contents of my stomach rushed up the back of my throat.
Wiping my face with a cool washcloth, I leaned against the countertop, shaking like a leaf on a tree against the whipping wind of an oncoming storm.
I didn’t dare try to push back from the counter and stand on my own until the shaking subsided. My body, however, revolted against me. I needed to get to a flat surface and lay down before I passed out in the bathroom, but there was no way I’d make it on my own just a few feet across the hallway to my bed.
Giving up, I clutched the doorknob and twisted it open as I ended up in a heap on the floor, sucking deep breaths against the braided rug in front of the sink.
With arms buckling under my weight, I finally made it out of the bathroom on my hands and knees, then all the way to my bed. It took a few tries, in between gasped breaths, to keep from getting sick again, but finally, I managed to pull myself up onto my bed.
Once there, I rolled over onto my stomach and let the comfort of the feather-tick mattress, and the hovering darkness, claim me.
I WOKE SLOWLY, AND THEN all at once. Where was I? Panic crawled its way along my skin, fear skittering along the top of it, until my eyes lighted on the window across the room.
Daylight streamed in through the pink curtains trimmed with cream-colored lace. Immediately, I knew where I was.
Aunt Brenda’s.
I was in my room at Aunt Brenda’s, because I’d come home. Pushing myself up, I grabbed the blankets and pulled them up against my face. The slight hint of lavender in the sheets soothed me, so I took another deep sniff, pulling my knees up and wrapping my arms around them, glad to be home.
My hair fell forward, tickling my cheek and stealing the comfortable moment. Straightening up, I ran my fingers through the thick mass, wincing as the snarls entwined themselves with my fingers.
I probably looked a bit manky. Still in the clothes I wore the night before and everything. Flipping the covers back, I realized that at some point during the night, I’d managed to at least get underneath them.
There was a coolness to the air that spoke of fall and made me shiver. Winter’s chill would not be far behind it.
I sighed, knowing I needed to get up. I promised Mum I’d be round to see her in the morning. The thought of leaving the house made me want to scurry back under the covers and pull them over my head. Mum wouldn’t be put off though, and if she had to route me out from bed at Aunt Brenda’s to see me, there would be hell to pay. That didn’t mean I couldn’t take a little time for myself to eat breakfast and take a shower. And really, I should get out of yesterday’s clothes first. With my decision made, I crossed the room and pulled open the drawer that held my fuzzy pants and long-sleeved shirts, thankful Aunt Brenda hadn’t packed my stuff away when I left Scotland.
The wood creaked as it slid toward me. On top of my favorite pair of lounge pants was a note scrawled in Aunt Brenda’s handwriting. The paper crinkled in my hand as I lifted it out to read it.
“I’ll send Aiden round to take you to your mums whenever yer ready,” I read aloud.
I crumpled the paper up in my fist and let it fall to the floor. “Not bloody likely, but nice try, Auntie.”
THE DOORBELL PEALED AS SOON as I cut off the shower and stepped out onto the mat in front of the tub. It startled me, sending my heart to knock against my ribs. Never in all the years I’d been in Aunt Brenda’s house had I ever heard the doorbell.
I grabbed the robe Aunt Brenda left on the back of the door and put it on over my wet skin. Grimacing at the feel of the material sticking to me, I tied the sash as the doorbell went off again.
Who in the hell? I thought, wrenching the bathroom door open. Aiden. It had to be him. Aunt Brenda had to have sent him, knowing I wasn’t going to call when I was ready. She knew me all too well.
I grumbled my way down the stairs about
Wiping my face with a cool washcloth, I leaned against the countertop, shaking like a leaf on a tree against the whipping wind of an oncoming storm.
I didn’t dare try to push back from the counter and stand on my own until the shaking subsided. My body, however, revolted against me. I needed to get to a flat surface and lay down before I passed out in the bathroom, but there was no way I’d make it on my own just a few feet across the hallway to my bed.
Giving up, I clutched the doorknob and twisted it open as I ended up in a heap on the floor, sucking deep breaths against the braided rug in front of the sink.
With arms buckling under my weight, I finally made it out of the bathroom on my hands and knees, then all the way to my bed. It took a few tries, in between gasped breaths, to keep from getting sick again, but finally, I managed to pull myself up onto my bed.
Once there, I rolled over onto my stomach and let the comfort of the feather-tick mattress, and the hovering darkness, claim me.
I WOKE SLOWLY, AND THEN all at once. Where was I? Panic crawled its way along my skin, fear skittering along the top of it, until my eyes lighted on the window across the room.
Daylight streamed in through the pink curtains trimmed with cream-colored lace. Immediately, I knew where I was.
Aunt Brenda’s.
I was in my room at Aunt Brenda’s, because I’d come home. Pushing myself up, I grabbed the blankets and pulled them up against my face. The slight hint of lavender in the sheets soothed me, so I took another deep sniff, pulling my knees up and wrapping my arms around them, glad to be home.
My hair fell forward, tickling my cheek and stealing the comfortable moment. Straightening up, I ran my fingers through the thick mass, wincing as the snarls entwined themselves with my fingers.
I probably looked a bit manky. Still in the clothes I wore the night before and everything. Flipping the covers back, I realized that at some point during the night, I’d managed to at least get underneath them.
There was a coolness to the air that spoke of fall and made me shiver. Winter’s chill would not be far behind it.
I sighed, knowing I needed to get up. I promised Mum I’d be round to see her in the morning. The thought of leaving the house made me want to scurry back under the covers and pull them over my head. Mum wouldn’t be put off though, and if she had to route me out from bed at Aunt Brenda’s to see me, there would be hell to pay. That didn’t mean I couldn’t take a little time for myself to eat breakfast and take a shower. And really, I should get out of yesterday’s clothes first. With my decision made, I crossed the room and pulled open the drawer that held my fuzzy pants and long-sleeved shirts, thankful Aunt Brenda hadn’t packed my stuff away when I left Scotland.
The wood creaked as it slid toward me. On top of my favorite pair of lounge pants was a note scrawled in Aunt Brenda’s handwriting. The paper crinkled in my hand as I lifted it out to read it.
“I’ll send Aiden round to take you to your mums whenever yer ready,” I read aloud.
I crumpled the paper up in my fist and let it fall to the floor. “Not bloody likely, but nice try, Auntie.”
THE DOORBELL PEALED AS SOON as I cut off the shower and stepped out onto the mat in front of the tub. It startled me, sending my heart to knock against my ribs. Never in all the years I’d been in Aunt Brenda’s house had I ever heard the doorbell.
I grabbed the robe Aunt Brenda left on the back of the door and put it on over my wet skin. Grimacing at the feel of the material sticking to me, I tied the sash as the doorbell went off again.
Who in the hell? I thought, wrenching the bathroom door open. Aiden. It had to be him. Aunt Brenda had to have sent him, knowing I wasn’t going to call when I was ready. She knew me all too well.
I grumbled my way down the stairs about
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