Chapter 3
Reese had spent the day polishing off the last of the s’mores and finishing a book she’d started on Garrett’s tablet a few days ago. She also spent several hours applying for jobs in the Dallas area. None of them really appealed to her, but with a master’s degree in art, there wasn’t too much she was actually qualified to do. There was one job that seemed kind of interesting, but she doubted she could even get an interview for it, let alone the job itself.
Later that night, the lights in Garrett’s house were on and she caught his shadow moving about as he did whatever he did after he got home from work. Sometimes he stopped by to see if she needed anything, but that wasn’t every day. She was just about to sit down with the book she was reading when the lamp she had turned on suddenly went out. Not alarmed by the darkness, Reese stood and carefully padded over to the window where she saw that Garrett’s lights were also out. A power outage?
A soft, familiar knock on her door had her smiling as she put the tablet on the kitchen table. Of course, Garrett would check on her. She went to the door and opened it. Garrett stood holding a blanket. “Hi, it seems like the lights have gone out.”
“I know,” she said, noticing the blanket draped over his arm. “I’m okay though. The darkness doesn’t bother me.”
Garrett shifted, shuffling his feet a bit. “I’ve noticed you seem to prefer the dark. The shadows. Honestly, I can’t blame you.I think sometimes it would be nice to be shielded from all the things I see in the light of day. They’re definitely not all pretty, if you know what I mean.”
Reese nodded. How he understood her so well made her heart warm, but it was a nice night, so it made no sense why he’d come with a blanket. “I’m not cold,” she explained, gesturing to it.
“No, I didn’t think you would be. I was actually wondering if you might want to join me on the dock for a little while. I promise I won’t toss you in the lake, and I’ll be a perfect gentleman.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to say no, but with the power out, there really was no chance of looking into his eyes, and even if the power did come back on abruptly, the dock only had dimmed solar lights, so they would still be cloaked in enough darkness that she could avoid making eye contact with him. “Okay,” she said. Just that one little word seemed to make all her muscles instantly relax. She’d been wanting to spend time with Garrett since she first got here, and it was like her whole body sensed it. “Sitting on the dock with you sounds nice.”
She was still wearing her shorts and t-shirt, so she slipped on her flip flops that she’d left by the door, and stepped outside, shutting the door behind her. They walked across the property in near pitch darkness. She could just make out his silhouette as he moved in front and a little to the side of her. “Have you gone swimming in the lake yet?” Garrett asked.
“No. Though when I sit on the edge of the dock, my toes touch the water.”
Garrett nodded. “Just be careful when you do that. Like I said, it’s safe to swim, but I don’t want you losing your balance and accidentally falling in. You do know how to swim, right?”
The concern in his voice was touching and sweet. “Yes, you really don’t have to worry about me.” Reese had been taking careof herself for years now. She didn’t want him to think she was some helpless victim. The last year hadn’t been good to her, but aside from that, Reese thought she was doing pretty well.
They reached the edge of the dock and Garrett tossed the blanket over the wood planks, spreading it out so they could both sit on it. He held out his hand, and she paused for a brief moment, not taking for granted that this would be the first time they touched since he’d rescued her from that motel. She placed her fingers in his palm, and struggled not to look up to meet his gaze. She’d never wanted to look into anyone’s eyes more than she wanted to look into Garrett’s right then. If only it didn’t activate her stupid ability.
His fingers closed around hers, and he held her steady as she lowered herself down. “Thank you,” she said, suddenly not wanting to let go of the calloused fingers gently gripping her hand.
Garrett sat beside her, his hand still holding hers. “You’re more than welcome.”
It was too dark to be sure, but Reese could swear his eyes were looking into hers at that moment, and it was the most at peace she’d felt in over a year. “How was your day?” She asked, not wanting things to get too awkward.
“Good,” he said. His legs dangled out in front of him over the edge of the dock next to hers, and it gave her the kind of thoughts she probably shouldn’t be thinking right now. “I’m actually working on a case with the FBI so I’ll get to work with one of my friends who was here yesterday. His name is Caden. He’s engaged to Hallie. She runs a store called The Mystic Cow. Maybe you’ve heard of it?”
Reese kept her gaze on the fireflies over the water, but shook her head. “No, sorry. I haven’t exactly been out to sightsee yet. It sounds like an interesting place.”
“The shop is great, but I think you’d like Hallie a lot, too. You might find that you have more in common with her than you think.”
Reese was intrigued. She’d never met the woman, and she certainly didn’t have a shop or a fiancé, so she had no idea what Garrett was referring to. “Like what?” She asked, not really wanting to put him on the spot, but rather just making conversation.
“Well,” Garrett started to say, his other hand grasping his kneecap as if he was bracing himself for something. “She was kidnapped by Vivian the night we found you.”
“What? Oh my gosh, was she the woman I heard screaming that night?” Reese knew Vivian had taken someone else, and she suspected that it could’ve been Hallie after seeing her scars, but she couldn’t be sure.
“Hallie wasn’t the only one taken that night. My friend, Blake’s girlfriend, Skyla, was kidnapped along with Hallie. Vivian lured both women to Hallie’s store, stabbed and drugged Hallie, then forced Skyla to go with them, or she would’ve killed Hallie.”
“That’s awful,” Reese said, a cold shiver making its way down her back. “Though not surprising. Vivian was a monster. I kind of did a little internal happy dance when she was killed that night.” Reese fidgeted with her fingers nervously. “Sorry. Does that make me an awful person?”
“Not at all,” Garrett said. “It makes you human, and honestly, after seeing what she did to my friends and you, I would’ve totally joined your little dance party.”
Reese smiled at the ease of their conversation, and wondered if maybe telling Garrett about her gift wasn’t the worst thing in the world. As long as she never looked into his eyes, he would never activate her ability. And she couldn’t deny that a part of her wanted to tell him the truth. Maybe then he’d understandher need for shadows and darkness when she was around other people. Though if she got the job she really wanted, she would need to find a way around that because it would put her both in front of a lot of people and in broad daylight.
“Can I ask you something?” Garrett asked softly.
She had a feeling what he was about to ask, and she braced herself. If one of the women Vivian had kidnapped that night was gifted like she was, Garrett had probably put two and two together the night he’d found her.
But instead of asking questions and demanding answers, he’d given her time to decompress and gain her trust while letting her stay on his property rent free, buying her groceries, and giving her access to his internet and nerdy science magazines.
