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“Look, Trisha,” Aiden says, facing her although I’m signing everything at this point. She had previously let me know that his beard makes it difficult to read his lips. “I’ve punted too much of my responsibility for her already. Let me talk to her first, then I think we wait and let Jace tell us what he finds out. Hearing their account of what it’s like down there should help reinforce anything you’ve already told us.”
With those words, he crosses to lift her coat off of the rack and opens the door to follow after her.
“How about a hot meal before your turn at the gate?” Elsbeth asks me, standing to move to the stove.
“I’ll cook for him, Elsbeth. If you could watch over Sara?” Trisha’s melodic voice catches my attention and I look up from my daughter to catch the smile she’s giving me. “And maybe, I’ll join you out there for a while.”
I raise an eyebrow at that news, but will be happy for her company.
Trisha, of course, will never be assigned to guard duty; there’s no way we’d risk anyone sneaking up on her, but I have enjoyed the times she’s come to join me for parts of my shift, or has walked the property lines with me.
While Trisha prepares our meal, I take Sara upstairs and get her situated for her nap before pulling all the layers on that I’ll need to stay warm out there. Heading downstairs, the first thing that I notice is the main room is empty—which instantly raises my suspicion level. I look around to see that there are two covered plates off to the side, but that doesn’t explain the lack of people.
“Eddie?” Trisha’s voice comes from behind me and I turn, noticing that she’s added on some warmer clothes to what she had on earlier.
“Where is everyone?” I sign to her, not sure that she’d be able to see my lips in the hallway.
“Let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth,” she says, but I notice a faint blush on her cheeks when she passes me.
Other than complementing her on the venison burgers she prepared, I basically sit across from her, at a loss for words. Blowing the closest thing we’ll have to a date in the world we live in. Honestly, while I’ve been flirting in good faith with her for some time now, this is the first time it’s been blatantly obvious that she’s interested in me also.
When we finish, I put the dishes to soak in the bin near the sink and at least get to Trisha in time to help her put her coat on as we head down to relieve Mike and Russ. Over dinner, she had asked to sit with me for a while tonight and I couldn’t think of any immediate reason to say no.
“Where’s Shelby?” Mike calls out the moment he knows we’re close enough to hear him.
“Trisha checked her out earlier,” I tell him the news I wish one of the others had relayed to him. “She feels Shel needs some bedrest for the time being. We’re going to make adjustments to the schedule, but we haven’t had a chance to process this yet. I’ll take the gate, and Russ, I know you were probably looking forward to some rest, but could you walk the southern border one more time?”
“Absolutely,” he quickly agrees before squeezing Mike’s shoulder and turns to do what I asked.
“She’s strong, Mike,” Trisha verbalizes what we all know. “I’ll keep a close eye on her, but with all the stress we’re all under and her age, I am taking every precaution.”
“I’ll go check on her,” he responds, his voice is noticeably strained, but it’s his posture as he walks toward the house that hits me the hardest. I’ve always figured that Mike is a very healthy early to mid-sixties, but his posture suddenly shows the stress he’s been carrying all of these months.
“She has to live, Trisha,” I sign to her, as we stand watching the two men walking away from us. I’m not strong enough to speak those words aloud. “She’s the tie that holds us all together.”
“I understand.”
*
Given the nasty turn the weather had taken, I was surprised that Trisha spent as much time outside as she did. The rest of my shift was spent, listening for any noise traveling up the mountain, in the hopes that Jace and Dylan would return early—I figured Shelby needed some good news, more now than ever.
Hours later when I get back to the house, the main room is still fairly quiet. Mike barely looks up from the book he’s reading in his favorite chair, so I head upstairs to check on Sara.
Smiling down on her as she rests so peacefully is the best reward at the end of every day, I reach over to the bureau to grab my towel, but quickly look up when my door opens.
Trisha enters, tiptoeing through the soft glow from my lantern and I drop the towel, reaching out for her instead. When she places her hand in mine, I pull her against my chest and cup her cheek in my large hand; focusing on her face, I’m relieved when I see the needI feelreflected in her beautiful blue eyes.
Our first kiss is neither soft nor sweet. It is pure need, lust, and fire. From the moment our tongues meet, I feel the rage that had started to overtake me again, retract and change. My body immediately responding to her passion.
“Do you have a condom?” she asks me and I nod, sliding my arm around her shoulders to ensure she follows me to the double bed against the far wall. Some part of me worrying that she might change her mind.
Digging in the bedside drawer, I grab the strip of rubbers that Shelby and Aiden had left behind when they realized it was too late for protection.
“These aren’t mine. The previous occupants of the room no longer needed them,” I tell her, so she doesn’t get annoyed. I smile, more to myself than her—knowing that I never cared about anyone enough to explain having a good quantity of condoms on hand before.
“Hopefully, they’ll work better for us,” she says with a small smile as she reaches down to pull her T-shirt over her head and I let out an appreciative sigh.
“Fuck, you are so beautiful, Trisha,” I tell her, hurrying to remove my clothes when she’s quickly down to her underpants.
