AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We haven’t made a jar of treasure in a long time. What do you say, should we bury it?”
I laughed, thinking how ridiculous it would be to bury purple sand at the age of eighteen.
“Come on, there’s still magic left in there.” He pointed at my heart, and for some reason, it made me sniff. Then a tear trailed down my face.
He moved past me, leading us to a patch of dirt, where he kneeled down. His leather cut was still on, and I stared at the president patch as another tear slipped free. He was a powerful man, and the fact that he was out here with me, not just biding his time but spending time with me, turned me into a melted mess.
“Which color should we do, honey? We don’t have purple, but we have some red sand. Want to try it, and what if we add some gold flakes?”
I choked on a sob as I laughed. “Where are you seeing gold flecks or red sand? I see an empty jar, without even our usual purple sand inside.”
My dad leaned in close, pulling up a palmful of dirt. “You have to use your imagination, sweetie. You used to love to do that when you were little. Just close your eyes and pretend a little.”
His shoulder bumped mine, and for whatever reason, I took a deep breath and gently tugged the jar from him. Twisting the cap, my gaze lifted to his, and he poured the dirt from his hand into the jar.
I repeated the same old words we’d used since I was little. “For the magic.”
Dad added another handful of dirt, and said, “For the dreams.”
We both continued our tradition until the jar was full, and then Dad secured the lid once more and began digging the hole to bury it in.
“You will come back stronger, Callie. You’re a Stone. If you aren’t sure how to be strong, you look to me and I’ll show you.”
His lips landed on top of my head as he pulled me into a side hug. I relaxed in his embrace and considered that perhaps there was some magic in those jars, because for the first time in weeks I let free a genuine smile, feeling happy in a way I feared wouldn’t happen again.
* * *
Six Months Later
Wes was late again.
I wasn’t surprised. I’d grown up in this life, I knew the schedules, the runs, the way it worked. I had learned how to keep myself busy over the years. I learned how to disappear into the background, dream, create fantasies about living a normal life with normal parents, and one day, be a wife with an adoring husband who had a normal job, who would be home for dinner and bedtimes. He’d be there to read to our kids at night, and to help make breakfast in the mornings.
It was a fool’s dream.
Watching the shadows flicker on the wall made me tense up. Something about the way the movement of the branches outside looked like arms, and hands. All these months later, and still my brain would occasionally reach out, reminding me it was missing pieces of what had happened that night. I had nothing but darkness and a hole in my heart.
Fear rode me, using me like a rag doll. I was always afraid, and while it had already been six months since it happened, nights like these were difficult to shake the feeling in my gut that someone else was coming for me.
Finally, the rumble of an engine cut through the silence, and a pair of headlights flashed on the far wall. I heard his boots on the porch, and then the door unlocking.
Within minutes he was hovering over me.
“Hey, did I wake you?” His lips landed on my forehead, then my nose, and eventually my neck.
I pushed my hands into Wes’s hair, loving that he was home. Regardless of how angry I was that he was late again, I was always happy when he returned.
“Where did you have to go tonight, why are you so late?” my voice was raspy with sleep that taunted me but never came.
Wesley’s eyes gleamed in the darkness, the lights from outside illuminating enough of his face for me to make out his expression. He was already shutting me out.
“Babe, you know I can’t talk about it with you.”
He didn’t call me babe very often, because I hated it. He called me River.
Why was I suddenly babe?
I let him go and withdrew my hands. “Fine.”
