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“Yes, I’ll see you at five.” Axton glances toward his car and I pull on my door, he presses his lips in a line, but he lets go, stepping back. I shut the door and start the car, Axton stands there for a minute before I wind the window down, the heat of the day making the car extra stuffy.
“Ah, I feel sick knowing we are just leaving them with him for the weekend!” Lexa mumbles and I am not looking forward to it either, but what choice do I have, either I let him see them or fight him in the courts which will be added stress. Not only that, I know he would demand to get fifty-fifty custody. I would rather give the boys to him every weekend than go a full week without them.
“I’ll see you at 5, Axton. Do you have formula and diapers, or should I bring everything?” I ask him.
“I have a formula, but what is their diaper size? I will have to grab some,” he tells me, still looking quite hesitant to let me leave.
“I’ll grab an extra box on the way home. But you have everything else?” he nods and I sigh.
“I’ll see you soon,” I tell him, putting the car in reverse.
Lexa stirs, her mood instantly shifting as it sinks in fully that we would be without the boys for an entire weekend. However, as we leave the city, my phone rings through the Bluetooth speaker. Sondra’s name pops up on the screen. Moving my finger over the button on the steering wheel, I hit the answer button.
“I’m on my way back.” I tell her.
“Have you passed town yet?” she asks me.
“No, but about to reach the town limits. Why, what do you need?”
“Can you stop by the pharmacist for me and pick up my scripts?” she asks me. Lexa whines in my head, knowing that means she is in pain. Sondra refuses to tell anyone she is dying besides me and Marco. She doesn’t want the women to worry, but holding this secret is growing heavier with each day. And every day I notice the subtle signs: she is nearing her end, her lack of appetite, her tiredness, weight loss, and the sometimes weird moods she gets in. Sondra is tough as nails, but every so often when we talk, it is like she is saying goodbye, as if she is worried it will be the last words to pass between us.
“I’ll grab them. Do you need anything else?”
“Mmm, maybe one of those lemon meringue pies?” she says, and I chuckle. Sondra asks for the same thing every time I go into town, and it seems to be the only thing she can stomach a couple of bites of besides drinking her tea.
“Okay, see you soon.” I tell her, hanging up and driving past the turnoff for the ranch. Crossing the town borders into the sleepy little town, I drive to the pharmacist, passing Taylor’s general store that has its windows boarded up.
“I can’t believe she is dead.” Lexa mumbles, without her store here, everyone is forced to go to the city or neighboring towns for food supplies.
“Yeah, and now we must be extra vigilant.” I tell her.
Chapter Six
Elena
After picking up Sondra’s pain medication, I race home to my sons. The women are out working the ranch, tending to the animals or picking fruit and vegetables from the fields. It’s hard to wrap my head around the knowledge that we’ve created this peaceful little piece of tranquility out here. It was once a rundown ranch, the fields of vegetation dying out, the cattle not being tended to the way they needed. The main house has since received an uplift and everything is now flourishing out here.
Pulling up, Sondra is waiting on the porch in her rocking chair, my mother staring at her worriedly, which makes my brows furrow in confusion as I climb out of the car. Luke is up the side of the house, chucking wood into a wheelbarrow to take to the women and inside the packhouse.
“Hey, El,” Luke calls out, and I give him a brief wave before climbing the few steps to my mother.
“What’s wrong?” I ask my mother, nervously glancing at Sondra. She frowns. Worry is etched into her facial features, and I wander over to Sondra. Her eyes are closed, and her face is peacefully relaxed. Just as my hand reaches out to touch her to ensure she is breathing, she speaks, scaring the living daylights out of me.
“I know you weren’t about to check if I was breathing. If I am dying, it will be dramatic and preferably with your father’s head resting in my lap as I croak my last breath.”
“Gees, Sondra, did you have to play dead right until I touched you?”
“You were the one going to poke the dead if I was. Serves you right to sneak up on an old woman like that!” She smiles, opening her eyes, yet I can see the pain pooling in their depths. Her eyes don’t crinkle in the same way. They’re also a little glassy, making me wonder if that is why she had them closed, not wanting my mother to see how watery they are.
“You old bat, I have been watching you for the past ten minutes and not one word, not even when I called out to you!” my mother scolds her.
“Aren’t you werewolves supposed to have good hearing? Can’t you hear my old ticker pumping the blood through my body? I may look as if I have one foot in the grave, but I can assure you, dear, I still have outstanding balance. I won’t be tipping over that edge to the afterlife quite yet,” Sondra retorts.
I smirk and shake my head, turning to look at my mother, who throws her hands up in frustration before stalking back into the house. “Kinda creepy, the way your mother watches me while I am resting, like she was waiting for a new wrinkle to appear,” Sondra huffs, reaching for the paper bag in my hand, and I pull it away.
“You scared her.”
“I scare many people, though no one here needs to fear me. I owe these women for my past failures. I’m the last person they need to fear,” she states. My brows furrow, wondering what she means. Sondra owes us nothing. We all owe her. So I don’t know why she would think she owes any of us.
