"I'll be okay. I'm sleeping here tonight," Haven says, as if it's the best idea she's ever had.
Hating to burst her thought bubble, I tell her, "Come on, you know that's not a good idea." It's a terrible idea.
"I don't care. Maybe this could be a solution to my imprisonment—a better one than I've considered before." I'm beginning to see how much more troubled she is than I had assumed. "Will you stay here with me?"
"Won't your parents come looking for you?" I ask her.
"They won't find me."
"Haven, this is not the answer." Her thoughts are making me nervous. They would go looking for her, and they won't stop until they find her. The entire town would likely get involved, especially with the assumptions everyone has made about the mentally ill daughter of Mayor Leigh.
"You don't have to stay with me. It's okay, but I'm staying here tonight," she says with a sigh. "You know what the best part is? My parents probably won't even know I'm gone."
Needing a minute to clear my head and think, I pull my shirt off and slip my jeans down before hopping off the edge of the dock to swim a few laps.
As my concerns subside, I make my way back to the dock and rest my arms on the boards in front of Haven's feet. "No swimming for you today?"
"Not after last time," she says with little emotion. I iced her. I teased her without the intention of doing so. The second before I nearly devoured her lips, I considered every possible consequence, but the problem is, I've slowly fallen for Haven over the course of the summer, and it was beyond my control. Control has been a strength in my life these past few years, but she's breaking me down.
"I think we've moved past that," I tell her.
"Are you afraid of what being with me could cause?" Despite giving her several other reasons why I'm not biting her bait, she's right. Being caught with her could ruin my life.
"It isn't you I'm afraid of, Haven. You have to understand that."
"I know," she says.She can’t possibly understand.
I hoist myself up on the dock, dripping wet, and lay back with her, knowing I'll dry within minutes. Without much of an argument left about our past, present, or future, silence encases us within the sounds of the surrounding trees brushing against each other through the breeze. It's the only noise to be heard back here, and it's nice.
Within minutes, I hear Haven's breaths elongate and soften, so I shift to my side, finding her asleep with the smallest smile pinned across her lips. I place my arm over her stomach and scoot in closer, lowering my head into the crook between her shoulder and cheek. I breathe in her sweet flowery fragrance, and it's like aromatherapy after going so long without inhaling something so nice.
Living with Granddad all those years, our house was perfect and cared for just the way Haven's house is maintained now, thanks to our housekeeper, Lenore. Mom died, then Gran died three years later, and less than three months after that, Dad was taken to prison, leaving Granddad and me on our own.
Granddad was happy when Dad was taken away, despite the fact he was his son. "Some people can't be saved," Granddad always told me. When life crashed down on us, it became apparent that Granddad had always been a kept man, one who was taken care of by his parents, then Gran when they got married.
Shortly after Gran died, Lenore came into our lives, making sure neither of us ever starved. Since she worked as our housekeeper for so long, I think Granddad ended up having a thing for her, or she had a thing for him. I’m sure it was because Lenore came to our house each day, doused in a pretty perfume, wearing clothes housekeepers don't usually wear. As I got older, I thought she would have been right for Granddad, and I remember encouraging him to date her, but he refused. He always reminded me that Gran was his one and only, and no one could take her place. Plus, he had me to deal with, and with my health issues, I was more than a handful. I hate to think I was the reason he never moved on, so I have tried to convince myself that he subconsciously knew that he'd be seeing Gran a lot sooner than we thought he would. Granddad dying at seventy-seven wasn't what I expected, not quite a year before I was legally able to care for myself.
I listen to Haven's even, soothing breaths for more than an hour, but the sun is beginning to dip down beneath the trees, and she needs to get home before her parents realize she's not there. I graze the back of my hand softly up the side of her cheek, gently trying to wake her. "Hey," I whisper. She stirs but doesn't open her eyes. "Haven." I press my lips to her cheek and stand up to get dressed. As I slip my jeans up to my waist, her eyes peel open, and she looks at me with uncertainty.
I pull my shirt over my head just as she sits up with a look of confusion and a little shock. "Holy crap! How long have I been asleep?" she asks.
"Just an hour or so. You must have been exhausted."
"Yeah, there wasn't much sleep happening in my house last night. Dad was on the phone with people until six this morning. He's so loud when things are going wrong."It's always the loud ones that get what they want.
Purposely forgetting about the conversation we had earlier, I cup my hand around her elbow, helping her up to her feet. "I should get you home."
Hoping she wouldn't argue, I'm immediately frustrated when she pulls her arm from my grip. "I told you, I'm staying here tonight."
I emit a sharp breath and place my hands on my hips, dropping my head to the side. "Haven, come on."
"No, Raine. I'm staying here. I already told you, you don't have to stay with me." She hasn't thought any of this through as I was hoping she might at some point in the past two hours.
"You have no blanket, nothing to keep you warm when the sun sets completely. You have no food. Haven, why would you do this? It's crazy."
"Why do you do it?" she retorts.
I suppress the anger bubbling in my gut while I conjure a non-asshole response. "I don't have a choice. I think I've made that clear."
