“It’s absolutely perfect, thank you! Can I move in today?”
“Well, I don’t see why not.” John puffed his chest out and smiled. “Come back to the office and we can sign the paperwork, then I’ll give you the keys.”
*
I sat on the porch in the dark later that night. A lemon-shaped moon illuminated the landscape. Its smoldering reflection skimmed across the lake’s dark surface. The night was warm and without a breeze. The faint yellow glow from the Miller’s and Toronto’s homes, shone dimly in the distance, was the only reminder that other people lived out here.
A wolf howled in the distance. How wonderful it must be to be a wolf—free, strong, fiercely loyal to its pack. Every wolf had a role to play. Every wolf belonged. Every wolf was loved.
My heart rose painfully into my throat.
I took a deep breath and one last look at the sky before I went indoors to lay my head on the soft pillows of the bed. For the first night since I’d left home, my mind didn’t wander. I closed my eyes and slept without a single dream.
Chapter 8
Serenity Lake
Iwoke, my eyes still closed, imagining Tom’s arm wrapped around me. My cheek nestled against his chest. The first night we met, it was Kelly who introduced us. He’d barely looked at her; he only had eyes for me. He told me later that I was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen.
I wondered what he’d be doing now. Getting ready for work, or doing some between-the-sheets exercise before he rose? With Kelly, my best friend. My ex-best friend.
The thought hit like a lightning bolt to my chest.
I was in this new place, I’d come here for a fresh start, I felt like my mind needed to forget and move on, but my body craved his arms. Craved him. Craved the life we had. How easily he had let it go.
I rubbed my face roughly with my palms and sighing, I forced myself to rise. I needed to run. I’d always loved running. For me, it was a form of meditation; the steady influx of breath and the rhythmic slap of my feet took me into a trance-like state that soothed my mind. It was vital for my mental health. God knew I needed it now.
I stepped out onto the porch just as the sun emerged over the tip of the mountains, bleeding into a graveyard of gray. It wouldbe dark under the shroud of the forest, and a thought landed as briefly as the brush of a feather across my cheek,it’s not safe to run alone at night. But it should lighten soon enough, and man was the biggest threat to a female jogger, no one would be around given how remote I lived.
I headed right, away from the neighbors, along a well-worn track that wove around the edge of the lake and disappeared into the towering tree line.
It felt good to be running, the fresh scent of pines kissing my nostrils. The craggy, ashen limbs of giant firs branched out over a majestic landscape of shrubs, rolling patches of short grass, and stone. Occasional pockets of sun sprinkled through the canopy of leaves, stabbing wispy citrine slices across the floor. My feet crunched against the hard ground. Above, a lone crow squawked. Somewhere in the distance I could hear the gentle burble of a stream.
It’d been a bit over a week since I last ran, but it felt like a month. It wasn’t long before my legs and lungs burned. My heart pumped furiously. Sweat stuck my ponytail to the nape of my neck like a wet rope. An image of my father’s angry face invaded my mind.
“You’re not my child, and if you don’t like the way I live, get the fuck out.”
It was not him telling me to get out that hurt so much; it was when he’d said I wasn’t his child. He was the only father I’d ever known. He took me in, gave me a permanent home, loved me like his own. But it was all smoke and mirrors, shattering after my mom’s death and the truth was a fist slamming into my heart.
I surged forward faster.
Tom’s face landed with a gut-wrenching jolt behind my eyes. For as long as I could remember, I’ve had the ability to replay anything I’d seen, like it was recorded, and I was watching itagain on TV. The details were always crystal clear. I could stop, pause, rewind, fast forward. This ability was a blessing; it was easy to learn anything.
But now, it felt like a curse.
The scenes came back in fragments, like a hellish slideshow.
The grind of Tom’s hips.
I pushed harder.
Kelly’s moans.
I gritted my teeth. My feet slapped against the ground.
Their shocked faces.
How long had it been going on for? Did he have her there every night I worked and send her home before I walked in the door? Did they sneak off into the hospital somewhere and screw? How could I not have seen something, anything, that alarmed me? Sure, Kelly was a flirt, but she flirted with every half-decent male, so I thought nothing of it when she smiled widely at Tom, placed her hand on his arm, and batted her eyelashes.
