Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
RAMONA
I waited in the front of the witch house, as I’d started calling it after hearing a few members of the pack refer to Sylvie’s grandmother’s home as such. We’d gotten out early on this Saturday morning, so the heat hadn’t fully awoken yet. Though I’d normally slept in as much as I could, my brother and his family were early risers, and my internal clock was already adjusting to the shift in schedule.
I took an icy gulp of the iced coffee in my hand. At least, I was almost adjusted. Enough to sneak a sunrise cigarette while Sylvie and Orion started on the babies’ routines.
My mom had smoked all my life, my dad occasionally, and my brother had until quitting around the time he met Sylvie. The cancer sticks had only the briefest of appeals, but when I’d had those two weeks of crawling my way back from the edge, they’d become a part of my outdoor time ritual.
I was tapering off of them, but this morning had been one where I’d indulged. Río and I had hung out a few times since he’d told me he wouldn’t be staying in Antler Pointe. There was nothing to make of that information but meet it with steady resignation. Expectations would only end up hurting me.
And after being so numb to almost everything, my emotions felt raw and pink, like newborn babies that would throw meltdowns at the slightest provocation, leaving me scrambling and quick to tears myself.
Weird analogy, but it feels right .
An old, economical sedan turned onto the short driveway, and I saw my friend stuffed into the driver’s seat and grinning at me. I waved and returned his sunny smile as he unfolded himself out of the car that looked way too small for him.
Delaney wore a pink t-shirt and hunter green shorts that matched the headband he used to hold back his golden hair. He jogged up to me, arms rising like he wanted to give me a hug, before pausing. I sighed and initiated the hug myself. And, instead of the quick gesture, he squeezed me tightly and even rocked a little bit before letting me go. My chest fluttered, but the color of it was different. Río made me feel… crimson. With passion and desire and something deeper that threatened to blow everything up.
With Delaney, it was almost the color of his shirt. Sweet and fun and comforting. His orange and vanilla smelled lively today, and I felt my body work to react to and reflect his enthusiastic nature. “I hope I’m not too late! I don’t have any gardening experience, so I was a little unsure what to wear, and I’m still a little unfamiliar with this town, so I got turned around, but it’s so nice to see you!” His deep voice jumped with his energetic words, and I would’ve struggled more to follow if I hadn’t been accustomed to my niece and nephew’s similar sort of prattling by now.
“No specific time. Just wanted to beat the heat as much as possible. And you look fine.” I started toward the side of the house and around the back, and Delaney followed. His scent was popping with citrusy excitement, and for a second, I worried that I wouldn’t have enough energy to keep up with him.
The garden was like a meticulously planned jungle, and I sensed Delaney’s surge of surprise and delight as he took in what I’d already grown used to seeing. The large section of colorful flowers and blooms with neat pathways for better access when tending. The multiple areas for vegetables that were another variety of greens and pops of color. A few benches sat amongst everything, and I set my half-finished coffee on the iron seat before starting on the tour.
“Sylvie and her coven sister Josie enhance the garden as much as they can, so it takes care of itself a lot more than a normal one would. But we still have a lot of tending and harvesting to do with the vegetables and herbs. And since they keep it going through all seasons, it’s a year-round thing.” I kept us on the pathways, pointing out and identifying everything I could remember and gave a little description of how I’d been instructed to care for them. “And, apparently, it’s okay that these to turn red instead of just staying green.”
I turned back to Delaney’s large form behind me, catching a strange thread of unease, and he was rubbing at his cheek with wary eyes casting around. I was about to ask him what was the matter, but his Adam’s apple bobbed with a swallow before he answered my unspoken question, “I don’t think I’ll be able to remember all of this.”
My lips turned down. “Oh, that’s okay. No one’s saying you have to. Sylvie is inside with the babies for a sec, but I usually just do what she tells me. That’s the only reason I know all this.”
He dropped his hands to his front and fiddled with the drawstring tie of his shorts. “You’re really smart.”
“Uh… thanks? How about we just wait for her to get out here and give us our tasks for the day. Do you have any questions?”
Delaney looked around and rubbed the side of his face again. “Is… is your brother gonna be here too?”
“Huh?” It wasn’t his question that took me off guard, but the reddening of his cheeks and the uncertain way he asked it. I took a sniff of the air, and I tried not to wrinkle my nose at the telltale boiled egg smell of fear and… the remnants of bubblegum. Like an old crush. “Uh… no. He’s working on some stuff at home.” Oh, god, he used to have a crush on Orion? While part of that made me want to gag, I worried that it wasn’t such a good idea that he was here. Hell, even in the pack at all. Though I could tell it was an old crush, his skittishness now made a little more sense.
“Good,” he said under his breath but then seemed to realize that he’d said it out loud, eyes widening in horror, “Oh, no—I mean. I just?—”
My face twisted, feeling wholly awkward now, “Look… I know he can be aloof, but he really isn’t scary. If that’s what you’re worried about. And, he’s also happily mated to Sylvie, so…”
Delaney’s eyes were blank, his brows furrowed, and we stood in silence as he worked to make sense of what I was trying to imply without outright saying it. Eventually, he blinked, blushed harder, and looked horrified. “Oh, no no no no, I would never . Please believe me. I really like Sylvie.” His hands clutched together beneath his chin, and tears threatened to shed.
I felt like an asshole. “God, please don’t cry. I wasn’t—” fuck. “I shouldn’t have. Like spied on your feelings or whatever. Um, it’s okay.”
He rubbed the heel of a palm on one of his eyes, as if that would stop the tears from escaping. “What do you mean spying? I don’t get it?”
Now I was rubbing at my eyes. When Orion had pointed out that it could be done, I’d had lots of practice over the years, identifying and cataloguing the complex notes that lay underneath the more obvious scents people gave off. I couldn’t even remember how the conversation first started, but I’d learned that day that my brother had used and honed the skill to understand and navigate social situations that otherwise made little sense to him. With a mother who rarely spoke what she was actually feeling, and most people obscured their emotions so much that it was commonplace, I’d gotten pretty good at it, too.
“Ah, shifter nose? Like, underneath your scent I could tell that my brother makes you afraid. And…” I tried to soften my words, something I wasn’t used to doing around adults, “that you used to have a crush on him.”
Delaney’s face fell, looking devastated, but before I could rush to apologize even more, he started pleading again, “Please don’t tell him or Sylvie. I swear, I stopped as soon as I realized he had a mate. I just always saw him when he was dropping off at the school, and he was the first shifter I’d come that close to since moving here, and his Leader scent, but I swear , as soon as I knew about Sylvie, it went away. Please don’t be mad.”
Oh good god, I was not equipped for this. I should’ve kept my big mouth shut, and now he was really crying. I raised my hands, hesitating for a second, before laying them on his arms that were hard with muscle but soft to the touch. “Hey, hey, Delaney it’s okay. Let’s just—let’s just start over, okay? I’m sorry. That I said all that. We’re glad you’re here and invited you for a reason. Okay?”
He sniffed, but his wide and red eyes on me made him look heartbreakingly young. “You mean that you’ll still be my friend?”
“A-absolutely.”
“And you won’t tell your brother? Or Sylvie? Please .”
“Won’t tell me what?” Sylvie padded into the garden on bare feet with both her children in her arms. Dahlia and Sylvie looked worried, Ollie curious.
More embarrassment wafted off Delaney, so I squeezed his forearms in what I hoped was reassurance. “Just that Delaney’s a little nervous about his first time helping out.”
Sylvie’s long look let me know that she knew it was bullshit, but she thankfully didn’t push. “Oh, well that’s okay.” She walked closer. “I’ll show you what to do, but you’re also welcome to just sit and chat if you’d like.”
I dropped my hold on my friend, and he swatted away the last remaining tear before it could fall. He cleared his throat. “No, I want to help. Thank you for inviting me. And being so nice to me.”
My sister-in-law’s gaze softened and she relented to both of her kids’ squirming. “Oh, honey, no need. As Ramona already told you, I’ll put you to work if you give me the chance. You might not want to thank me once we’re done for the day.” Sylvie let her daughter and son down, and instead of taking off to run amongst the plants, Dahlia took Ollie’s hand in hers and marched toward Delaney.
She almost had to stare straight up to look at his face. Ollie wobbled a little bit but was able to stay upright. “Mr. Delaney, do you wanna water the flowers with us?”
He blinked down at her, face clearing and relaxing. He crouched until he was still quite a bit taller than my niece but much closer to her height. “You gotta show me what to do, but I’d love to.”
Dahlia gave a serious nod, looking scarily like my brother, “We’ll teach you.” Sylvie chuckled and stood back while her daughter started doling out demands, waving Delaney and Ollie behind her as they went to retrieve the watering cans to get to work. She instructed Delaney to take the bigger one while she and Ollie shared a smaller, child-sized one.
I watched them for a while, Delaney seeming much more at ease with conversing with Dahlia and Ollie. Guilt still wrapped around my throat for making him upset, but the big guy looked to be able to bounce back pretty quickly. His smile was back as he watered and smelled the different blooms. All three laughed when their watering sent up a flurry of butterflies and bumble bees that flew around them.
“He’s had a difficult go of it.”
“What do you mean?” I’d heard her approach but didn’t bother turning.
“Not sure what it is, but it’d be hard to ignore. Sadness and trauma aren’t as easy to hide as some would think.” Her statement held a silent echo, one that made me feel too vulnerable. Seen. Or was I reading too much into it? Was that what Sylvie saw when she looked at me?
“Well, he seems good right now,” I waved in the direction of Delaney, mouth pursed in concentration while he carefully watered a cluster of orchids that, amazingly, bloomed delicate and proud amidst everything else. “And if he gets more used to— what the fuck!” I’d turned to my sister-in-law but now had to stop myself from smacking her arm and running into the house.
Petunia , at least I assumed it was the same spider, had been slowly crawling up Sylvie’s bare arm but stilled at my outburst.
Sylvie took a step back from me, too, looking afraid and concerned until she followed my gaze to the spider now resuming her ascent to perch on the curve of Sylvie’s shoulder. Petunia sat beside my brother’s mating mark, just like, sunbathing or some shit, and I tried to stop from progressing to full hyperventilation.
She sent her eyes skyward, “Dude, you’ve got to get over it.”
“Are y’all all right?” Delaney ran over with the kids behind him.
“Tooney!” Ollie screamed and waved his little hands toward the giant fucking dinosaur of an insect.
Dahlia tugged on Delaney’s shirt, ushering him to crouch again, and when he obeyed, she whispered in his ear, “Auntie Mona is scared of spiders.”
“Damn right—Petunia is huge!” I pointed at her, and when did I start thinking of the thing as a ‘her’ and referring to her by name?
Dahlia said some other things to Delaney, but I was far too focused and horrified when Sylvie took Petunia in her hand and transferred her to Ollie’s eager little palms. The little boy put the spider on his head and took off, wandering around the pathways while babbling in excited baby talk.
My stomach churned and my skin crawled with a hundred imaginary bugs. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”
“Pssh, you don’t have to be so dramatic.”
Delaney and Dahlia giggled, and I realized that they were looking at me as they did it. I shot my palms toward Ollie, running and laughing in high-pitched joy, “Come on . That’s insane. Am I the only one rooted in any sort of reality?”
Dahlia’s new best friend, apparently, stood, body trembling with suppressed laughter. “It’s okay to be afraid sometimes.”
I narrowed my eyes but cut it out when I saw Delaney’s joy start to crumble in the face of my sharp expression. Before I could apologize again, my phone dinged in my back pocket, and I didn’t have a thought in my mind aside from hoping that it was who I thought it was.
Río
Morning, Princess. Wanna hang later?
“Is that your boyfriend, Auntie Mona?” My niece nearly screamed her question, and my fingers fumbled, dropping my phone into a raised garden bed.
Her open, curious stare had me choking back my instinct to shoot something back at her. I took a deep breath as I picked my phone up and dusted the soil off of it, reminding myself that my four year old niece was not going to try to use whatever Río and I were against me. “He’s not my boyfriend.”
When I straightened, they were all looking at me, and disbelief, amusement, and confusion were swirling violently around us. Ugh. “Are you sure?” Dahlia asked, obviously not able to read between the lines.
Sylvie swooped in, placing a hand on my niece’s shoulder and beginning to steer her in another direction. “I don’t think she is, sweetheart. But that’s okay.”
I opened my mouth, closed it, and looked frantically at Delaney who barely knew me but witnessed this humiliating ten minutes. My face was hot, and I tugged at my sleeves, not knowing whether to prepare for questions, shoot while he was hesitating, or just flee in another direction and ignore it all.
“What do you think we should do next?” He asked instead.
“Uh…” I started to stuff my phone back in my pocket, but remembering I hadn’t responded to Río had me bringing it back out and firing off my response before tucking it away again.
Me
Sure. Whenever’s good.
“Let’s go get the pruning shears and see what needs clipping, I guess.”
Delaney gave me a determined nod and followed me toward the little shed that held all of the tools. While I pulled out all we needed and handed it to him, he accepted everything with concentration and nods when I named each thing. When we started back toward Sylvie who was holding an outstretched hand over a growing cluster of mint, Delaney whispered, “I’m a good listener if you ever wanna talk. And thank you for being my friend.”
My eyes itched, and I mumbled something back, too stunned and affected by his simple yet powerful words.