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I shook my head at myself. She couldn’t do that. She was a fifteen year-old girl. There was- no way I was letting her stay on a remote farm by herself.
We arrived at the turn-off for the house, and I stopped at the mailbox to pick up the mail. I’d been getting most things forwarded to the school, but there were still a fair number of catalogs and junk mail to sort through.
“Do you have any friends you could possibly stay with for a while?” I asked as I parked and we climbed out.
“Friends.” Eleanor scoffed. “That school is full of half-wit wannabe prom queens and dickless—”
“Eleanor!” My exclamation was half-despairing, half-amused.
She shrugged and stumbled on the sagging porch step. “Damnit. When are you going to get this fixed?”
“When we win the lottery.”
Inside, Lens dropped her bag on the hardwood-plank floor and wandered into the living room to drop into the one cushy chair we had. Furniture would have to top that lottery winnings list, too. “We’d better strike it rich, soon, is all I’m saying,” she muttered.
I followed her into the room and sat on top of her in the chair. “Ugh, you’re squishing me.”
“Am not, you giantess.” I snuggled into her, giving her a wet willy and making her giggle. Eleanor was five-eight, with a coltish, athletic build she’d used for volleyball at her old school. I was heavier than her—top heavy, anyway—and shorter at just a few inches over five feet. “Be patient with me, Lens,” I whispered, wrapping my arms around her. “I’m doing the best I can.”
“I know,” she whispered back. “This fucking sucks.”
“Language, brat.” She snorted. We both had potty mouths. I think it came from living in New York. “What if I get a deadbolt for your bedroom door? Can I get in there and install it when I take you back tomorrow?”
“Yes. He’ll be at the plant tomorrow, so that’ll work.”
“Okay. That’s what we’ll do, then. Between the deadbolt, a chair under the knob, and the bat, you should be okay. Just don’t...stay in your room as much as possible. Don’t let him corner you anywhere.”
“I’m not stupid.”
“I know, Lens.”
We sat companionably for a while, watching as the weak mid-morning sunshine outside the window strengthened with the arrival of noon. Then I kissed her temple and rose, ready to tackle another daunting task to make this house a home for my sister and myself.
Chapter 21: Galen
The weights clanged as Baron let them fall into place and then sat up, lifting his shirt to wipe at the sweat on his face. Without speaking he stood and we switched, me taking my place on the bench and Baron spotting behind me.
“Ready?” he asked, and I nodded, a low grunt escaping as I pushed the bar upwards. He counted and needled and encouraged as I raised and lowered two hundred and eighty-five pounds until the set was finished, smacking me on the back when I raised up into a sitting position. “Good work, man.”
I rubbed my eyes with the heels of my hands. “Yeah, thanks. I’m fucking wiped.”
“I could tell. Didn’t get your coffee this morning?” His voice was teasing but I wasn’t in the mood. He knew I hadn’t gotten any coffee, because Jude wasn’t there and no one had made it. It made my gut clench to think I’d grown dependent on some little shit like that in such a short period of time, but there it was. Despite my best efforts, we’d all fallen into a routine of sorts.
I was beginning to think I might… like having her around. The idea made me loose a string of curses that had Baron cocking an eyebrow.
“What’s got you so worked up?”
“You know what’s got me fucking riled.”
The corners of his mouth twitched the smallest amount. “I have an idea, yeah. What are you going to do about it?”
“Nothing’s changed. If anything, it’s worse. This is exactly what I said would happen. She needs to leave.”
“Gale…” Baron seated himself on a bench and picked up a couple of dumbbells, shaking his head. With a set expression, he began his fly reps. I sat on another bench across from him. “When are you going to admit to yourself that you feel something for her?”
I let out a laugh that even I thought was unconvincing. “I feel something, sure. I want to fuck her.”
The weights clanged against the metal. “You’re a dick, you know that.”
