Kenton and I said very little to each other while we labored with the move. Josh behaved rudely around Kenton, but Kenton acted unbothered and I paid him no mind, since I assumed that he’d been poisoned by the Jeffersons.
Whenever I felt bad about the obvious snubbing Josh gave Kenton, I told myself it didn’t matter to me. I reminded myself that I was mad at him and never wanted to see him again. Although, I had to admit – privately, of course - that Hap’s praise of him peaked my interest. How had he managed to single handedly keep the reserve free of vandalism and human vermin each night?
When we were all unpacked and Hap had sent the moving trailer away, my mother invited us all back to the house for dinner. She insisted that it was too much for us to try to cook a dinner for ourselves after a day of packing and moving supplies, and then unpacking and setting up for the horses; as well as Josh and me.
My trembling hands gripped the steering wheel as I pulled out of our driveway and headed toward Hap’s trailer. I sincerely wished that Cindy hadn’t verbalized Ethan’s attraction to me. I was having a difficult enough time dealing with the way my body was responding to him without the knowledge that he liked me adding fuel to the fire.Back in Chicago, if someone as handsome as Ethan spared a second to give me a smile, I would have walked on clouds for a month. I’d spent enough time around him to understand that his arrogance was a shield that he placed around himself to hide his insecurities.I pulled up to the trailer and sat in the car while I watched his van stop behind me. When he turned off his lights and got out, I did the same.“Do you have the keys to the front door?” he asked in a brisk manner while holding his hand out, expectantly.I fumbled for the right key and handed it to him
Ethan was gone about an hour when I heard a soft knock on the door. Thinking it was Josh finally coming home, I opened the door without hesitation.“Hi,” Kenton said in a soft tone as I stood looking at him with a dumb look on my face. “Can I come in?”When I made no move to let him in -actually, I made no move at all. Instead, I stood immobile with my hand on the door, like a statue – he asked for entry a second time. This time I responded.“It’s late,” I said in a very unfriendly tone.“Since when was that an issue for us?” he asked. When I still didn’t move, he sighed and said, “Then, will you come outside for a moment?”I don’t know why, but I suddenly felt guilty about having sex with Ethan. It was as if I’d cheated on Kenton, as ridiculous as that seemed.I heaved a sigh and stepped aside, “Come in.&
It was late morning when I awoke to the heavy knocking on the door. I called for Kenton with a raspy voice, but he didn’t reply so I dragged myself out of bed to answer it. When I stood up, I could feel the blood gushing down my legs.“Missy? Missy, it’s Cindy. Are you in there? I went to check on the horses. Have you tended to them yet?”I leaned against the wall while I tried to make the world stop spinning. “I’m sick, Cindy. Try the door to see if it’s locked.”A loud gasp told me that the door wasn’t locked and my friend was inside. “That’s way too much blood to be your monthly. What’s going on?”My voice trembled with fear and weakness. “Can you help me?”“What do you want me to do? Do you want to go to the hospital?”I looked down at the pool of dark blood on the floor and nod
It was early morning before I roused out of bed. My cell phone was on the nightstand, which told me that my mother had come to check on me; probably more than once. It couldn’t have been later than six in the morning, so I was surprised when the smell of coffee and bacon alerted my stomach to the fact that I hadn’t eaten in a day and a half. I was starving.Assuming that it was my mother ratting around in the kitchen, I hopped out of bed. Standing still for a moment, I mentally surveyed the condition of my body. I was tender in the abdomen, but, other than being hungry, I was pretty much back to my old self.“I’m starving!” I called out as I slid my feet into a pair of slippers.I’d slept in my tee shirt and underpants. The morning was cool so I slipped into my robe before bounding toward the kitchen.I stopped short when Kenton turned around and smiled. The pl
I literally camped out at the hospital for a few days while I waited to see whether or not my mother was going to be okay. When Hap told me that she’d been mauled, he either failed to tell me the extend of her injuries or I failed to comprehend them. When I finally got to see them, I almost fainted. Not only had one side of her face been ripped up to the point she looked like Mrs. Frankenstein, the left side of her torso had so many stitches, it reminded me of a patchwork handbag that I once owned. Even though she was beautiful, I’d never known my mother to be shallow about her looks, but this would be the test of things. Her looks were destroyed. Even if the scars did fade - like the hospital staff kept assuring me they would – the meat of her flesh had been damaged. She’d never look the same again. It was her third day in the hospital when she finally woke up and spoke to me. Hap happened to have stopped in to check on her and wa
Kenton left me to shower and change without interruption. When I was done, I beckoned him to join me in my room. I was exhausted, both emotionally and physically, and I didn’t want to be alone. The afternoon was barely approaching evening and I knew that the horses would need tending to. I mentioned to him that I’d take care of them after I’d had a short nap. He didn’t argue, but something told me that he’d tend to them himself rather than wake me up. As I drifted off to sleep in his loving arms, I made a silent promise to myself that I’d toughen up and resume living in the morning. I just needed one more night of self-pampering and nurturing while I absorbed the realization of my new life. It was dark when I opened my eyes and sat up in bed. I reached for Kenton, but he was gone. I looked at the clock. It was ten in the evening. I’d slept for five hours. Although I was still tired, my body had normalized enough that
I was alone in bed when I awoke the following morning. I checked the time. It was still early. I remembered promising myself that I’d toughen up to my new reality when I awoke and continue living. I’d start by reuniting with the horses. The house felt cold and empty without my mother or Josh in it. My footsteps actually echoed as I walked across the marble tiles and I wondered why I’d never noticed that before. I wasn’t sure if Kenton was still on the property or if he was coming back - or maybe Hap was around somewhere - so I made a full pot of coffee. For the first time since we’d moved into that grand house, I wished it wasn’t so large. If someone wanted to disappear in it, it would take a considerable length of time and effort to find them. Again, I was surprised that I’d never noticed that before then. I was in the middle of mucking out a stall when faint memories of Ethan’s mouth titillating my crotch fl
Kenton was right. It took several days, but I eventually felt like my old self again.I’d divided my time between tending to the horses and visiting my mother in the hospital.I was a borderline basket case for the first day as I watched for Ethan’s return to – at the very least- seek revenge for that twisted mind of his. Happily, whatever Kenton did to make him stay away worked. By day number two, I was breathing easy again.Hap and Kenton made sure to be at the house in time for dinner, which we all took turns providing either by cooking it or carrying it in. It gave me a small sense of normalcy in a world that no longer felt normal.I made no mention of our conversation about my heritage or the fact that Josh wasn’t related to me by blood and neither did they. I appreciated that. I’d heard enough that I was struggling to absorb. I knew there was more, but it could