Haunted in the Night

Chapter Fifteen- Part One

Chapter Fifteen.
Claire fiddled with her fingers nervously while she sat at the kitchen table next to Chad, Bob had left to go organise this trip up to the mountains.
"So what would you like to do today?" Chad asked her, trying to distract her from the tight, sick feeling in her stomach.
That feeling was dread, dread of what she was going to find up in those caves, if it was going to be dead rotting corpses, or maybe even the kidnapper themselves, whatever it was, either way she was dreading it, but also she couldn't actually stop herself from doing it, from going up there, as much as she was terrified of what she might find she also needed to know, to finally have the answers she had been waiting her whole life for.
"Claire?" Chad called to her waving his hand in front of her face slightly to get her attention, snapping her from her thoughts.
"Huh?" she asked him, confused as to what it was he had originally said, she hadn't fully heard him, she hadn't been paying attention.
"I asked what it is that you would like to do today" he told her and she made an o shape with her mouth before seriously considering her options.
"Can we go to the store? I'd really like to help you out in there with you being there alone these days" she answered and he smiled widely at her, his eyes shining at the thought of them working together in the store they both loved and held wonderful memories for them.
"I'd love that" he admitted to her as he reached over and took hold of her right hand, pulling it away from the other so that she'd stop fiddling and he stroked the top of it with his thumb softly, as a caring gesture.
"Can I get a lift with you?" she asked and he chuckled at her.
"I thought that went without saying" he told her as he put his other hand up around the back of her neck as he pulled her closer and leaned in closer himself, until their foreheads touched.
Slowly he connected their lips, in a slow, soft but tender kiss, moving their lips together in sync, as Claire placed her hands on his shoulders in a way of holding him closer to her as she savoured the feeling and taste of his soft, warm lips.
A soft moan escaped from her lips which only seemed to light a fire between the two and he suddenly grabbed her waist and pulled her onto his lap, so she was straddling him and he pulled her tight against his lean body as the kiss turned more passionate, more heated.
Eventually they had to pull away for air, gasping as they put their foreheads back against each other again, watching the other intently.
"We should get to work" Claire managed to say once she regained her breath and he smiled at her with affection.
"I love the way that sounds" he admitted to her and she thought about it for a moment.
"I like it too" she replied, it did sound nice, working with him, in the shop they both loved, this is one of the things he had offered for her if she chooses to stay.
"Come on let's head out" Chad said as he patted Claire on the bum a couple times and she blushed at him before climbing off his lap.
"Come here" he said once he stood up, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her close to him again, kissing her passionately, taking her breath away once more.
When they pulled away this time he instantly took her hand in his afterwards and they made their way out to his truck.
Once they got near it he let go of her hand so they could get in, and the drive to the hardware store was spent in a comfortable silence.
"So what will we be doing today?" Claire asked once they pulled up and they got out of the car and walked up to the entrance.
"Well I need to put out some new stock, fill out some paperwork for the next loading order and man the register if any customers come in" he told her and she nodded as she watched him pull out his keys from his pocket and unlock the door, opening it for her first then following in after her.
"I can help put out stock if you want, I remember pretty much where everything is, unless you have changed it over the years" she offered as she looked around the familiar store, memories surrounding her.
"No it's all the same, your father had set it up really practical, no point in changing something that's already perfect" he replied as he turned the sign on the door to open.
"That's kind of you to say" she said, looking around anxiously, her nerves spiking, her anxiety was building being back in here, it hadn't been so bad the other day but that this she was here to work, just like she had tried to when she was little and the memories were a bit overwhelming.
"Hey if you need a minute just let me know" he said noticing her tense body.
"Thanks, I'll be alright, so where is the stock load?" she asked him, turning to look at him, pushing her memories to the back of her mind.
"Out in the storage shed out the back" he answered and she smiled at him before walking off to the back of the store where the shed was connected to it.
It was filled with boxes, thankfully all labelled and Claire picked up the first one and carried it back to the store, placing it down and she opened it up an started stocking the shelves, this box contained packets of all different sizes of nuts and bolts, and Claire read the tags to make sure that she was putting them in the right place.
Chad had headed to the office to get started on some paperwork, but every now and again he would peek out to see how Claire was doing, he found her even more attractive when she was working around the hardware store, he wished more than anything that she would stay and they could run it together, have a life together.
Ding, the bell at the door rang as someone walked in, and Claire instantly put down what she was doing and went to greet them.
It was two ladies, both elderly aged with grey hair, one had blue eyes and the other brown, one of them had a walking stick but the other didn't.
"Can I help you find anything?" Claire asked them kindly and they both looked at her shocked for a moment.
"Are you alright?" she asked them when they didn't move or speak, just stared at her.
"Oh yes dear, aren't you Claire?" the lady with the blue eyes asked curiously and Claire gulped nervously.
"Yes ma'am, do you need help with anything?" she asked again, hoping this time they would tell her what they came in here for.
"Well aren't you moving on, how can you even stand to be in here after what happened to your parents? Have you forgotten about them or something?" the blue eyed lady asked rudely and Claire gaped at her in shock.
"Excuse me?" Claire asked with a gasp, these ladies thought she didn't care about what happened to her parents, they thought that because she was in here trying to work that she no longer remembered, and it hurt, it felt like someone had stabbed her in the heart.
"Sorry ladies I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave" Chad quickly butted in as he rushed over, seeing Claire boiling up with anger, her fists clenched tight.
"But we're customers, regular ones too" the brown eyed lady finally spoke, fiddling with her walking stick, looking annoyed.
"Well when you have manners and respect towards my girlfriend then you can come back, until then you are no longer welcome here" Chad stated and Claire gasped slightly, looking at him out of the corner of her eye, he had just called her his girlfriend.
"Hmm" the blue eyed lady huffed before they both death glared Claire, then they turned their backs and walked away, leaving Claire standing there shocked.
"I'm sorry about them, you shouldn't listen to anything they had to say, I know you remember your parents, and how hard it is for you to be in here, but the important thing is that you still love this store, as much as they did, it's sort of a way that you can still show your love for them" he made it sound so sweet, so caring and Claire pulled him into her embrace, wrapping her arms tightly around his shoulders.
"Thank you" she whispered in his ear and he returned the hug, wrapping his arms around her waist.
They stood there like that for a few moments before Claire calmed down, her anger subsiding.
"So I'm your girlfriend huh?" she asked as she pulled away from him, a blush creeping up her cheeks as she looked up at him nervously.
"Of course, I mean unless you don't want to be" Chad said the last part a bit nervously, watching her intensely, trying to gauge her expression.
"I'd love that" she admitted, it was a big step for her, committing herself to him, she knew what it entitled and she was extremely nervous about it all.
"So you'll stay here with me? You'll help me run the shop? We'll run it together?" he asked her in one big breath, his eyes shining, hope all over his face.
"Yes" she managed to whisper out, she knew staying in this town would be hard, she would miss her grandparents, she would probably never fulfil her dream of going to work as a profiler for the FBI and then there was the memories, no matter what they would always be here, she just hoped making good memories with Chad would help drain out the pain.
Suddenly she was being swept off her feet, as he embraced her around the waist, picked her up and spun her around a couple of times, when he put her back on ground, he took both her cheeks in his hands and kisses her, very tenderly, it took her breath away, as if the spinning around hadn't done that enough and she practically melted in his arms.
Placing her hands on his shoulders to steady herself and she kissed back with just as much passion, their lips moulding together, moving in perfect sync as his hands trailed down and he grasped her ass cheeks, picking her up and she instantly wrapped her legs around his waist as he walked over to the counter and placed her so she was sitting on it.
She pulled away from his lips, gasping for air but he didn't stop there, instead he moved his lips over to her neck, kissing and nipping at it slightly with his teeth, making her gasp as she tightened her legs around him, pulling him flush against her and little moans escaped from her.
It only turned her on more when he let out a small moan and she grabbed his hair and pulled his lips back to hers, suddenly she felt his tongue against her lips and she opened her mouth for him, instantly they pushed their tongues together, flames of passion and lust bursting inside of them.
This time when Claire pulled away for oxygen he stopped, leaning their foreheads together, panting for breath, watching each other intently, but still wrapped in each other's embrace.
"Wow" was all that Claire could say, her mind was a fog, adrenaline pumping through her, her libido fully awakened and pulsing.
"Mmm" Chad made a noise of agreement as he closed his eyes, savouring this moment, the feeling of her in his arms, her scent, she smelled of strawberries from her shampoo, it just made her all that more sweet.
"We better get back to work" Claire suddenly said, highly aware that they were still in the hardware store.
"Ah yes, here you go" Chad replied as he grabbed her and lifted her off the bench, putting her back down on her feet.
"I'll get back to putting out stock" Claire said as she looked down shyly.
Chad then put his fingers under her chin and lifted her head, placing a soft chaste kiss on her lips.
"My sweet Claire" he murmured to her softly and she looked into his eyes, knots tying in her belly, her breath catching in her throat.
"I'm in love with you" he spoke to her, his eyes soft, warm and full of the emotion of which he spoke.
As soon as he said it Claire felt like the whole world had stopped, frozen in time, or at least she had, for that time her mind was almost blank, the only thing that went through it was those words, over and over again, almost as if she could not fully process them, until she did.
"I'm in love with you too" she admitted, finally fully to herself and to him, she had been trying to hide her feelings, hide them from him, from herself, but she could no longer deny it, she knew she had been scared, scared to love, her fear of being hurt again was so strong but now she knew, knew that she could trust him with her heart and she bared it to him.
He smiled at her, lovingly, before kissing her tenderly once more.
"I'll let you get back to work" he said as he walked back into the office to finish his paperwork which he had left to defend her honour.
Taking in a deep breath she made her way back to where she had been and started stocking the shelves once more.