I never intended to fall asleep yet with his warm comfort beside me, I couldn’t stay awake.
In the morning, Orin was still there, exactly as he had been when my eyes closed, watching me sleep.
“Good morning.” I yawned while stretching my arms and legs.
He must’ve moved me in the night because when I fell asleep my legs had been hanging off the end of the bed but when I woke, I was on my comfortable pillow under the blanket.
“I have to go.” He didn’t take his eyes off me, didn’t even blink.
“I know,” I whispered back but had to turn my face away to keep my composure. The mere thought of him leaving was crushing, but now that it was actually happening again… I didn’t think I could make it without crying.
“What is this?” Orin’s fingers grazed my cheek. The very spot I’d covered for days with the smallest brush of rouge.
“Nothing,” I turned back to him so he wouldn’t be able to see it anymore.
“Elizabeth.” He made his demand with only a word.
“I spoke too freely.” That was the best explanation I could give and it was the truth.
My father had been harsh that day about why Orin sent me home. Instead of keeping quiet the way I knew to, the way I was raised to, I allowed the words to flow.
Orin’s teeth ground together so hard that I could hear it.
“I don’t know what to do,” he finally said. “If I take you home, this will become violent. If I leave you here… ”
“I’m fine here, Orin.” It was a sacrifice I was willing to make. “It really was my fault. I knew as I spoke that it wouldn’t turn out well.”
“He hit you, Elizabeth. He marked your skin with his hand. I want to go to his bedroom right now and kill him while he sleeps.”
“He’d be in his office at this hour,” I said without thinking about it.
My eyes bulged when I realized what I said but he used his thumb to remove the worried wrinkle between my eyes.
“You should be able to speak your mind,” he said. “Even when it angers someone. You shouldn’t have to pretend.”
“But I do have to, Orin. It’s the only way I’ll survive this house again.”
“I’ll try to come back soon.” He finally gave in, kissed my lips softly then headed for the balcony. Suddenly, he stopped. “Lizzie.” He paused, looking back on me with eyes that were much more vulnerable than a minute before. “Please don’t let your father file… ”
“I wouldn’t sign for it even if he did.”
Then he was gone again.
With the summer season ending, the onslaught of closing parties became oppressive. The first two I received permission to skip. Since I’d been living with Orin, Father said I had nothing appropriate to wear. By the third party, I had to have that matter resolved.
I did as instructed even though I had zero desire to attend any of the parties. The last one I attended without Orin was the one where I met him. It wouldn’t be the same.
But I’d grown very adept, once again, at following all of Father’s rules. I didn’t even blink when he handed me the divorce document that had been drawn up by his lawyer. I took it, said nothing and went to my room.
They still sat on my nightstand because I hadn’t lied to Orin. There was no intention, on my part, to sign those papers.
Instead, Mrs. Atherton helped me lace my corset, something I had not missed. The gold dress had been cinched and tucked to fit my body the way it would have in the last decade instead of the modern way it would have in this one.
That was how the “upper class” preferred it.
The new dresses that hung from a women’s body were not acceptable in Father’s circles. They all hoped this shapeless era was just a passing fad. Truth be told, I preferred certain aspects of the old world. I liked clothes to fit my body but would’ve loved to lose the corset that made breathing difficult.
“Elizabeth,” Father called up the stairs as my cue to leave.
I’d put a small smattering of cosmetics on to enhance my face but nothing like some of the girls would be wearing. He’d never let me out of the house if I tried that.
Most of my life we walked wherever we were going if it was reasonable to do so. If the destination was further than walking distance, I usually stayed home.
Before Orin, I’d only been in Father’s automobile a handful of times for parties further away yet for whatever reason he didn’t want me to miss. Since I’d come back, that rule had relaxed. I thought he figured I’d already been compromised.
When I’d asked him before why I wasn’t allowed he’d said that he heard what young people did in cars. His daughter wouldn’t be that sort of girl.
I had no idea what he meant until Orin showed me in such detail that I had a semi-permanent blush for hours.
I guessed my father didn’t want me to think being in a car was normal.
We arrived fashionably last at the Halstead’s. Olivia’s parents’ house was usually the last we attended each year. This time, as soon as we entered, Father left me to greet his friends and business associates.
When I found Olivia, I realized that there would be no spinning at this party.
It was stupid really, but something we’d done at every party since we were eight. Olivia looked far too grown up to do something so juvenile. She’d cropped her hair short so the finger waves made her very adult and her dress, while beautiful, hung loosely from her body in a pretty shade of rose that offset her dark hair and eyes.
“Lizzie,” she squealed in a voice I didn’t exactly recognize. When she got close enough to me to give me a squeeze, I could smell the reason for the unusually high squeak in her words. As a married lady, what she did fell onto her husband and it seemed that Charles was quite liberal at the idea of women and alcohol. “I was worried you wouldn’t come.”
“As if I had a choice.”
“Let’s go outside and spin. I could use some air.”
I smiled at her suggestion and wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to be alone. All the eyes in the room had fallen on me as soon as I arrived.
Out in the night air, Olivia took my hands and we started to twirl.
Faster and faster until I teetered on the verge of tears from laughter. It seemed my entire life had become about longing and missing those I loved. And I had missed this with her. I never wanted to lose this feeling or her or Orin.
Or myself. I’d just found myself but living with my father I could feel me drifting away.
“Oh.” She stopped abruptly and clasped her stomach. “I think I might be sick.”
We both dropped onto the cool grass, on our backs looking up at the evening sky, the sliver of a moon casting its light down over us.
“That’s better,” she said with a sigh.
“How much have you had to drink?”
“Just two glasses but I’m not used to it.” There’d be no reason for her to have gotten used to alcohol. “What’s wrong, Lizzie?” she asked quietly.
I didn’t realize until then that my eyes were watering and apparently, I’d even sniffed a little.
“And don’t say nothing. I know you better than that.”
“Nothing is as it should be, I guess.” In best friend spirit, she waited until I was ready to continue. “I thought I was going to marry Noah and be miserable until I died. Then Orin came along… ”
“And you fell in love.” She gave my shoulder a playful bump.
“I fell in love and things were better than I’d ever imagined. But now I’m back right where I was before only worse because now Father looks at me as if I’m a whore.”
“What happened?” She rolled on her side to look at me which took me by surprise.
I’d expected her to worry about getting dirty and being proper. I should’ve known better than that with Olivia.
“I wish I could tell you.”
“You can tell me anything, Lizzie, you know this.”
I sighed and decided to tell her w
ithout telling her. I needed someone to talk to, someone to understand. “There’s something different about Orin and his family. They don’t approve of our marriage—”
“Neither does King Davis.” We both giggled at the nickname we’d given my father when we were children.
“But with Father, I’m not worried about my safety. Orin has four brothers. They came to visit so he sent me back home. Once they leave I can return but they haven’t left and I’m beginning to wonder if they ever will.” Swallowing the lump in my throat turned out to be harder than I thought it would be.
“No one has heard from Noah,” she said.
My gaze popped open at the same time my body shot up. Olivia sat up too.
“Did Orin have something to do with that?” she asked.
“Of course not,” I snapped. “Liv, you know Noah. He’ll show up eventually. Remember when he disappeared for a month during school? He does this.” I prayed that any hint of guilt would remain hidden because I did feel guilty. He was dead because of me not that he didn’t put himself in whatever predicament Orin found him in. But Orin wouldn’t have been there if not for me. “Let’s go back to the party.”
We stood and brushed the grass off our dresses. We locked arms then turned back inside where the music played, the dancing had commenced and champagne, still illegal, flowed freely.
Almost an hour later, I took a break from all the fun we were supposed to be having and stepped out onto the veranda.
Olivia’s parents’ house was among the largest in town. They’d raised five girls there, Olivia being the youngest. The older four had already married with three moved to other states. They came to visit once a year. The one that lived in town, Sadie, had a baby two months ago so she was sitting the entire season out.
Memories of the night I met Orin invaded no matter how hard I tried to keep them away. It’d been too long, again, since I’d seen him and the heaviness that lived in my heart brought with it a physical ache. I walked around the side of the house, almost to the front, and took a seat in the shadows. It was unlikely anyone would see me there unless they were purposely looking. I liked feeling invisible.
Invisible was better.
I watched as two young couples took an evening walk around the property, the girls giggling in an obvious attempt at flirting. A few older attendees left into waiting automobiles, leaving early as they tended to do. A late arrival made their way up the path.
Or five late arrivals.
Orin and his brothers came toward me. My breath caught in my chest and my heart took off like it was in a race with their footsteps. He lagged behind, more beautiful than the rest and more reluctant to join the party.
My body remained completely frozen. I closed my eyes and prayed they wouldn’t see me. I had no idea where he stood with his brothers or where I stood with them. Whether they’d just cause a scene or rip my throat out the moment they saw me.
Then they passed right by me but didn’t seem to see me sitting there. I peeked in the window to watch as the group made the rounds with Orin introducing each brother.
I watched as they smiled and seemed personable. Almost normal. No one would be able to tell what they really were. I finally went in to retrieve my wrap and purse to leave before they saw me. I couldn’t stay, that was for sure.
I was almost out the front door, only feet from the Vilkatas’. My fingers were clenching the knob. So close to my escape when Father jumped in front of me, blocking my way and his voice boomed through the foyer.
“You’ll go directly home, Elizabeth?” My entire body clenched when I saw Orin’s head snap up and felt his eyes on me in an instant.
“O-o-of course. I’m… I’m not feeling well.” It took everything inside me to get those few words out.
He stepped aside to finish his brandy with several business associates and before I could do anything, Orin had me by the elbow, dragging me out the door.
Chapter Twenty-One
My feet barely hit the ground before they sprung up again. Orin gripped me mercilessly on my wrist as he moved at a faster than human pace.
A pace I’d never be able to keep up with.
His movements were unnaturally fluid until we reached his Packard. Then he tossed me inside and folded himself in behind the wheel.
I glanced back over my shoulder and saw his four brothers turn back toward the forest instead of following us.
“What’s happening?” I asked after the car jerked forward but Orin didn’t answer.
He concentrated on driving much faster than I’d ever been and maneuvering the machine around the tight corners.
“Orin, please, I’m scared.” The vehicle lurched again then swerved to the left but the hum of the engine lowered which meant Orin slowed down.
“We need someplace private where we can talk,” he finally ground out.
“Can we go home?”
“That’s where they’re headed.”
That made sense. I told him to go to my Father’s.
There was an old shed behind the garden that no one used anymore. Actually, Father had wanted it torn down this summer but no one had gotten to it. Directing him the back way, we were almost on top of the building before it came into view which meant good things as far as being discovered. Orin pulled the lock and got us inside with very little effort.
A shiver skittered across my skin. The nights got cooler but the air inside the shed burst out with an unnatural coldness. Orin noticed and rushed out the door then came back in flash with a blanket he must’ve gotten from the car.
“Better?” he asked standing very close to me. So close that his own body heat rolled off him warming me as much as the blanket.
“What happened?” I pulled the blanket tighter around me when he started pacing in front of me. I missed his presence around me.
“It’s my fault,” he said quietly. “I didn’t consider you’d be at the party. Then I heard him say your name and I reacted.” His gaze landed on me heavily. “I haven’t seen you in such a long time.” Orin sighed then dropped down to the floor, leaning his back against the wall.
I did the same, bringing my knees up to my chest. Orin swept an arm across my back then pulled me into his body.
“Now my brothers know exactly who they’re looking for which means you’re no longer safe at your father’s.”
“You really think they’d kill me?”
The way his eyes sliced slowly across my face like he wanted to remember every single detail was enough of an answer.
“Even… um… Phillip?” The brother he said had been on Orin’s side.
“He doesn’t want to but I can’t be sure if he’ll fight the others if it comes to that.”
“Then we need to go talk to them.” Slapping my hands against my covered thighs, I pushed up at the same time until I stood over him. “Orin, we can’t hide out here forever. I’m done with this. Either they kill me or they don’t but I can’t be separated from you any longer.”
He rose to his full height beside me, cupped my cheeks then kissed me like he hadn’t in weeks.
Which he hadn’t.
The fact that his tongue swiped mine almost immediately didn’t surprise me anymore. Actually, I’d begun to welcome it, crave it even. He had a way of making everything seem like the right thing to do. He pulled away but I felt the reluctance in his fingers because they tried to pull me with him.
“I will die protecting you. You can’t try to stop me,” he said softly causing waves of emotion to crash over me.
Fear took over. It would’ve been stupid not to be scared but the thought of Orin getting hurt in the process terrified me. Yet hiding was no longer an option.
“Isn’t there something I could use to protect myself?”
He looked at me, his face scrunched up in confusion.
“Silver bullets, maybe?” I’d heard the urban legends about werewolves.
“That is just part of the fairy tale, Lizzie. Any bullets could kill us. We just heal a
t a very fast rate so it’s hard to do.”
We left the shed quietly even though no one would be around to hear us. I insisted on changing my clothes first. I had no desire to deal with his brothers in an evening gown and shoes that ensured I wouldn’t be able to attempt a getaway without breaking my neck.
Slipping inside the house was easy since Father wouldn’t be home for hours. Once in my room, Orin assisted me in undoing the small buttons that ran down the back of the gold dress. He took his time doing it too. My body exploded in goosebumps as he did it.
Absolute relief, along with fresh air, flooded my body as soon as he yanked the lace on my corset. I wished he’d been undressing me for a very different reason.
“I’ve never understood those contraptions,” he mumbled. “Why would women want to be so constrained?”
With my back still turned to him, I yanked at the jewelry I’d chosen for the night.
“We don’t want to be. Corsets have been a requirement for generations. Some of us don’t have a choice.” I said the last sentence softly.
I didn’t want to make him feel guilty over me staying with my father. His fingertips slid down my spine stopping just above my covered bottom.
He didn’t say anything but I felt his tension as if he had.
Choosing to ignore it, I quickly slipped on an older dress, grabbed a pair of sensible shoes with a very low heel not because I thought I could outrun a pack of werewolves but at least this way I’d have a fighting chance. I also quickly removed all the pins holding my hair close to my head letting the silky gold locks flow past my shoulders.
I still hadn’t brought myself to bob my hair and the twist I’d taken so much time to prepare earlier resulted in long waves down my back.
Then we slipped out the way we’d slipped in.
Orin drove back to his house slowly. Slower than normal for sure but inevitably we were almost there.
I missed his house, my real home, and hoped to one day return fully.
“They’ll hear us coming,” Orin said quietly while we were still inside his auto about a block away from his house. “I love you, Elizabeth.”
Moonstruck Page 15
