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She senses Rhiannon watching her. It’s her same behavior from when they were friends.
“How’s all that going?” Rhiannon asks gently. “Did having a baby make it worse?”
Lenna focuses on a nonexistent string on her sweatshirt so she doesn’t have to meet Rhiannon’s gaze. “Kind of.”
“Are you still able to take medication?”
“Yeah. It takes the edge off.”
Rhiannon cocks her head, looking at her more deeply. “I bet having a baby is hard without your mom, huh?”
Lenna feels tears in her eyes. “I miss her a lot. She’d love Jacob.” She clears her throat. “What about you?”
A strange kind of startled expression settles over Rhiannon’s features for a beat. “Whataboutme?”
“I mean…you don’t have your mom, either. Do you worry about the things you used to worry about, now that you’re a mom yourself?” She clears her throat. “I remember you talking…you were afraid that you’d miss signs, the same signs she had—”
“I don’t worry about that anymore,” Rhiannon interrupts, her voice hard.
Lenna blinks. Pulls away. “Oh. Okay. Well, good.”
Rhiannon’s shoulders round inward. Yet again, Lenna can’tread her expression as she leans over Teddy, fiddling with a button on his shirt. Lenna feels the need to right things. Maybe clear the air entirely.
“Listen,” she says, taking a breath. “You and me…I have a lot of questions. And some things to tell you.”
Rhiannon straightens and turns to her as if to sayYou go first.
Say it,Lenna’s mind urges.Just talk to her about it.“Do you remember…?” she starts. But the words get caught in her throat.Say her name,Lenna’s brain screams.Say Gillian’s name. Tell her what she said. Explain why you did what you did. Ask for the truth in return.
But suddenly, Rhiannon turns away and sucks in a breath.“Look.”
There’s a flash of something far below in the ravine behind some twisted, dead-looking trees. Movement.
Lenna freezes. “What is that?”
The wind whistles. The sun shines in her eyes. Lenna stares down into the ravine, maybe seeing a shape that isn’t there.
“Can people get on this property?” Lenna whispers.
Rhiannon frowns. “You saw the barbs on the fence.”
“So you never have trespassers?”
“None that I’ve known about.”
“Do you have any means of protection?”
“If you mean guns, no way.” Rhiannon shakes her head. “We don’t believe in them.”
But then an animal, low to the ground, wide as it is long, appears around the rock. Lenna almost screams. Another materializes, and another, all of them appearing from around a corner. They are brown, heavy, with sharp tusks and snouts. There are too many for Lenna to count, all calmly scratching and milling about. There are even babies among the hooves, tiny creatures sticking close to the larger ones.
“Are those…pigs?” Lenna whispers.
Rhiannon nods. “Javelinas. Wild boars. They travel in packs. Just stay still, and they’ll leave.”
Lenna feels a wave of uneasiness. “Are they dangerous?”
“Not unless they feel threatened, or you’re threatening their babies.” Rhiannon nods at Lenna. “Same as what you’re doing.”
