Thank you, Sage. You're my favorite.
Wade
You said I was your favorite yesterday.
Kipp
Yesterday, you didn't know about the spider.
Sage
The Holder drop-off had gone well. They’d been over the moon about the arrangements, and the way they reacted to my flower choices made my day. It had even dissipated some of the creepiness that had lingered from that bouquet that had been delivered. Tonight, I’d call Wade and let him know about the flowers like a responsible person, even though I didn’t want to. I just needed a few hours to think about things and figure out how to talk to him about it without making it sound like I was insane.
Humming happily, I stopped at the gas station on my way back into town. They had a restroom in the back, and my bladder wasn’t going to make it to the shop. Sometimes, being a woman and not being able to whip it out on the side of the road was a big bummer. Guys just didn’t understand all the privilege they had with their shlongs attached to their bodies like that. The convenience of it must be staggering. Just whip and whiz.
Punching in the little code on the door that I’d memorized the first time they gave it to me, I deadbolted the door and did my business. That chai had done me in. Washing my hands, I tried to tidy up my braid, but my curls were out of control. Ilooked like that Disney character from Brave on a bad hair day. Splashing a little water on my face after I washed my hands with the watered-down version of what passed for soap, I peered at my reflection. I was a hot mess today.
I was never that girl. In high school, I was teased (when my brothers couldn’t hear) about my hair or my boobs. I’d developed a little early. When I got old enough to date, most of the guys had already been chased off by my brothers. Now, as an adult, I dated here and there, and I was content. My personality was banging. Everything about me was awesome, but Rhodes was way out of my league. So far that he could be light-years away.
Right? I had no business thinking so much about him and his giant self.
Wiping my hands on a paper towel, I decided I needed to get my head screwed on straight. There was no reason to be this overwhelmed. I opened the door a bit too forcefully, and it banged as I headed toward my van. Today was warm, and I was glad I’d worn my lighter gardening overalls, though they’d have to be retired for the season. From now on, it was going to be shorts.
The feeling of being yanked off my feet surprised me as someone grabbed both of my arms and pulled me backward. It felt like all the air was sucked out of my lungs as sheer panic overwhelmed every part of my being. You tell yourself that if it ever happened to you, you’d yell for help, but it seemed like my voice had evaporated. All I could do was struggle against their grip, battering to try to pull in the opposite direction. The only thing on my mind was Wade telling me that if they got me to a secondary location, I was as good as dead.
Fingers gripped my arms and then tried to pull against my mouth as they scrambled for purchase, as I twisted and pushed hard against the hoodie-clad figure. They weren’t much bigger than me, and in an absolute blind panic, I wrenched free, stumbling and heaving as I made it to the van and locked myself in. I couldn’t even find it in me to look back to see if I was followed. Fumbling in my purse for my phone, I hit the first button I could find before I sank my head against my knees.
“Holy shit.” I trembled for a second as I hit ‘dial.’
Rhodes
In Seattle, groceries were delivered by a service, and even the cooking was handled by one. Most of the week, I hardly made it home for dinner because I was either at work or out of the country. Weekends were times for Opal and me to hang out and do father-daughter things, and we loved exploring or cooking together. But being here made me realize that I had been a hands-off father for years, and I wasn’t proud of that.
This was my reset, but that didn’t mean I was going to flounder around. Resources were meant to be used, and I wasn’t going to be stupid. Even if I wanted to spend time with Opal, that didn’t mean I couldn’t tilt things in my favor a little. A bi-weekly house cleaning would give me valuable time during the day to work, and I’d figure out some of the other things that would keep us both happy. I wasn’t trying to be a martyr.
The grocery list on my phone had over twenty items on it, which was nineteen more than I'd ever had to think about before. Now there were things like baby carrots and ranch dressing on there. I’d already texted Delphina for a few lunchbox options to help with some quick meals. Kipp said she was amazing withher catering business, and he’d been putting together a menu of ready-made meals for some of his cabin residents. If Delphina wasn’t careful, she’d have a full meal prep business before she knew it. Maybe I’d invest.
Now I was standing in the produce aisle of the grocery store. This was the kind of place where hand-written signs hung over the bins, and there was a guy at the register who had strong opinions about where you could buy local honey. (He wasn’t shy about sharing them either.)
Opal decided she wanted tacos for dinner, like the ones we had at our favorite taqueria, and guacamole. Hell, that was an idea I could get behind. Now I had to figure out how to pick an avocado, so I watched three videos on the topic, but none of them agreed on a single method. Now, I was the creep squeezing… fruit? It had a seed, so…fruit.
My phone buzzed in my back pocket with an incoming call.
I checked it automatically: Briggs sent things at all hours, East sent updates about the fence work, and Opal's school could theoretically notify me if anything happened. For half a second, the name on the screen didn’t even register because my brain was still in avocado territory, checking for ripeness. Nobody wanted one that was rock hard. Firm, but not too firm, was what the video said.
“Wade? Someone tried to grab me.” Her breaths were coming in pants, and mine nearly stopped altogether as I recognized Sage’s voice.
“Where are you? I’m on my way.” I was already moving, my brain locking into the crisis, as I was running out of the store, the avocados forgotten and my basket left behind.
“Creekside. The gas station. Rhodes?” She paused for a hot second, obviously confused. “Did I call you?”
“I’m glad you did. Are you safe now?” Everything in me locked onto her answer, and what I’d do next if she wasn’t.
She paused, then gathered herself. “I locked myself in my van. In the back.”
“Good,” I murmured as I started the engine, switched her to speaker, and looked up the gas station. Six minutes away. Fuck.“We’re going to figure this out, okay? Stay there for me. I’m on my way right now. Just a few minutes.”
“Ok..ay.” Each breath she took seemed further apart than the last. Was she having a panic attack? Frantically, I tried to think of something to calm her down.
