Chapter 7
The rest of the week went by smoothly and before Henley knew it, it was Saturday.
She and Jasna had packed a bag and were excited to spend the night at The Refuge.
Jasna had been bouncing off the walls, more hyper than Henley had seen her in a long time, so after a quick stop at her office in town, they’d headed out to The Refuge earlier than planned.
Henley’d had a brief chat with Mike about a few of their clients.
He frequently spent a few hours in his office on Saturday mornings, so it was a good time to bounce ideas off of him and get his advice on how best to help those who were struggling most. She was grateful for how supportive her boss was of her work out at The Refuge, as well.
She was truly blessed to have a job she loved so much.
Mike had brought up Christian Dekker again, once more warning Henley to be aware of her surroundings at all times. He admitted that he had no idea how viable the threat against them was, but it would be careless to dismiss the concerns of the boy’s mom.
Henley couldn’t imagine how awful Mrs. Dekker must feel.
How horrible it would be to have a child you were truly scared of.
Christian was sixteen, outweighed most kids his age and was almost six feet tall.
He apparently came and went from his home as he wanted, and ignored all the rules his parents had tried to put in place in an attempt to control him.
He’d also dropped out of school mid-year, and basically hung around town all day, making everyone he came into contact with nervous.
His mom had mentioned he had some sort of fort in the woods behind their house, where he spent a lot of his time, but she had no idea what he did out there.
Henley had tried to help the boy, but she simply hadn’t made any kind of connection that allowed her to find out why he was so angry with the world. He stopped letting her in fairly early in their sessions, spending most of his time attempting to mess with her head.
According to Mike, Mrs. Dekker had also taken her concerns to the local police, so they were aware that Christian could be a threat, but as of now, he hadn’t displayed any sort of aggressive moves toward anyone or made any verbal threats…
that they knew of. For now, they were just watching and waiting.
“Hey,” Finn said, as he sidled up next to her near the as-yet-unlit firepit and wrapped an arm around her waist. He leaned down and kissed her lightly.
Henley was thrilled with how quickly they’d gone from friends, to dating, to being able to touch each other so casually. She leaned into him and said, “Hey.”
“You looked like you were lost in thought. Everything all right?”
“Yeah. Just thinking.”
Finn nodded. That was another thing. He never pressed her to talk. If she said she was good, he took her at her word.
“Jasna’s down at the barn tucking everyone in,” he told her with a small chuckle.
“So we might be able to light the fire in two hours or so?” Henley joked.
Her daughter had taken to life at The Refuge like a duck to water.
She never complained about the hard work to keep all the critters fed and their stalls clean.
She wasn’t grossed out by all the poo she had to shovel out of the barn, or the smell.
She seemed to love every second she got to spend with Finn and the animals, and in regard to the former…
Henley had to admit, she was a little jealous of her own daughter.
Finn chuckled. “She won’t be too long. She’s too excited about s’mores. And hanging out with the adults.”
Henley nodded. That sounded like her daughter.
She enjoyed being around people older than her.
It was something she’d worried about more than once in the past. The last thing she wanted was Jasna getting in with an older, more mature crowd, and possibly being pressured into doing things she wasn’t ready for.
“Holy crap, is Tonka really hanging out with us around the fire tonight?” Spike teased.
“Right?” Pipe joined in the ribbing. “I think the last time he blessed us with his presence was…oh, that’s right, never!”
“Shut up,” Finn said with a shake of his head. “I hang out with you guys all the time.”
“No, not really,” Stone countered. “When we have meetings about The Refuge, sure. When you want our input on something going on with the animals, yes. But simply chillin’? Nope.”
Henley glanced at Finn and saw he looked extremely uncomfortable.
She hated that. “Well, he’s here now,” she pronounced in a no-nonsense tone.
“Who’s gonna get that fire going? Jasna’s been talking about making s’mores all day, and if there’s no fire by the time she gets back up here, I think she might just try to build one herself. ”
Her declaration turned everyone’s attention from Finn to getting the fire started, and making sure the ingredients for the s’mores were ready on a nearby table.
“Thanks,” Finn said softly, leaning in to whisper the word directly in her ear.
She turned in his hold and looked up at him. “Of course.”
“They’re right, you know,” he told her with a shrug. “This hasn’t really been my thing in the past.”
“If you don’t want to stay, you don’t have to,” she felt obligated to say.
“Are you staying?” he asked.
Henley nodded. “Yeah. Jasna’s been looking forward to this all day.”
“Then I’m staying,” he said firmly.
She smiled up at him.
“It’s not that I don’t like the other guys,” he continued, even though Henley hadn’t pushed him to explain why this was the first bonfire he’d been to.
“It’s just…I’ve gotten comfortable with the animals.
They don’t ask questions. They don’t mind when I’m in a bad mood.
I don’t have to pretend to be…normal with them. ”
“Finn, none of your friends want you to be anyone but who you are. And if you don’t think they feel the exact same way you do, you’re wrong.
I don’t know their stories, but the reason you’re all here is because of whatever happened in your pasts.
On the surface, they might all seem to be perfectly happy and well adjusted, but I can tell you that most of the time, people do whatever they can to hide their pain from the ones they love the most.”
Finn was silent for a moment before nodding. “Yeah.”
That was all he said, just that one word. But Henley could tell he was really thinking about her words.
“Come on,” she urged. “Let’s get a good seat before they’re all taken.” She pulled him toward one of the huge tree trunks placed around the firepit to be used as seats.
Looking around the fire, Henley saw there were half a dozen guests milling about, some sitting, some standing.
She’d met with all of them at one point or another, and knew none of them would be triggered by fire, probably one of the reasons the guys decided this was a good time for a bonfire.
Two of the men had been in the military, another was a survivor of a shooting at his workplace, one woman had been carjacked, the other had been raped, and the last guest at the fire had lost his arm in one of the machines on the assembly line where he used to work.
All six were currently talking and laughing as if they didn’t have a care in the world. Come to think of it, everyone was smiling. The gathering was a good reminder of how resilient the human spirit was.
She and Tonka were good examples of that as well. There had been times when she’d been a teenager that she didn’t think she would make it. She’d felt so vulnerable and she’d been scared all the time. But Henley had survived. She could only hope all the men and women she met at The Refuge would too.
“Incoming,” Finn said softly from next to her as Jasna exited the barn and jogged their way.
“Did I miss it?” she asked in an excited voice as she got close.
Henley laughed. “Miss what?” she asked. “The lighting of the fire? Yes. The s’mores, no.”
“Whew,” Jasna said, wiping her brow exaggeratedly.
A few people around them chuckled.
“Everyone all settled?” Finn asked the girl.
“Yep. The goats are starving to death, but I told them they weren’t allowed any more food today, that they’d be okay until the morning.
Melba and Scarlet Pimpernickel are settled down and I changed out their water.
The horses are good. The kittens nursed and are sleeping.
The dogs are snoring so loud, I thought for sure you’d hear them all the way up here, and I even said goodnight to Chuck and gave him a couple extra nuts, just because. ”
“Awesome, thank you,” Finn said.
“Jasna, you want to make the first s’more?” Alaska asked from across the way.
Quick as a flash, Jasna headed in her direction, obviously eager to partake in the sweet treat.
“She’s gonna be bouncing off the walls tonight,” Henley grumbled, but she had a smile on her face as she watched her daughter painstakingly put a huge marshmallow on a wire prong before stepping toward the fire.
“And you love it,” Finn said.
Henley smiled. “Yeah. She’s such a serious kid.
I never have to get on her about doing her homework.
She can entertain herself for hours by reading or making up stories in her head.
Seeing her out here, enjoying herself, being social and carefree…
it’s everything I never got to experience.
I’ll do whatever I have to in order to give her experiences like this for as long as she wants them. ”
“Like the camps you’ve got her signed up for this summer,” Finn added.