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Kier had never seen any of Taylee’s paintings. He knew she painted, but she’d always brushed it off. He had no idea where they were. She was secretive about the work, just like when they’d met, it took her more than once to trust him and months to be able to tell him much about herself at all other than the basic facts. They’d always had a powerful physical attraction, but the friendship and the opening up, the letting him into her life, had taken a while. The night she pointed up at the stars and named so many of them, giving him a history lesson right then and there, letting him in on one thing she loved, he’d felt like he’d been given the keys to the universe. That moment was true bliss. True happiness. She’d given him the stars and then she’d shifted and they’d run wild, chasing each other, play fighting, challenging each other, and then they’d shifted, naked as when they were born, and they’d loved each other as those stars watched on from above.
“You never know,” Grace insisted stubbornly. “It might be just what Misty needs.”
“So this is all about her and not trying to heal me?”
“It’s about healing all of you. At the very least, it might make you smile again. Not just that fake stuff you’ve been giving everyone. We all know this is hard, but there’s a time to stop moping and get on with life. You’ve been given a wonderful one. Don’t give me snark about not remembering. It’s a fact. I’m informing you. Start learning how to relive it and discover it and you might just find that you can be happy, even if you never remember.”
There was a terrifying second where Kier thought that Taylee would lose it. That she’d break down and start bawling, that those words would be taken as cruel and cutting, that her frustrations would boil over, that she’d just up and leave and disappear into the woods.
Maybe what she needed was some tough love from her mom because she slowly unclenched her hands, and then her body relaxed. She didn’t smile, but for the first time in a month, he saw that sassy sparkle in her eyes again.
“Alright,” Taylee sighed. She bent down and made a funny face and Onyx, which made her giggle and wriggle in his arms. “Alright, Mom. We’ll paint, and even if I never remember the other stuff, I’ll remember this.”
Chapter 3
Taylee
The minute Kier and Misty walked through the door, Taylee took in all the little details of them both, as if she could make up for lost time by overanalyzing everything she could. She bounced Onyx in her arms, savoring the warm weight of her, her special baby scent, the little coos she made. She sounded like an owl with her little hoos and hoots.
Kier’s hands rested confidently on Misty’s shoulders. At eight, the little girl wasn’t so little. She would be just about as tall as Taylee in a few years’ time. She was starting to fill out too. Kier had mentioned multiple times that she had a great appetite and Taylee remembered how just yesterday, Kier smelled like maple syrup because Misty loved pancakes so much.
The first time Tay saw Misty, her cheeks were so pale, her skin that milky white that wasn’t quite healthy, but probably also signaled a life of not much sun, and she’d been so thin. She looked good now, her skin a shade darker from all the time she’d spent outside, even in the winter sun. The first thing Kier did was take Misty to Lily for a haircut. She did all the boys’ hair and Sam’s too, Kier had told her. The lank, lusterless strands turned into a bob which now shone. Only her dark green eyes had always been alive right from the start. Those hadn’t changed. They were still huge, limitless, and straight up gorgeous.
Misty was always so quiet, but she lit up as soon as she saw Onyx, and Onyx responded by kicking wildly. She just about socked Tay in the chin and her babbling went off the hook.
Misty left the safety of Kier’s side and walked right up. She held out her arms and smiled at Onyx. Taylee didn’t hesitate. She knelt down and carefully passed Onyx over. Misty had the natural grace and care of someone twice her age. One hand cradled Onyx’s bottom and the other wrapped around to create a little space for her head and neck to rest.
“That’s great, Misty. ” Kier said, his deep voice holding so much warmth and encouragement that it bloomed inside Taylee like a field of new spring flowers.
“I’ve made snacks!” Taylee’s mom announced. “Puffed wheat cake, monster cookies, popcorn balls. Or if you want, I can put chicken fingers in the oven. Make a batch of grilled cheese. Whatever you need, honey, we have it!”
Misty looked to Kier, a little panicked.
“Oh, thank you, Grace, but we had dinner just before we came,” Kier said. He patted his stomach. “I could handle a few cookies myself. Misty? You got room for anything?”
Taylee couldn’t begin to understand Misty’s silence. She probably had the opposite problem she had going on herself. In her head, there was just a bunch of walls and blank space and black. But Misty’s was likely overcrowded with memories, and who knew how many of them were bad.
After that first time she’d met Misty, Kier discreetly came to visit her in the clinic that night while Sam and Lily had Misty over with their boys. He’d brought Misty’s file and gone over it with her. She knew about her parents and when she’d lost them. How she’d gone into care so very young, young enough that she likely had no memories of either of them at all. She knew she’d been in four different homes already.
“Taylee?”
Misty’s tiny, quiet little whisper shook her to her core. She was still kneeling down, and goodness knew what kind of expression she was wearing. Misty looked scared. Uncomfortable. But mostly, she looked sad. Taylee’s heart plummeted. “Yes, sweetheart?”
“Do you not want me here?”
Oh god.It took her brain a second to catch up, but her face burned hot with shame immediately. Guilt too. She didn’t have to punish all those around her with her anger and rage. It was clearly seeping through, and now Misty thought that somehow, this was her fault. She was sensitive and tender, and she’d been through so much. She didn’t need this on top of everything.
Kier made a noise and moved towards Misty, but Taylee’s mom also moved at the same time, making a motion behind her that no doubt held him back, because he stopped.
“No, honey!” Taylee was still kneeling, and she wrapped her arms around both girls at once. Misty was stiff, but Tay didn’t let up. When she still hadn’t softened after a minute, she set her hand on Misty’s hair and one hand on Onyx’s head. They both looked at her with huge eyes and solemn expressions. “No,” she repeated firmly. “I’m so glad you’re here. I’m so sorry that I was acting…well, that I haven’t been very nice sometimes.”
“You’re nice,” Misty said, and because she was so sweet, it didn’t sound rote or obligated.
“No, I haven’t been very nice at all,” Taylee admitted. “You’ve had a huge adjustment coming here. You’ve just found out that you’re a shifter. Our life didn’t go how we planned it to go, but you’re very much wanted. I’m sorry I’ve been having a hard time. You’re not at all responsible for that. I am so, so excited that you’re here. My parents are, my brothers are, everyone in Greenacre who you’ve already met is so happy that you’ve come back to the clan, where you always were meant to be.”
“But you got hurt,” Misty whispered. Her arms trembled and Kier did step forward then, lifting Onyx easily and patting her back.
Taylee took Misty’s hands in hers. They were so cold. All of Misty’s earlier color in her face was gone. “I did get hurt, but I’m going to work hard to get better. Even if I never get all my memories back, I want to make new ones. With my family, with you, with Onyx, and with…Kier.”
