by Raci Ames
There had been blood all over the floor, and she’d cleaned it herself, wanting to honor her grandmother and the space that had been such a big part of her life. She didn’t share that with Cori, though. The other girl didn’t know about Woodland Creek’s paranormal reputation. It was a dirty little secret, as far as her parents were concerned.
“Mourning?” Cori asked, choking down the sympathy clogging her voice. Pia didn’t need to explain that she was mourning her sight. “What other herbs did your grandmother use?” The question began as a distraction, but as Pia answered Cori quickly got drawn in, so much so that she didn’t notice that Pia’s furry rescuer from the other day waited just outside the door.
• • • •
Clark spent more and more time at the Matthews’ place, finding the various traps set all over the property. At one point, he saw a bear trapped and hanging from a tree. It took hours, but three more came and cut him down, unharmed, luckily. His time in the forest revealed many things about the shifters in Woodland Creek. It seemed they were split into two groups - those that lived among humans, following their laws and rules for the most part. Those folks spent little time in their animal form, and kept to themselves for the most part.
Then there were the pack animals, wolves, coyotes, cougars and other big cats. They created spaces off on the fringes, they kept to themselves and worked hard to keep outsiders separate. They didn’t notice Clark because he never shifted, and went out of his way to not be threatening or competitive in hunting.
A small pack of cougars proved to be the best source information. From them, he learned Matthews had been tearing through the town council, putting pressure on officials to clear the forest from the animals who set the fire that hurt his daughter. The cougars hated Mattthews and his kind, talked about wanting to teach the man a lesson.
Worried for Pia’s safety, Clark kept watch on them, learning that they used their shifting abilities to commit petty crimes so they didn’t have to work.
He avoided the wolves completely. There a large number of grey one, bigger than him in animal form. As a red wolf he was technically a different species, but that was just according to science books. Realistically, he was close enough for them to possibly detect him and read his thoughts. Since he was the one who set the fire in the first place, he couldn’t risk exposing himself. They had no loyalty to him, and would more than likely turn him in. He couldn’t help Pia if they did that, so he remained quiet, and on his own.
• • • •
Jeremiah had done more than his share of opening nights in the rain. It was London, for crying out loud. Sunny skies were rare and the thunder went with his mood. At least the rain had held off until after they got the tires in the store and set up with the accessories. Rhys was offering up his thousandth toast, including Jeremiah for no less than the seventh time. But Jeremiah just wanted to go home.
“You look like you could use this,” a voice said, reaching around Jeremiah with a drink. Jeremiah accepted it gratefully and took a healthy swig, choking on the unexpected burn.
“Thanks,” he sputtered, glancing at the hand that had brought the strong gift. “Jesus Christ. You trying to get me drunk?” he asked, when he saw that the hand was attached to the blonde model who had been eye-fucking him all night.
“Maybe,” she giggled. “I thought maybe you could use something straight.” Her comment and her emphasis on the last word confirmed she knew his reputation. The pursed her lips around the tiny straw meant to stir her drink, taking a deliberately sexy sip.
Over in the corner, Rhys decorated his new boy with multiple hats, kissing him and hamming it up in pictures that were seconds away from going on Instagram. Her comment made him feel like he needed to save face, and she was offering him a way to do it.
“Yeah. Let’s do this,” he said, swigging his drink in spite of the taste. He sent a quick text with wrap up instructions to his team and took the girl to get her coat.
“I’m Jeremiah, by the way,” he said, extending his hand while they waited for a cab outside.
“I know that silly. I’m Sky.”
“Sky. You have beautiful hair,” he said, lifting the dark silky strands in his hand, tugging gently. Her eyes lit up and she licked her lips.
“God I love guys who are bi.” She laughed again. “All the good taste of gay guys, but I get to fuck em,” she said. Though she meant it as a compliment, Jeremiah hated the sentiment. He used to love easy hookups.. But tonight, this felt empty. Still, he didn’t kick her out of the car. He took her home and made every effort to lose himself in her soft skin and passionate personality. This was a girl willing to do everything, twice. Jeremiah enjoyed it, but it didn’t drown out his underlying displeasure with the state of his life at the moment.
CHANGES
“ How does it look?” Pia asked, glancing around the room as if she could see it.
“Ready for paint,” Cori said.
“I wish I could help with that,” Pia said, moving to the shelves and touching them to make sure they were actually clean enough for the next step. It had taken the better part of a week, but the Apothecary was free of cobwebs and evidence of all other insects and rodents. Containers had been emptied, and sorted. They keepers we bleached and dried, and Pia had a wish list of new ones that she wanted to order.
She hoped that getting the place into shape so quickly would help to convince her parents to invest more in the project. So far, her father had agreed to pay for all cleaning and capital investments to the space, with the idea that those improvements would help rent the property if necessary.
If necessary meaning if Pia’s store failed. She had some savings from her time as an EMT, and was willing to invest everything, but she knew the store was unlikely to become profitable without further financing.
“You can. Here,” Cori said, shoving a paint roller into Pia’s hand. She gently led the girl over to the wall and guided her hand to begin the painting.
“Great,” Pia said, rolling her eyes. “This is going to take a zillion days and look awful if this is the way we get this done.”
“It’s not, but this way you’ll always know that you helped, that you got the paint started.”
“You’re an unbelievable friend,” Pia said, wondering for the millionth time how she would ever repay the other girl for her, faith for companionship, for her dedication.
“Please. You know I’m getting credit for this now, right?” Cori said, slapping the white paint efficiently on the wall. It wasn’t just plain white of course, but instead a fancy shade called designer white that Pia’s mother swore elevated any room to the next level. She’d help the girls pick four different shades, all white of some kind. But apparently the difference was critical. Pia would’ve never consulted her mother for design ideas, except that she was hoping to get more support for the store. At least her mother had bought the paint.
Cori had organized a leave of absence from her job by pitching them on a research project. In exchange for a month of help on the store, Pia had agreed to be the subject of a research paper on how to help blind people open businesses. She was happy to contribute to Cori’s success, considering how much the girl had helped her. “We both know you would be doing this anyway. Because you’re a softy. And you love me. Almost as much as I love you,” Pia said, busying herself organizing the extra painting supplies around the sink.
Being so upfront with her feelings was a huge challenge, and keeping her hands in motion kept her from getting too uncomfortable about it. But something about not being able to see the reaction made her feel more free to share.
“One wall done,” Cori announced, moving on to the front of the store. Pia was working hard to learn the different sounds of the floor so she could track customers when the shop finally opened. She could tell from the squeak under Cori’s feet that she had moved to the large front window. “I’m going to do this area now that I’m warmed up, but before I get fatigued. All those details around the glass panes de
serve a lot of attention. They’re gorgeous!” Cori said.
“My grandfather carved them,” Pia said, eager to get them painted and dried so that she could feel the improvement.
“They really add a perfect vintage feel to the shop. You’re going to need more decoration, and design, you know. More than I can contribute,” Cori said.
Pia nodded and sighed. Designers cost money, but she could hardly make the decisions without one.
“I had an idea about that, actually,” Cori said, quieting her voice in a way that she only did when she was worried Pia wouldn’t like what was about to come out of her mouth. “What about Jeremiah?”
“You’re kidding, right?” Pia asked, barking out a sarcastic laugh. “He works for London Fashion Week and couture designers. And he hates Woodland Creek. And I haven’t seen him in years,” Pia said, cringing at her own choice of words. She wondered how long it would take before simple statements involving words about sight didn’t bother her anymore.
“I have,” Cori said sheepishly. Pia sent a dark look in her direction but didn’t comment, waiting instead for more information. “In London, just a few weeks ago.” She stopped speaking and waited for Pia’s reaction.
“Why didn’t you tell me that?”
“Because there were so many other things to tell you about my trip. It wasn’t a big deal. He saw my Facebook posts about being there and messaged me about getting together for coffee.”
“I think that’s a big deal. I didn’t even know you were connected with him.”
“He friended me the first year you and I roomed together, when you guys were still in touch alo.”
Pia sighed. She and Jeremiah had already broken up by that time. She’d been in love with him, but he wasn’t really invested in it and he was going to London. Breaking up had been a disappointment, but not enough of one to ruin their friendship. They’d been too close for too many years, and promised that would never happen to them and Pia quickly moved on from any residual heartache by keeping busy with med school and dating people who actually had wanted to be with her. Besides generic birthday greetings, they hadn’t talked in years. Hearing his name tugged at her heartstrings, not because of their ended romance, but because he’d been a true friend for so long, and she didn’t have very many of those at the moment.
Besides Cori. Who may have overstepped a little by getting together with him, and failing to mention it. But she didn’t have a reason to make a big deal about it. Yet.
“Oh that dog’s outside again,” Cori said, changing the subject.
“The red one you saw yesterday?” Pia asked, already moving to the sink to put together a bowl of water for him.
“Yep. He has a couple scars on his body that I noticed, so I’m sure. That’s so great that you’re getting water for him,” Cori said, trying to change the subject. But also meaning the compliment. Because the fact that Pia was going out of her way to do something for another creature was a huge step in her healing and recovery.
“Yeah, yeah, don’t change the subject,” she said, opening the door and putting the water down. She sniffed at the air, at something familiar that came to her above the smell of paint and the pizza place across the way. It was warm, like fallen leaves and cinnamon, and inexplicably comforting.
She stayed by the bowl for an extra second, keeping her hand on it to see if he’d come up to greet her. So far he hadn’t. Pia left the bowl and went back in the store, keeping the door propped open a little, just enough to hear that he was quickly lapping up the liquid she’d given him. Then she fixed her gaze back on Cori.
"What earth were you thinking by setting this up. I’m not a charity case. And besides what on earth would make you think I’d want my ex-boyfriend to see me like this?” Pia said, pacing back and forth on one small spot of smooth pale wood.
"I know you're not a charity case. I didn’t go begging for his help on your behalf or anything. In London, he just asked after you, and how you were doing.”
“He could’ve asked me, if he was worried.”
“He said he left you at least three messages before I saw him, and then a couple more since then,” Cori pointed out. Her voice was gentle, understanding, and Pia hated that at the moment.
“I don’t have a whole lot to say,” Pia said, which Cori ignored. Opening the apothecary was the first thing she wanted to do it all since the fire, and now Cori was complicating it.
"I can see the steam coming out of your ears, but hear me out okay?” Cori said. "Jeremiah has a client who wants him in the states to do a store. He’s been itching for some time outside of London for a while,” Cori explained patiently. Pia went to interrupt but Cori didn’t let her, just kept going. “It’s a big job but won’t take all his time. And he needs a place to stay and something else to do or else he will go crazy. Both of those things can help you.”
"I can't believe you set all of this up without even talking to me about it,” Pia grumbled. She wasn’t ready to admit that this idea gave her a new hope, for many reasons, because she felt like Cori and Jeremiah had gone around her and that wasn’t okay. “I’m blind but I’m not a baby, and I can handle making decisions about my life myself.”
“I know that Pia? Okay? But this isn’t a set up - it’s synchronicity. He is coming for the job anyway. So he can go stay anywhere else and fill his time with other things. Or you can look at this like a gift from the universe. His living stipend would go a long way towards monthly expenses at this store. His professional expertise will get you set up properly. And your parents trust him. They might even let you move into the building if they know he’s living downstairs.”
“But still. You guys arranged all this without talking to me.”
“Yup. We did. Sorry,” Cori said, shrugging and going back to painting. Pia didn’t know what to feel. She hated the idea that things seemed so out of her control at the moment. She was used to making her own decisions about her life and that had been taken from her since the fire. The point of opening the store was to give her a place of her own, where she could be in charge. Jeremiah coming right now was exactly what she needed to get going. She just had to make sure that moving forward, she was in charge of her own life and all of the big decisions that would affect it.
• • • •
Clark waited. The water had been welcomed, though not necessary. He loved the light that had been on her face when she gave it, and heard Cori talking about why it was a good thing. He longed for more contact but didn’t know how to make it.
When the girls finally left the store late in the evening, he followed them home. He stayed back about twenty feet, letting the night cover him. Cori didn’t notice him at all.
But Pia did. She’d scented him, and commented, so that Cori looked around and found where he was. He met Cori’s eyes, and saw curiosity and kindness in them, just like he saw every time he looked at Pia’s face. So he just stayed back and kept following. When they walked onto the porch of the house, he walked into the woods to eat and take care of other things. Neither of them seemed to notice when he came back to sleep outside of their window.
• • • •
Jeremiah carefully wrapped the last of the white jars in bubble wrap before putting it in the box with the Apothecary’s address on it. The pale blue ones were already done. A few weeks ago, he wouldn’t have believed that rejected props would lead to a huge life change. But they had.
He’d gotten the job offer in Chicago months back, and had said no at least four times. But in his industry, that only made him more desirable. One final offer had come through the night after opening Rhys store and he’d made the rash decision to take it. That meant organizing his business in London to run with out him, while finding a place to live in the States. Woodland Creek was a little far from the job site for convenience, but he had a number of reasons to spend some time there. Not the least of which was Pia. He couldn’t get her out of his mind.
Usually this would be a job for one of his assistants but
the mindless task soothed him at the moment. It was so much easier than choosing which of his things to take, and what to leave. Since making the decision to go, every detail had fallen into place. Jeremiah wasn’t a religious guy, but he very strongly felt that when things went that way, easily, you were on exactly the right path at the right moment. He held onto that. He had to, because Pia was being testy, about everything.
She wouldn’t even speak to him. So far, he’d been communicating with Cori and Mr. Matthews, a man he remembered distantly from their youth as responsible but aloof. Pia’s condition seemed to have softened him, and he’d even offered Jeremiah in exchange for helping Pia set up the store. But Jeremiah had a rental budget in his contract, enough for a lux city rental, the checks were directly to the landlord for tax purposes. It so happened that the landlord was Pia’s family, but the fact that he wasn’t exchanging money with them made the whole thing a bit easier. It would also, indirectly, serve as his budget to set up the store.
He’d been concerned about how to handle that when Cori had asked him about helping out and explained about the financial limitations. Years of huge budgets for openings had spoiled him, but he lookedforward to the challenge of a leaner, more DIY approach. Still, money would be necessary to make it work, especially with Pia’s condition. He worried about setting up a store that she would be able to run on his own. But he was getting ahead of himself. First he had to get there, and actually have a conversation with her.
With the last jar wrapped and ready, he moved on to the clothes and the personal affects he would ship over. He was still a few weeks away from leaving, but in his heart, he was already out of London. At least for the next six months.
CONNECTIONS
Pia brought out a bowl of food that she had kept aside at dinner last night and placed it on the ground, just as she had done for the past few days. Her parents would be horrified to know that she was feeding a stray, but dogs had been on her mind a lot over the past few weeks as she went through the steps to get a Seeing Eye Companion. She was still very far from the top of the list, but she and Cori had gotten some leads on a few puppies in private training. One would be ready in about six months, and that was the quickest option.
