“Can we have some time to give you an answer?” I called out to her as she kickstarted the engine. She nodded once more before peeling out down the dirt road.
“What’s there to think about?” Brayson asked as he slid behind the steering wheel. “I want to stay here, and I honestly think they need us to stay.”
“I think we are getting off too easy.” I chewed the hangnail from my finger. “They aren’t just going to let me go for what I did. I don’t want the people in the town to get hurt because of me.”
The landscape zoomed past the window and I sent out a silent wish that Vorie would come talk to me soon. I hadn’t seen her since the night Brayson came back to sleep on the couch. Hopefully she didn’t get the wrong idea. On second thought, she knows me better than that.
“We don’t even know that anyone is chasing you.” Brayson turned the truck onto the main road. “Juniper said she was looking into it. I trust her judgement.”
“I do too.” Tears of frustration welled in my eyes. I couldn’t tell Brayson about what Vorie had said. He was just starting to smile again and seemed happy here. I didn’t want to bring that all crashing down on him. I stared silently out the window until we reached the hotel.
*
“You’re staying, right?” Oleen grabbed my arm and spun herself around as soon as we walked into the kitchen.
“Sit down girl.” Mrs. Shaw smacked at her with the tea cloth. “Give them a minute to breathe. Of course they are staying.”
“I want to stay,” Brayson said. I could feel his eyes boring a hole into the back of my head.
“Me too.” I smiled tightly. “But if we do, we should think about moving somewhere more permanent.”
“Nonsense.” Mrs. Shaw put her hands on her hips. “I wouldn’t have any of that talk at the meeting and I won’t have it here now. This is your home if you want it. We can use the extra help and your rooms would just sit empty waiting for you to come back if you ever left us.” Mr. Shaw flung open the back door as we took our seats at the table.
“Thank you,” Brayson said as he took the plate of cornbread from Mrs. Shaw. “We still have some things to discuss before we make our final decision.”
“What’s there to discuss?” Mr. Shaw sat at the head of the table while grinning at his wife. “The decision has already been made. You’re staying here with us. Don’t argue with Mrs. Shaw or she’ll stop feeding you.”
I watched their laughter and smiling faces all through dinner with a lead weight on my heart.
*
“We need to give them an answer at some point.” Brayson leaned against the wooden fence looking down into the goat pen.
I sat in the dirt bottle feeding the kids. Their tiny hoofs dug into my outstretched legs as they tumbled over each other trying to get more to drink. Brayson spent the past week learning to hunt with Akon while I chose to stay on the farm. I lifted the kid by his full squishy belly and placed him at my feet.
“Juniper asked me again this morning what our plans are.” Brayson draped his arms over the fence and sighed. “I don’t understand why you are so hesitant to say yes.”
“I’m worried.” I picked up the final goat to feed. He latched onto the rubber nipple while I stroked the gray streak of fur on his head. “What if they get hurt because of us?”
“You’re overthinking this, Fawn. Juniper isn’t stupid. She knows this could be a risk, but she asked us to stay anyway. I honestly don’t think the mafia can even find us. It’s a big world and without our trackers we pretty much just vanished,” Brayson chuckled softly. “And do you think those thugs would travel all the way out here?”
I shook my head smiling at the thought of the dust on their leather shoes. “You really want to stay, don’t you?” He gave me a hopeful smile.
“Fine,” I whispered while closing my eyes. “Let’s stay.”
*
Theo stood at the market stall entrance holding a long-stemmed orange poppy in his hand.
“What’s with the flower?” Fallon walked over and blocked my view of it. “You think she’s got any use for a flower? Come back with something worthwhile and maybe I’ll let her leave.” I laughed as I pushed my way past him. Theo’s cheeks were red.
“Don’t be rude,” I scolded the old man playfully. “Who says the flower is even for me?”
Theo extended his arm out and handed it to me. “Of course it’s for you.” He cast a worried glance back at Fallon as we walked down the street. “Who else would it be for?”
I inhaled the scent of the sweet blossom and then tucked it behind my ear. “Thank you. It’s lovely. Fallon is right though. I don’t need any flowers.”
Theo kept his eyes on the pavement under our feet. “It’s not about needing them. I wanted to do something nice for you. I was also wondering if you wanted to have a drink with me tonight. There is this nice club I found in the realm. I can pick you up at…”
I didn’t hear the rest of his words. A low hum filled my ears and my heart thudded hard against my ribcage. The people laughing and shopping on the crowded street blurred into unrecognizable shapes.
Walking down the center of the road was a man dressed in all black. The summer sun illuminated his outline giving him a mirage type glow. His piercing green eyes lit up and a playful smile came to his lips as he spotted me.
My breathing felt shallow and fear mixed with excitement kept me frozen to the spot. From somewhere deep inside I heard the command to run, but I couldn’t make my feet move. Theo must have noticed because he put his hand on my shoulder and shook me gently.
“Are you alright?” His words were distant, under water, even though he was right next to me. “We can move to the shade if you’re hot.”
I stood without blinking as I watched him take each determined step to close the distance between us.
“There you are little deer.” His voice teasingly caressed my skin.
“Alister.” His name came out of my lips as a desperate whisper.
Chapter 7
∞
“What are you doing here?”
“What do you think?” Alister’s eyes never left mine. I felt Theo tense beside me.
“Do you know this man?” Theo asked.
Alister raised an eyebrow as he stared at me intently. “Another one?” he smirked.
I felt the heat rise in my cheeks and folded my arms across my chest. “That’s none of your business.” His lip curled into a teasing smile as we stood toe to toe on the street.
“Is there a problem, Fawn?” Theo placed his hand on the small of my back. The touch jarred me, and I stepped to the side away from his reach. Alister’s smile grew bigger and he broke our stare to take an uninterested glance at Theo.
“No problem.” I smiled sweetly, hoping to stop a real problem from starting. “Alister is an old friend. I just didn’t expect to see him here. Will you excuse us? We have some catching up to do.” Theo gave a final look to Alister before bowing back into the passing crowd.
“What do you want?” I glared at him after Theo was gone.