stirred up as she
was, masturbation seemed the only answer. God, what had he done to her? Her
vibrator didn’t even interest her.
“Okay.” The sound of her voice made her laugh. Good thing Gareth
wasn’t around. Hearing her talking to herself was sure to make him want to
touch her—as he loaded her into the ambulance bound for the nearest psycho ward.
With a sigh she got out of the car and headed into the cabin. The stillness of
the air around her brought another measure of calm. One she needed before
seeing Rain again.
“Mom! Where have you been? You were supposed to be back an
hour ago. There’s no signal on my phone, so I couldn’t even call you. My
cousins dropped me off a long time ago. What was I supposed to do while you
were gone? No internet. No TV. I’ve read all the books I brought. Like twice
this week. God! I’m so bored.”
Rain punctuated the last word by slumping down on the sofa.
With her daughter’s legs jutted out and her lips twisted up into a pout,
Harmony thought her daughter looked about six years old. But, she had to admit,
sullen teen was even better than chilly wind to get your mind off sex.
“So put on your coat. Let’s go buy some groceries. I’ll make
us spaghetti.”
She knew her girl. Rain’s eyes lit up. “Really? I’ll make
salad to go with it. Can we get buns to make garlic bread too?”
“Sure. And I’ll tell you what Micah said about you working
at the lodge as soon as you’re in the car.” She laughed at the breeze her
daughter kicked up as she dashed past.
She let Rain’s chatter fill her brain as she drove them into
town. She was a little amazed with herself at remembering where the store was.
In between fielding the peppered questions about the job, she let herself relax
into the familiar rhythm of shopping. It was nice not to have to look over her
shoulder in fear of finding Tom behind her all the time.
Rain vibrated with excitement about a real job. This had
been a good move.
Groceries filled the backseat as they headed back to the
cabin. The sunset now provided an intense palate of blues and oranges as they
turned down the lane to their new home. The smell of the woods and earth got
through the closed windows to mix with the various scents from the sacks. Her
stomach rumbled.
Her throat caught when she thought she saw someone slipping
into the woods but then she laughed at herself. It was a reservation. People
were going to be in the woods all the time—not to mention it was shifter land.
She’d have to talk to Rain about that soon.
“Mom?” Her daughter’s voice yanked her out of her reverie. “Are
you just going to stand there or are you really going to make dinner? I’m
starving!”
She laughed as she got out of the car. Silently she gave
thanks to the high metabolism of her kind. Even the Denied were blessed with
it. “One thing that isn’t going to change is your appetite, sweetheart. Help me
get the car unloaded and all of this stuff put away. I think we bought the
whole store.”
Learning that the stove that had worked at lunch now didn’t
work didn’t faze either of them. They hauled out the tuna to make sandwiches.
Making a mental note to contact Gareth, she listened to her daughter angst over
what to wear to her first day of school the next day. A bit wistfully she
wondered how long the biggest issue would be the blue sweater or green sweater
for her beautiful girl.
“And Mom, you so can’t come with me. Keme told me where to
catch the bus.”
“Keme? Who is that? Is that the boy I saw you with? Do we
need to have that talk again?” Her stomach cramped. Her daughter wasn’t going
to go the way she had gone. She would turn heaven and Earth to make sure that
didn’t happen. Still, she bit down on her urge to snarl at Rain. No, that wasn’t
the way to build trust. If her daughter didn’t trust her she might do exactly
as she had done.
Ruin her life.
Rain eyed her warily as she bit into her second tuna-salad
sandwich.
was, masturbation seemed the only answer. God, what had he done to her? Her
vibrator didn’t even interest her.
“Okay.” The sound of her voice made her laugh. Good thing Gareth
wasn’t around. Hearing her talking to herself was sure to make him want to
touch her—as he loaded her into the ambulance bound for the nearest psycho ward.
With a sigh she got out of the car and headed into the cabin. The stillness of
the air around her brought another measure of calm. One she needed before
seeing Rain again.
“Mom! Where have you been? You were supposed to be back an
hour ago. There’s no signal on my phone, so I couldn’t even call you. My
cousins dropped me off a long time ago. What was I supposed to do while you
were gone? No internet. No TV. I’ve read all the books I brought. Like twice
this week. God! I’m so bored.”
Rain punctuated the last word by slumping down on the sofa.
With her daughter’s legs jutted out and her lips twisted up into a pout,
Harmony thought her daughter looked about six years old. But, she had to admit,
sullen teen was even better than chilly wind to get your mind off sex.
“So put on your coat. Let’s go buy some groceries. I’ll make
us spaghetti.”
She knew her girl. Rain’s eyes lit up. “Really? I’ll make
salad to go with it. Can we get buns to make garlic bread too?”
“Sure. And I’ll tell you what Micah said about you working
at the lodge as soon as you’re in the car.” She laughed at the breeze her
daughter kicked up as she dashed past.
She let Rain’s chatter fill her brain as she drove them into
town. She was a little amazed with herself at remembering where the store was.
In between fielding the peppered questions about the job, she let herself relax
into the familiar rhythm of shopping. It was nice not to have to look over her
shoulder in fear of finding Tom behind her all the time.
Rain vibrated with excitement about a real job. This had
been a good move.
Groceries filled the backseat as they headed back to the
cabin. The sunset now provided an intense palate of blues and oranges as they
turned down the lane to their new home. The smell of the woods and earth got
through the closed windows to mix with the various scents from the sacks. Her
stomach rumbled.
Her throat caught when she thought she saw someone slipping
into the woods but then she laughed at herself. It was a reservation. People
were going to be in the woods all the time—not to mention it was shifter land.
She’d have to talk to Rain about that soon.
“Mom?” Her daughter’s voice yanked her out of her reverie. “Are
you just going to stand there or are you really going to make dinner? I’m
starving!”
She laughed as she got out of the car. Silently she gave
thanks to the high metabolism of her kind. Even the Denied were blessed with
it. “One thing that isn’t going to change is your appetite, sweetheart. Help me
get the car unloaded and all of this stuff put away. I think we bought the
whole store.”
Learning that the stove that had worked at lunch now didn’t
work didn’t faze either of them. They hauled out the tuna to make sandwiches.
Making a mental note to contact Gareth, she listened to her daughter angst over
what to wear to her first day of school the next day. A bit wistfully she
wondered how long the biggest issue would be the blue sweater or green sweater
for her beautiful girl.
“And Mom, you so can’t come with me. Keme told me where to
catch the bus.”
“Keme? Who is that? Is that the boy I saw you with? Do we
need to have that talk again?” Her stomach cramped. Her daughter wasn’t going
to go the way she had gone. She would turn heaven and Earth to make sure that
didn’t happen. Still, she bit down on her urge to snarl at Rain. No, that wasn’t
the way to build trust. If her daughter didn’t trust her she might do exactly
as she had done.
Ruin her life.
Rain eyed her warily as she bit into her second tuna-salad
sandwich.
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