Riley's Secret (A Moon's Glow Novel # 1) (19 page)

“I don’t want anyone at school to know we’re
together.” Nate’s voice was a whisper; and it was filled with remorse. We were
lying in bed that night, after we left the shelter. We had come back to his
house and watched another movie, which I got to pick this time. He fell asleep
halfway through and I dragged him to bed. I had thought he was sleeping, but
apparently not.

I flipped onto my back, staring up at the ceiling,
tired of this argument. I thought we were done with this after I kissed him.
“Why?” I asked with a sigh.

“I can’t tell you. Can you just trust me?”

My brain screamed for me to say
yes, of course I
trust you
but my stubbornness refused to do it. “After everything we’ve
been through to get together, you’re still going to pull away, aren’t you?” My
words were dry. The fear of rejection was there, but I held it back.

He tightened his arm, which was resting on my stomach,
around me. “No, of course not. I couldn’t pull away from you even if I wanted
to, not after this wonderful weekend. But I just need you to trust me. It’s bad
enough we’re seen around town the odd time, but in a school filled with
hundreds of teen gossips...I would just rather they didn’t know.”

I sighed again. Making the right decisions was hard
when I didn’t know all the facts. We only had a few weeks of school left
anyway, so what did it matter? I couldn’t help but feel that he was ashamed of
me and didn’t want me to be seen with him. But I quickly dismissed the thought.
At the shelter he was very open with our relationship. He touched or kissed me
every time I walked by him. And it was the shelter where he was the most happy.
No, I just had to trust him like he said.

“Fine, I won’t say anything and I’ll eat with Lauren
at lunch, but only if you promise that you’ll eventually tell me why.”

He leaned up above me and smiled. His bright blue eyes
were almost black in the moonlight. “I promise.”

One Wednesday night, two weeks later, I was lying on
my lounge chair out on the patio. I was eating grapes and listening to my iPod
with my eyes closed. Nate had dropped me off, saying that he had some things to
take care off. When I asked what they were, he mumbled something unintelligible
and drove off. This seemed really strange, especially since between after
school and the shelter, we’d been together every day since I kissed him two
weeks ago. But tonight he blew me off without an explanation.

Now, alone on the patio, a feeling of being watched
crept over me, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I opened
my eyes and saw the yellow eyes in the bushes again. The wolf was back and this
time I was sure it was there. It sat in front of the bush and just stared,
making no move to hurt me.

Although the fear was still there, it wasn’t as strong
as the last time. I wasn’t paralyzed with it. “Ah…hi. Where did you come from?”
My voice was barely audible, afraid to scare it into attacking. Of course there
was no answer. The thought of a wolf sitting ten feet away from me, while I
talked to it, just made me think I was going crazy. “Are you hungry? Is that
why you’re here? Sorry, all I have are grapes.” I threw one at him; it fell
into his open mouth. He looked at me and I swear he smiled. “I’m going to go
inside now, because I think I’m losing my mind.”

I started getting up very slowly, making no sudden
movements. “Bye now. I need to go before you start talking back to me. Then
I’ll
know
I’m crazy.”

That night I dreamed I was talking to my old dog
Charlie. He was a large Golden Labrador Retriever, who died four years ago. In
the dream I was lying on my bed while he was sprawled out beside me, taking up
the entire length of my queen-size bed. My head nestled beside his as I rubbed
his blond fur, his leg shaking with each stroke of my hand. I could feel his
hot breath on my hair as he panted and a bit of drool fell out of his mouth.

But the problem wasn’t that he was supposed to be
dead, even though he lay beside me while I told him all about my troubles. The
problem was that he was talking back.

The Orchid

I concentrated hard on the empty salt shaker that sat
in front of me on the table. It was ridiculous to put so much effort into such
a mundane chore. But I wanted to prove to Nate that I wasn’t that stuck-up girl
who didn’t know anything about household tasks. My hand was steady as the salt
flowed into the shaker. Not one morsel strayed from the stream I poured.

The sound of voices disturbed me and my hand shook
slightly, dividing the stream in two, half in the shaker and half on the table.
Darn it
, I couldn’t even pour salt properly. Who was I kidding? I wasn’t
the Suzy Homemaker I was pretending to be. I wasn’t a rich snob who frowned at
people who were either. I didn’t know who I was. After everything I’d been
through over the last month, I still didn’t know where I fit in.

“I told you, I can’t. I have to wait for a delivery.
You do it.”

Nate and Julia were standing a few tables away from
me, arguing. I had been filling salt and pepper shakers in the dining room
before they rudely interrupted me.

“Julia, I told you. I have to make lunch and train a
new volunteer. I can’t get groceries now.”

“Well, we need food for dinner, unless you plan to
serve everyone franks and beans out of a can.”

Nate was about to say something else, but I stood up
and walked toward them. “I’ll go, what do you need?”

They both stopped talking and stared at me in
surprise. “Um…no, that’s okay, I can go,” Nate stammered. “It will just have to
wait until everything settles down after lunch, but you can come with me.”

Could he be any more condescending
? All that was missing was the pat on the
head. It was obvious that he didn’t think I could handle a simple task like
shopping. I wasn’t sure I could either, but he didn’t have to know that. I
narrowed my eyes at him. “I have been very helpful here. You can’t call me a
princess that doesn’t know how to do anything. Not anymore.” I leaned back
against the table and folded my arms in front of me. “Who makes you breakfast
in the morning, huh?”

Nate blushed and Julia grinned. “Oh, let her go.
What’s the worst she can do?” Julia said, handing me the list and the credit
card.

“Alright, but if you need me, I’m just a phone call
away.” He leaned down to give me a quick kiss.

“
Oh my God
, Nate, have a little faith. It’s
just shopping.” I slapped him gently on the shoulder.

“You never know, anything could happen.”

I rolled my eyes and held my hand out in front of him.

“What?” His face was filled with confusion.

“Car keys. I drove with you.”

A look of horror washed over his features and he made
no move for the keys.

I narrowed my eyes again, adding a scowl. “Nate. Give.
Me. The. Car. Keys.” I emphasized each word.

When he continued to stand motionless with fear in his
eyes, Julia raised her arms and said, “You’re on your own with this one.” I
heard her laughing softly as she headed back to her desk.

I tapped my foot, still holding my hand out. I wasn’t
going to give up.

He sighed, rolling his eyes as he reached into his
pockets. “Fine, but don’t scratch it.” He pulled the keys out and dropped them
into the palm of my hand. They jingled as they fell.

I closed my fist and smiled. “We’ll see.” I strolled
out of the dining room, leaving him frozen where he stood.

The closest grocery store was only a few blocks away
and the lot was pretty busy when I pulled in. The amount of cars made me a bit
nervous. I had never done this before and a crowded store might make me more
confused than I knew I would be. But how hard could it be? Put food in cart,
pay at checkout. There couldn’t be more to it than that.

As I entered the building, I was a little worried.
There were so many choices and lots of people pushing carts. The smells of
baked goods and deli meats floated all around, reminding me I hadn’t eaten yet.

I pulled out a cart and began to wander aimlessly
through the store, listening to the classical music playing over the speakers.
At first, I was overwhelmed by all the boxes, cans and bags. Who knew there
were so many ways to package food?

I finally decided to focus, taking out the list and
studying it. The first item was flour. My instinct was to panic. How was I
supposed to find flour in this huge store, among so many items? Instead, I took
a deep breath, glanced around and found signs above the aisles that listed the
food stacked on the shelves.

I was almost finished when I got to the produce
section. The list said four turnips and I didn’t see a sign for turnips. Sure,
I’d eaten them, but I didn’t know what one looked like on the outside.

I paced back and forth, reading every name of
vegetable with no luck. It wasn’t there. I was about to give up when a man
approached me. “Do you need some help? You seem a little lost.” He looked about
twenty, not much taller than me, with a stocky build. He was wearing a black
leather jacket, which was odd, considering it was the end of May and it was
warm outside.

“Yes I do, but I’m embarrassed to ask. You’re going to
think I’m dumb, but I’m not used to shopping and it says on the list turnips,
but I don’t see a sign.”

He laughed. “You’re not dumb. A lot of grocery stores
don’t carry them, but you can just get one of these, they taste the same.” He
pointed to a sign that said
rutabagas
.

I picked up a round waxy, purpley-brown vegetable.
“This?”

He nodded with a smile, walking away with his empty
cart, heading toward the wine section. I waved as my face heated, probably
turning as bright red as the tomatoes in my cart.

There were only a few more minor dilemmas. Did they
want light salad dressing or regular? And what kind of laundry soap did they
prefer? I finally decided not to stress over what brands to get. It was just
shopping. It wasn’t like they were asking me to do brain surgery. What did it
matter if I picked up a different kind of rice than they usually used? It was
rice, who cared? If it wasn’t what they wanted they could come back themselves.

The problem with that was that I really wanted to get
everything right. If not to impress Nate, then to make him eat his words.

I stood in line at the checkout, browsing through the
magazines while the cashier rang up my order. Just as they finished up, I
noticed a shocking headline on one of the papers. Two people were killed by
animal attacks.
What a horrible way to die
, I thought, just as the
cashier informed me of the total.

I paid with the credit card and after she bagged
everything up, I was on my way. I smiled as I exited the store, feeling proud
of myself for coming away without any problems.

I decided I needed to reward myself with a soda. When
I spotted a drink machine, I plunked change into the slot; my diet soda fell
down with a thump. I stuck it in my purse for the drive home.

Pushing the heavy cart was a little hard and one of
the wheels got stuck in a pothole and I couldn’t get it out. “Son of—”

“Do you need help?” the man in the leather jacket
asked, appearing next to me, placing his hands on the handle of the cart.

“Oh, not you again. You’re going to think I’m useless.”
A burst of wind blew my hair in my face. I pushed it back as I heard him laugh.

“I don’t think that.” He lifted the corner of the cart
where the wheel was jammed, pushing it back onto smooth ground.

“Well, my boyfriend does and I was trying to prove him
wrong.”

“I’m sure he doesn’t think that.” His smile faded a
little.

“He does, but that’s fine. Thanks again…I’m sorry, I
didn’t catch your name.”

“Conner,” he stated, extending his hand.

“I’m Megan.” After we shook hands, I started to push
the cart towards Nate’s car.

“Do you want help loading your groceries?” he asked,
following behind me carrying one lonely plastic bag.

“Oh, no, thank you, you’ve done enough.”

“I don’t mind, really.” Once I unlocked the trunk, he
lifted a few bags and loaded them inside. After he dropped in the last bag, I
shut the trunk door with a thud.

“Thanks again. And it was nice to meet you.” I waved
at him as I slid into the car.

“Hey, how did it go?” Nate met me at the back door of
the shelter just as I opened the car door and climbed out. “What’s that?” he asked,
pointing to my soda that sat in the cup holder.

“It’s a soda, why?”

“Did you spill any?”

I narrowed my eyes. “Are you always so picky about
your car?”

“I’m sorry. I overreacted. How did it go?” he asked
again.

“Fine, it’s not that big a deal. Do you have to treat
me like an imbecile?” My voice sounded a little cold, but it wasn’t my
intention.