Shadows (22 page)

Eyes! I know those eyes. I sit straight up in
the dark. I can hear Theron breathing beside me. Letting my eyes
adjust to the darkness, I look on the night stand for my phone. I
stand up and slide the screen making sure to keep the light out of
Theron's face. It's almost three in the morning. My heart is racing
inside my chest. My hands are shaking. That wasn't a dream. Those
are not dreams. I remember all of them. Kayla, Matt, and I would
spend our summers on the beach. We could walk from my house. I
remember there being other kids. We seemed to have new friends
every summer. I don't know why I pushed the memory of the boy with
the sunglasses out of my head, but I did. I can't confront him
about it, not when I know he's already hiding something else. It's
way too early to talk to Isa about this, but I need to talk to
someone. I know those were her eyes I saw. My fingers quickly tap
away on my phone, shooting Kayla a text in hopes I'm not losing
mind.

You up???

I am now. What's going
on?

Remember the beach? Remember how
we lived there during the summers?

Yes?

Do you remember a boy with
sunglasses?

Um, it was summer. We all had
sunglasses. Wait, why are talking about this now?

I think Theron is the
boy.

Right. So I'm going to go back to
sleep. Call me in the am when you’re not out of your mind on pain
meds. I'm out.

Well, that wasn't helpful. My only option is
try to try and get some sleep. I take a pain pill and wash it down
with a glass of water he left for me beside the bed. Lying back
down, I pull the covers up over me. Theron rolls towards me and
wraps his arm around my waist. This is the first time I am not
comforted by his touch. I'm worried about other secrets he's
keeping from me. I also wonder if he knew who I was all along. I
didn't remember him, maybe he didn't remember me.

Chapter 13

W
aking up I reach for
Theron, but he's not there. I sit up and check my phone. It's a
little after ten in the morning. I carefully stretch my injured
hand, it hurts, but surprisingly it feels a lot better than it did
earlier. I run my fingers through my hair. It's wavy from me
sleeping on it while it was wet. I want to change my clothes, but
all of my clothes are in the spare bedroom where Robert is
sleeping. Deciding not to bother him, I pass his room and head for
the kitchen. After my dream last night, I am in desperate need of
coffee. I make myself a cup of coffee and sit down at the dining
table. I've never noticed how beautiful the view is through these
windows. I'm scrolling through the notifications on my phone when
it rings. Jumping, I bump the table spilling my coffee just a
little. I swipe the screen and put it on speaker.

"I want you to know, you have just made me
spill my coffee. Death would normally be the sentence for that, but
because I have found myself injured. You, Kayla, are in
luck."

"Forgive me, let's take a moment of silence
for the spilled coffee."

I wipe up the coffee and sit back down at the
table. Robert walks in and starts going on and on about the walking
trails by the house. I have no idea what he is babbling
about.

Kayla's voice shouts out into the room,
"Robert, shut up! We are having a moment of silence." The look of
surprise on his face is hilarious! He had to have jumped at least
two feet in the air. I'm hysterically laughing. Kayla yells over
the phone, "Jesus, Eve, calm down. It couldn't have been that
funny." I can hear her laughing.

Robert is looking around trying to find the
voice. "What the hell? Where is that coming from?" I hold up my
phone and point to the screen. "You have her on speakerphone?
Jesus, Eve. Warn a man. You two scared the crap out of me, I
thought it was some kind of fancy high tech maid or some
shit."

His reasoning doesn’t help matters.

Kayla’s disembodied voice fills the room.
"Robert were you really that scared?" I'm absolutely loving her
right now. She completely caught him off guard. My sides are aching
from laughing so hard.

"Screw you, Kayla. It wasn't like that."
Robert looks over to the front door at Theron as he carries in some
grocery bags. "Help me out, man. They are ganging up on me over
speakerphone."

"What you can't handle two girls using an
iPhone?" Theron looks at me, rolling his eyes, as I'm wiping tears
out of mine.

"Ha! Even the God, Theron, thinks you've lost
your shit being scared of a girl, over the phone!" Kayla is
intentionally egging him on. She has always liked to push his
buttons.

"Go to hell, Kayla. I wasn’t scared." Robert
is pissed. His entire face is red. He hates being the butt of a
joke. He's pacing across the kitchen with his hands clenched into
fists at his side. How can he not see it's at least a little bit
amusing?

"Robert, you jumped into the air like a scared
cat!" I'm trying my best to calm down. Taking deep breaths, I turn
to look at gorgeous view out the window.

"Hey, Robert, Meow!"

I absolutely lose it when Kayla meows over the
phone. I attempt to push myself back from the table, but instead I
end up falling backwards out of the chair, landing with a thud on
the floor. Robert and Theron both rush to me and I'm holding my
side. I can't stop laughing.

"Kayla, this is Theron. She's going to have to
call you back. She's currently lost her mind and has fallen out of
her chair."

"What? Are you serious?"

"Sadly, I am. I'll have her call you." Theron
holds up my phone over my face. "Say goodbye, Eve."

Laughing, I shout, "Goodbye, Eve," into the
phone. Theron takes away my phone, laughing, and shaking his head
at me. Robert tries to help me up with my good hand, but ends up
falling down next to me.

"Damn it, Eve, grow up! You're going to hurt
your hand." Robert is so pissed and then it happens. I snort, not
once, but twice. My face instantly reddens from
embarrassment.

"Oh my, God. Eve, did you just snort? I didn't
know you still did that when you laugh." Robert pushes himself up
from the floor and helps me stand with the assistance of
Theron.

"That makes twice I've heard her laugh like
that. Oddly both time were from her falling off a chair and lying
on my floor." Theron just shrugs his shoulder as Robert gives him a
confused look.

Standing next to the table, I hold onto it
with my good hand looking out the window. I take a few deep breaths
and turn to face the guys. A small snicker escapes, so I turn
around to look back out the window. Strong arms wrap around my
waist. I turn my head to see Theron standing behind me. "I'm
sorry."

"Why?"

"Because I lost my mind there for a
second."

"You did, but I'm more worried about your
hand." Spinning me around, he gently takes off the sling. "How does
it feel this morning?"

"A little sore, but not too bad. I took a pain
pill in the middle of night, but I haven't had one
since."

"Why didn't you wake me?"

"I didn’t need to. You were sleeping
peacefully and the pills were on the nightstand by the water you
left me. How did you know I would need another one?"

"I didn't. I just put it there in case you
rolled over on your hand again." My irritation at him keeping
secrets slowly chips away. He can be incredibly sweet. He slips the
sling back over my head content with his inspection of my
hand.

"Please, keep this on today." Laying my
injured hand in the sling, he softly kisses my forehead. "When do
you want to start on your accounts for tomorrow?"

"Oh, um, I guess we could start now. I was
hoping we could walk over to see Isa today. I really miss your
gram. How is she?"

"She's doing better. Evan says she won't stop
pestering him. I'm sure she would love to see you. Let me finish
putting the groceries away and then we can get out your laptop.
You'll just have to walk me through the process." Sliding one arm
back around my waist, he lets his hand fall to rest on the curve of
my ass. "Oh and just so we are clear, your hand may be broken," he
slides his other hand between us slipping into my shorts, pushing
my panties aside, and thrusts one finger into me, "but this isn't."
My eyes are wide. He swirls his finger around my clit and slips his
hand from my panties. Looking me in the eye, he sucks his finger
into his mouth. I'm aroused and shocked. Did he just do that with
my brother close by? Turning around rather smugly, he starts
putting away the groceries. I head to the bedroom to gather my
senses and my laptop.

I'm making sure I have the charging cord and
the case when I hear a light tap on the door. I turn around to see
Robert standing behind me. "Hey, I know he wanted me here to help
you, but I don't think you need me. I'm going to get ready to head
out soon. I have to find an apartment and try to get some work in
tomorrow. Call me if you need me." He kisses the top of my head.
"Butthead, you have a very good man taking care of you." He walks
out of the room leaving me completely confused. Good man? What
happened to this all seeming pretty crazy? Their secrets are only
going to nag at me. Hopefully, when I see Isa, she can give me some
clue as to what they are hiding. I make a mental note to get the
logged accounts out of the way, so I can focus on finding out
what's really going on.

I set up the laptop at the dining table so I
won't have to try and balance it in my lap. Theron takes a seat
beside me and I show him how I login. Once the program is open, I
enter the first couple transactions belonging to the first account
on my list for the day. I'm not surprised when Theron takes the
computer over and starts entering the logs himself. Keeping a watch
over his shoulder, I make mention of any errors as they come along.
We've only been at it a couple of hours, but we ended up finishing
all of the logs for Monday. Hopefully it will help me get a head
start on the rest of the week. Theron closes my laptop and turns me
in my chair to face him. His hand softly grasps my neck, his thumb
gently caressing my skin. My body immediately responds to him and
my thoughts scatter. "Do you want to eat lunch with my gram? We
could take something with us, or we could order in."

"Can we order in with your gram?"

"Of course, what would you like?"

"Oh, I don't care. Surprise me. I need to get
changed though, and try to do something with my hair. It's starting
to get a mind of its own." Sliding his hand up my neck, he cups my
face, his thumbs tracing my bottom lip. He leans in as if he's
going to kiss my lips, but instead he places a soft kiss on the tip
of my nose. He's such a tease. I can tell by the smug look on his
face, he knows exactly what he's doing. Standing up, he helps me
from my chair. "I'm going to call out for lunch. Go get ready." He
smacks me playfully on my ass as I walk away.

Grabbing my clothes, I head to our bedroom to
get ready. I'm standing in front of the bathroom mirror brushing my
hair when Theron takes the brush from me. I watch his gentle
movements in the mirror. He takes his time brushing it, making sure
to smooth it all out.

"Do you have a hair band?" I open my makeup
case and pull one out handing it to him. He brushes my hair back
into a ponytail and secures it firmly with the hair band. I watch
different expressions dance over his features. Happiness, sadness,
loneliness and love all make a moment's stay on his face. I don't
say a word. He's calm, quiet, and rather serene. He twists a couple
locks of my ponytail through his fingers. "I used to brush my mom's
hair for her. She always wanted to look her best, but eventually
she couldn’t do it anymore, so I did it for her." My irritation
with him crumbles. He's already been hurt so badly by those he's
loved. I'll let him come to me when he's ready.

Looking into his eyes in the mirror, I mouth
the words I love you. He holds his palm out for me and I gladly
take it as we walk out of the room. My heart is breaking for the
young boy who had to grow up too early. The irritation I had with
him is replaced with anger. I'm not sure if he's keeping secrets,
but I am definitely sure it's his father who has made him feel so
alone. I make a vow to myself to never let him hurt Theron
again.

We find Isa sitting in the library surrounded
by a stack of books. She notices us and waves us over. "My
lovelies, I've missed you."

"Gram, you just saw me this morning when I
came to see if you needed anything."

"Okay, well, I missed my beautiful Eve. She's
my favorite you know." Smiling, I take a seat beside her on the
leather couch.

"You are officially one of my favorite people,
too." I squeeze her hand and she smiles. It hurts my heart when I
noticed it's not as bright as usual.

"What am I nothing? Do I not count?" Theron
pretends to pout, but we both know better.

"Fine, you count. Can't I just have a moment
with this beautiful girl without you interrupting?" Turning to face
me, she holds her hand by her mouth hiding it from Theron. "Spoiled
brat." I giggle and her bright smile is back. "You are in for a
treat. The gardener is coming by to trim the rose bushes
today."