the moment. Your mom told us he was looking for you. Has he ever hit you before?" He asked. "Of course." I said because it was obvious. He was right. He had hurt my mom just looking for me. "I don't know how many times, it just became sort of a thing?" I wasn't sure how much he needed me to tell him. He wrote all this down in his notepad.

       "Okay ladies I think I have what I need. We'll keep an eye out for Kyle we'll catch him." He said. Mom's phone beeped. "I'll swear I'll never get used to this new phone." She chuckled. Why had Kyle kept her phone? It was an older model and on it's last legs. The sheriff used his phone to call someone at the station. He let them know to keep an eye out for Kyle and gave them a description on his vehicle. He had also texted the picture I sent to them.

       "Should I move back home? I mean is it safe for you to be here alone?" I asked. "No dear, you leaving was the best thing you could have done. You are safe where you are. Kyle won't find you. You have Jacob to help keep you safe. Besides you have work and rent and it's fine. Your Uncle Dom is going to be staying in the guest room for a few weeks." She said.

        I liked Uncle Dom. If you looked at him you'd guess he was a cowboy from Texas not a construction worker from Washington. He wore a cowboy hat, jeans caked in dirt, dusty boots and he had a mustache that would intimidate Tom Sellick. He carried a gun too. I knew he didn't want to kill Kyle he was a big teddy bear. But if Kyle came back it would scare him enough until the cops could show up. He could scare you if he needed to.

       "Are you sure?" I asked. "Well of course I'm sure. I'll be fine." She said. Jacob came in followed by Uncle Dom. They sat everything onto the table and we dug in. Jacob then left after breakfast to give me and my mom time together. He said he might go see his dad so I gave him the keys to my car.

       Mom cooked us lunch and we just caught up. "How did you get into this mess?" She asked me finally. I was waiting on it. "Look I didn't know that's how he was when we started dating. He seemed nice. And you know I'm a sucker for a good guy. But when things got bad he made it impossible to leave him. That's why I had to leave. Because he would of found me. I just wished I had known he would come after you." I said. "Well you couldn't have known any of that. But you know. Jacob seems nice." "He is...so what's your point? Oh you're not trying to play matchmaker are you? No don't do that. I'm no even ready to date anyone." I said.

        "I know that silly I'm just saying, if you get ready. He seems nice." She said. I rolled my eyes. "Okay yea, no that's not happening." I said. "Why not?" She asked. "Cause he's my roommate and that's just weird." I said. "Oh, well okay then." Jacob texted some time later about dinner. Said he would bring some home with him.

       He sat it on the table. "Did you have a good talk with your dad?" I asked. "Yes, I think it was good for me and him to talk about why I left. He understands ya know it's just...hard." He sighed taking a seat. He pulled out the chicken and fries and we started to dig in. My mom just kept looking at the two of us with this same goofy grin on her face. It was getting a little weird if I had to be honest. She got up to use the bathroom and Jacob turned to me.

       "Your mom's acting kinda weird. She okay?" He asked. Well I certainly wasn't about to tell him she thinks we should date. I didn't need that thought out there. "Yea, she's okay she just thinks you're nice." I said. "Oh, okay." "And she's glad you are going to come back with me. You know keep me safe or whatever." I said. Which was all true I just omitted the part about us dating.

       We cleaned up the mess and got ready to head back to the hotel. I kept my eyes peeled on the way for Kyle's car but I didn't see it. Maybe he would just stop all of the craziness. Well I could hope. We pulled into the hotel and had a repeat of the night before. Once we were in bed I again slept well. It was like one of those commercials for mattresses that promised better sleep from a heated mattress, they were right.

       We woke up the next morning and stopped by my mom's house one last time. She was fine, uncle Dom had taken good care of her.  I just felt so guilty knowing she was only in this mess because of me. But she again assured me that everything was fine and that I should go and it would be okay. So we did. We stopped for a burger on the way home because it was getting late. 

      After I had washed a load of our laundry and unpacked I was tired and very ready for bed. I still had to  be at work in the morning.