Dr. Wallen chimes in to tell me about all the great ‘opportunities’ they’ve come up with to entice me. I zone out and let them babble back and forth. Out of the corner of my eye and past the office door I think I see the flash of a rose gold bangle and jolt in my chair slightly. What was that? I train my eyes towards the door and wait. Did I imagine it?
“Did you hear me?” Lassiter leans in front of my sight line. At least she wasn’t trying to touch me again.
“Yes?” Not a word.
“Well? That might work, right?”
I go with my standard, ‘I wasn’t listening response’, “No.”
I can tell I’m working her nerves, but she’s still riding the high of having an heir and a piece of her daughters. Even if she hasn’t taken any DNA from me to prove that.
“Well, once the investigation is over that land belongs to you. All of it. Then you have whatever money your… that Lawrence left behind. You’ll be set up well,” Lassiter says. She has no idea. I don’t need Camp Carroll, or Lawrence Hutton’s money. I really don’t want or needhermoney.
I shrug and peer back out the cracked door. I’m not prone to hysterics, I know what I saw. She’s toying with me now. Who has she disguised herself as? If I ever lay eyes on her again, she’s going to regret not finishing me off. I’m not afraid of dying because the devil walks the earth, wearing her face.
16. BLAINE
Standing in my new bedroom, in Matt’s rental house, I try to figure out how he talked me into this. Of course, Eden being here was the only thing really needed to get me to say yes. Matt thinks he’ll keep me on the straight and narrow if I’m under his roof. I run my hand over the pills I shoved in a sock and hid in the lining of the comforter on the bed. They’re insurance I tell myself. In case of a traumatic event.
“Need anything?” Matt calls out as he passes the room carrying Eden to hers. He’s not letting her walk much, even though she has crutches and can hobble around on her own. She keeps telling us anyway. I’m not willing to risk her further injuring herself.
“Is that a real question?” I call back and half grin to myself. “Sex. I always need sex.” They don’t even bother to respond after laughing at me.
Matt and I had words about me returning to work at the pharmacy and I finally relented. I’m on Eden duty while Matt works on the Lassiter girls’ disappearance cold case. It’s not a hardship hanging out with my bestie and heart. I just let him think he was putting me out. Guilt can work wonders. He’s apologized an additional three or four times for his behavior when we met him. I like Matt groveling to me. He’s fucking sexy anyway, add the groveling and I’m a goner.
Both Matt and I hid the fact that Keir is awake and that he’s lost years of memories. I wanted to tell her everything. Matt, being overly protective of Eden, said that it’ll only hurt her more, and could cause problems for Keir. So here we are keeping her in the dark, waiting for her to find out and be furious. I know better, but the balance between wanting her to be happy and wanting her to know the truth is a tough one. It’s only a matter of time before she finds out. Then what do we do?
I sit on the edge of the bed and pull my phone out. I call Caleb on the janky cellphone he’s put all our numbers in. “Hey, buttercup,” I say as soon as he answers.
“That’s worse than sunshine,” he complains and then continues, “Did you call to do daily devotional with me?” Not likely. He’s kind of funny.
“Any word on Keir?” Caleb has been calling him on his room phone. The first call he acted like it was an accidental dial. Then in only a way that Caleb can, he befriended him, and they’ve been talking.
“He’s desperate to talk to his mom.” That’s fucking heartbreaking to hear. When he gets the years of memories back… losing his mom, witnessing his girlfriend’s murder, and being beaten almost to death? It’d break anyone.
“What do you say to him about that?”
“I use a page from your book and change the subject when it’s a difficult one.” Well, damn. Caleb can deliver a punch it seems.
“Well played, honeybunches.” Caleb sighs at me.
“I get released tomorrow.” We all know that, but I think his reminding me means he’s at least a little nervous about returning to the Center.
“Hey, offer still stands to come here. For some reason Matt’s brother-in-law found him a bungalow with five fucking rooms.”
“Do you need to swear?”
“No, I fucking don’t but I fucking want to.” I bite my lip and try not to laugh.
“I need to go back to the Center. For now, anyway. Do you think they’ll send Keir back there?” I hadn’t really thought about it before, but where else would he go? I’m not even suggesting to Matt he come here. It’s too much. He fucking regressed to a fifteen-year-old. I’ve avoided his room or talk of him, because I’m fucking thrilled he pulled through, but this new development is tragic in it’s own way. I was starting to think of him as a friend. The fact he doesn’t know who I am anymore hurts more than I’ll ever voice.
“If you get a bad feeling about something when you’re back at the Wellness Center, call me. Call Matt. Someone. We’ll get you the hell out of there. There is plenty of room here. To sweeten the pot, maybe we could talk Matt into a pet for you. You like animals and shit, right?”
Another sigh. “How will you ever become a child psychologist, when you swear like that?” I imagine the look on his face while he scolds me and can’t help the satisfied look on mine.
“I’ll be relatable. Anyway, we have Eden and a possible pet here. What does the Center have other than a murderous freak and bad carpeting?” I don’t want him back there. He’s too damn naïve and thinks of everyone as a potential bestie. Someone could use him to get to Eden or finish what they started when they shot him. It’s too risky.
As our conversation ends, my ear catches sound from Eden’s room. Light laughter and then moaning. I want to interrupt, but the part of me that’s trying to adapt to this situation stops me. I know it’s only fair since I ‘helped’ Eden shower and things got heated earlier. Matt gave me a knowing look when we made our way down the hallway to her room half dressed. It’s a strange dance right now. A lot of things are going unsaid. If I had my way, I wouldn’t share her. Not with anyone else on the face of the earth. But because she means the world to me, and her heart has others in it, I don’t have that choice. Being territorial will only push her away.
