Wildflower Redemption

by Leslie P. García

  She thought briefly of Chloe, hoping the weather wouldn’t scare her. Then she set her anger aside for a moment and breathed a prayer for the little girl’s father, who would be driving into the oncoming front.

  You can wish someone safe travel without forgiving him, right?

  She changed while the wind and rain ratcheted up their clamor, knowing she still had to go out and tend to the menagerie and the horses and ponies. On her way through the kitchen, she glanced again at the corner Princess had preferred, praying that the dog had been adopted, and afraid that she hadn’t.

  Grimly, she went out into the storm.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Luz huddled in a corner of the couch wrapped in a blanket, balancing a laptop on her lap while she tried to determine what state government she could contact to find out about starting an animal shelter. The time in the corner of her screen glared at her—almost two A.M.

  But then again—she wasn’t subbing and didn’t have to get up at some ridiculous hour. The rattling off the window meant ice pellets, not rain. Again she thought of Chloe, and worried about Aaron.

  A glare of lights pierced the window suddenly, making her blink and drop the laptop. Luckily it fell over her knees on the couch side; she could ill afford it hitting the floor. By the time she got untangled from the blanket and padded warily to the door, she heard footsteps and a muttered curse on the porch. It was Aaron, probably slipping on the slick wood.

  She pulled the door open just as he reached for it, and he almost fell headfirst into the room. It would have served him right, but she didn’t say so; she just stood staring at him, wishing she were more angry than relieved.

  “Finally got here,” he said, by way of greeting. He looked exhausted, and she didn’t have to ask to figure out the drive had been torture.

  “When I left Alabaster, the weather was sunny and warm,” he added. “Then I hit Texas.”

  She pushed the door shut and forced any sympathy out of her voice. “Why are you here? It can’t be to pick up Chloe.”

  The barb stung; she saw it in his eyes, in the shoulders that sagged a little more.

  To his credit, though, he didn’t answer the taunt, just closed his eyes briefly and breathed deeply.

  “You have to know why I’m here, Luz,” he answered after a minute. “I was an ass—again. You don’t have to listen at this time of day, but I didn’t want to wake Chloe up and take her home, because there might not be school today. And I needed to talk to you before I talked to anyone else.”

  He brushed at his hair, and she was surprised to note a slight tremor, as if he just had no strength left.

  “Sit down, Aaron,” she invited stiffly, but he rolled his shoulders, stretched his arms, and shook his head.

  “I’ve been sitting for hours. But—I’ll be right back.” He headed down the hall. He probably hadn’t stopped except when he had to. That could be uncomfortable—she remembered drives back from Atlanta when Brian had been waiting impatiently at one end and her parents at the other.

  She should give him something hot to drink. She didn’t keep coffee or tea, since she didn’t drink either. She could boil a bottle of water…there was a certain vengeful pleasure in the idea of giving him a scalding cup of nothing. Instead, she filled a mug with milk and emptied most of a bottle of chocolate syrup in it, nuked it, and added a handful of mini marshmallows and a cinnamon stick. There! Not gourmet, but he didn’t deserve that.

  She set the cup down on the coffee table near where he usually sat and moved over to slouch into the armchair as he came back into the room.

  His hair glinted with beads of water, so even though his face was dry she knew he must have splashed water on his face. Trying to stay awake, she supposed, for whatever he’d come here to say.

  After walking around aimlessly for a moment, he sat down and lifted the cup, looking at it skeptically. “What is this?”

  “Improvised hot chocolate. Take it or leave it!”

  He looked like she’d slugged him. “I’ll take it,” he said. “Did Chloe tell you about our game?”

  “What?”

  “I guess not. It doesn’t matter. Chloe and I always ask each other that when we’re bargaining over something.” He took a tentative sip, and marshmallow-chocolate froth painted a mustache above his lip.

  I’m angry. I’m furious. I wish I could kiss the chocolate away.

  He gave her the slightest of smiles, and then turned serious again.

  “You know why I came,” he repeated. “Too little too late and all that, but I cannot believe what I did to you. I can’t understand why I listened to Esme and hurt you and Chloe and—” He shrugged. “There’s really nothing to tell you, because ‘sorry’ isn’t worth squat when you do something as stupid as I did.”

  She felt her anger and fury slipping away at the same time she realized his coming here first to apologize made her want to wrap her arms around him and forgive him. She bit her lip hard, unwilling to be a doormat again. Brian had walked all over her with his excuses, apologies and easy lies. Never again.

  “So just shut up,” she snapped, standing. “If you’ve said what you came to say—”

  “I looked the story up,” he said dully. “I knew maybe an hour after I called the principal that I should never have gone off like I did.”

  He fell silent, and she turned his words over.

  “What did she say?”

  He smothered a yawn, but didn’t answer. “Does it matter? My behavior’s what we’re talking about.”

  “You’re defending her?” All the anger was back. She stormed up to him, bent over to be eye level. “That I cannot believe! That…”

  “Calm down. I’m not defending her, but she really doesn’t have anything to do with me being an ass. Yes, she told me you’d been accused of negligent injury to a child—your husband’s child with the woman he jilted to marry you.” He fished the cinnamon stick out of the chocolate and drained the mug. The mustache grew.

  She picked up the cup. “I’m going to rinse this.” She stalked out of the room, frustrated with her own spinelessness.

  He admitted he’d been a jerk, that apologizing wasn’t enough, that he’d let Esme lead him around by the—whatever.

  And all she could think about was how worn out he looked. How attractive chocolate mustaches were on clean-shaven men.

  Well, okay. He wasn’t clean-shaven; obviously he hadn’t even shaved before he jumped in his car at some ungodly hour this morning. But the scruffiness only heightened his attractiveness.

  She heard him come into the kitchen, and turned from the sink, surprised.

  “I only read the part where you were acquitted, Luz. I’d already assumed that. You’re not capable of hurting a kid, no matter what.”

  “Have you eaten?”

  “No, but I’m more tired than hungry." He yawned, unable to stop it, and she wound up doing the same.

  “I want to pick Chloe up before school. Mind if I crash on the couch?”

  “No.”

  “No, you don’t mind, or no I can’t?” In spite of his weariness, he smiled slightly.

  “You can sleep on the couch, on the floor, wherever. Think I’ll call it a night, too.”

  She went to her room, closed the door, and changed out of her warm-ups into another of her long, silky nightgowns. She had one pair of flannel pajamas somewhere, but she never wore them. Besides…she pushed thoughts of walking through the living room in her gown out of her head. She wasn’t sure she should forgive him. He had been the worst kind of jerk.

  She wondered if he’d wiped the mustache away.

  Frowning at her own insistent hungers, she wrapped herself in her thickest plush robe and picked up a pillow and blanket from the store in the closet.

  Halfway to the door, she stopped and loosened the belt, letting the robe fall open. Just a little. She walked back into the room, holding her breath, hoping—

  He’d stretched out on the couch and was sound asleep, an arm
shielding his eyes from the light.

  The mustache was gone. Grinning wryly, she flicked the blanket over him and balanced the pillow on the armrest behind him. He’d find it if he got uncomfortable enough.

  She tiptoed out of the room, turning off the light, and laughing at herself over her pitiful attempt at seduction.

  • • •

  Smoke crept through the door she’d left partially open to light the hall—something she’d have done for Chloe. Why had she done it for Aaron? She lay still a moment, half uncovered, sniffing again.

  Yes, something smelled like it was burning. Her heart jerked, and she sat straight up. Cold air washed over her, reminding her she’d worn her nightgown, not her flannel pajamas. She might as well have slept naked.

  The house was burning and she was worried over Aaron’s lack of interest?

  Flinging on her robe, she raced to the kitchen.

  Aaron stood there, rumpled and groggy, waving a hand through the smoke still curling around the stove. “Oh, sorry,” he greeted her. “Just the biscuits. The bacon and eggs are fine.”

  “You got up this early to fix bacon?”

  “Always get up early—well, now. Chloe doesn’t like school food much.”

  “Ah, yes. School food.” Luz joined him in fanning. “How burned are the biscuits?”

  “Way past ‘nicely browned’.” The dimples flashed. “But just short of incinerated.”

  In spite of the early morning hour, her lack of sleep, and the unresolved issues dividing them, Luz smiled back. “I’m not a breakfast person, anyway. Although…” She inched closer to the stove, and peeked at the bacon and eggs. “I could try really hard.”

  He laughed. “Don’t torture yourself, though. If you’re not hungry—”

  He started to put back one of the two plates he’d pulled out of the cabinet, but she swatted at his arm and pulled the plate toward her.

  Caught off balance by her tug, he stepped forward, his arm caught between them, pressing into her chest.

  She gasped. Involuntarily, her arms slipped around him, keeping his arm trapped, urging him closer, opening her hands to caress the warm skin beneath his thin shirt.

  But she jerked away when the plate she’d taken from him shattered on the floor behind him.

  He jumped a little, too, and then looked from the burned biscuits in the sink to the mess on the floor. And laughed.

  I could love this man. She didn’t laugh, just grinned and bent down to pick up the broken pieces of porcelain.

  “I’d offer to help, but we’d probably bump heads and wind up on the floor.”

  He didn’t seem at all interested in picking where they’d left off, in spite of the momentary vision she had of winding up on the floor. Once again she reached the same conclusion she’d come to so many times—Aaron wasn’t a man she could have. Esme had undoubtedly lost any chance with him when she’d spirited Chloe away, but Aaron wasn’t free. Clearly, he was a man married to his wife’s ghost.

  • • •

  Aaron left while it was still dark, determined to pick Chloe up and take her home. With temperatures hovering around freezing and the weather predicted to worsen, school had been canceled. Luz wished he wouldn’t go, but of course he had to get out while he could.

  She tried not to think about what Esme would say to defend herself, or how hurt and upset Chloe might be.

  Reluctantly, as day broke, she bundled up and headed out to feed the menagerie and see how the barn had held up under the wind. The clouds were low and barren, but for the moment, dry. Although she usually didn’t feel the cold, today she couldn’t shake the feeling that winter had finally settled in to stay.

  She made short work of the chores in the barn, relieved that not a piece of tin or a board had come undone. The kitten meowed plaintively, but when she picked it up thinking she’d take it to the house, no name clawed her and jumped down, racing for her usual hiding spot behind the partition.

  Luz trudged back toward the house, going around it too, to make sure that nothing seemed damaged.

  A car honking startled her, and she turned in surprise to see Ann’s pickup parked up by the road.

  “Stupid woman,” she muttered. “Oughta be inside keeping my goddaughter warm!”

  She jogged toward the road, seeing Ann open the door and walk towards her, holding a hand up to stop her. “What—”

  Ann didn’t bother with a greeting. “Had a call from someone—I don’t know who. Sent me out to check on a dog ‘hit by a car’.”

  Dread settled like lead in Luz’s stomach. She thought she knew where this was going. “Princess?” She brushed past Ann even as she asked, and covered her gasp of shock with a hand, fighting back her nausea.

  Behind her Ann said, “No,” but she’d already seen that it wasn’t the pit bull. At least, not that pit bull. This was a large brindle, ripped apart with sickening violence.

  “Why? Why me?” Luz moaned, turning away from the lifeless body.

  Ann shook her head. “I don’t know. This time whoever it is called me, so in a way, I have to wonder if I’m being included in this sick game. What have we done to anyone, Luz?” She looked again at the carcass. “I’m taking pictures and taking it into town. I’m going to dump it onto the sheriff’s desk, or whoever’s there. They have to do more than they’re doing!”

  Luz hugged Ann. “Go home. You shouldn’t be driving. You shouldn’t get this upset—”

  “I’m fine. But I want to know who called. Didn’t sound like he was from around here.”

  “You can’t know everyone’s voice in Rose Creek.”

  “Hmph! In this town? On one hand, almost.” She looked at Luz, assessing her face. “I heard your ex—I heard Brian went looking for you at school. I suppose you’d say it couldn’t be him? How sick was he? Is he stalking you?”

  Luz watched as the vet pulled her phone out of her pocket and snapped several pictures of the dog and its location, positioned almost exactly as the other had been.

  “No. He’s not stalking me. He tried to call, but I have no idea why he turned up, and I’m sure he’s gone again. Not to defend Brian—but I’ve told you about his family. His father’s grooming him for political office. No way he’d kill a dog. Someone would have seen him and asked me about it.”

  “And he wouldn’t have paid to have it done? Maybe he’s trying to drive you from Rose Creek. Maybe he wants you back.”

  “No, he wouldn’t have paid, and he can’t believe I’m stupid enough to go back to a man who dumped the same woman twice and used me when he wasn’t using her.”

  “Which leaves us with nothing!”

  “No, not nothing.” Luz took her arm and led her to the truck. “You are the mother-to-be of a precious little girl—”

  “Or boy.”

  “Or boy, but it’s a girl. And you need to get your butt in that seat, drive very carefully into town, and go home for the day.”

  Ann sighed. “Yeah, I probably should. At least get back into town.” Luz ducked her head briefly as Ann gently lifted the dog’s body into the back of her truck. She peeled off the gloves she wore and tossed them into the bed, too, rubbing her hands for warmth.

  Finally she swung into the truck, not yet encumbered by her slight baby bump or bulky jacket. “You sure are bossy this morning!”

  “It’s from the subbing, Ann. My teacher self took over my body, but I’ll be fine in a few hours. And no,” she added, as Ann opened her mouth, “I do not want to go back full time.”

  “Okay,” Ann said with a shrug. “But I was going to ask how spending the night with Aaron was.” She turned the key in the ignition, winked, and rolled the window up.

  Great. Ann never knew anything—she stayed too busy. Which meant every single person in Rose Creek did know, and someone mentioned it to her.

  Luz headed back to the house, again thinking of Esmeralda. She would know. She would make sure Aaron knew that she knew.

  Would Aaron be upset to find his name linked
with hers when he clearly wasn’t ready to move on from his love for his late wife?

  Chapter Seventeen

  The cold held on for two more days, the temperature only rising into the forties, but at least not freezing at night, since the clouds never cleared.

  Luz took out some sweaters she hadn’t worn since Atlanta and did some online shopping—books about how to start shelters, baby clothes in gender-neutral colors, a few romance novels. None of the spicy titles, though—she didn’t want to be reminded how quickly and hotly passion could flare.

  She hadn’t heard from Aaron again, and wondered if she’d scared him off. First she’d thrown herself into his arms and then smashed a plate on the backs of his ankles. She tossed aside a sheaf of printouts on regulations and wondered if she’d lost the research skills that made college a breeze.

  All that seemed clear was that the state regulated how animals should be euthanized. She’d be damned if she’d run a kill shelter. So maybe she’d better research legal ways to raise money for a non-profit entity. Or how to get rich legally, quickly, and permanently.

  Smiling, she got up and stretched, and the phone rang.

  Well! Finally! Aaron’s number glowed on the screen.

  She swiped the phone and said hello.

  There was momentary silence, and then Chloe’s voice came on. “Luz? Hi. It’s me.”

  She sounded so unsure and hesitant. “Hey, girl! I’m so glad to talk to you,” Luz assured her, honestly.

  “Really? You’re not mad at me or anything?”

  “Absolutely not! Why would I be?”

  Chloe warmed up then. “Dad says tomorrow the sun will come out, and we can go see you after school! Is Rumbles okay? Does she miss me?”

  The words tumbled out, and Luz closed her eyes for a moment, cherishing the excitement and the closeness.

  “Rumbles is fine, and she misses you. Right, Rumbles?”

  Luz held the phone away from her ear, and then spoke again. “Sorry, she’s eating the leftover ice cream and can’t talk.”

  “She’s not in the house!” She held a slight pause. “Is she?”