Page 16 of Laid Bear

“Calm down, Logan,” Gavin gently scolded.

“Hurry back.” Heath walked over to Zora and dropped a quick kiss on her lips.

Regardless of what Bernice said to her, it would be very difficult to walk away from these three.

Gavin led her out back where the cars were parked. Each vehicle was large like the men who owned them. He opened the passenger side door of a black Range Rover. The first several minutes she rode in silence, still processing everything the men had told her.

“You’re overthinking things right now.” Gavin finally broke the silence.

“Wouldn’t you if you were thrust in this situation? You can morph into a bear, how is that not supposed to freak me out? And on top of that, I’m supposed to be your mate along with two other guys that I’ve only just met. The craziest thing of all is I’m actually considering staying the three weeks.”

He took his eyes off the road momentarily to give her another of his heart-stopping smiles. “Oh yeah?”

“Don’t get too excited. For all I know, there could be some kind of missing person’s bulletin out on me.” Even as she spoke the words, she very much doubted that was true. Bernice and she weren’t close enough for the other woman to think something was amiss if she didn’t show. And as far as her parents, she was already dead to them.

“I’ll be sure to look into that when we get into town.”

She slumped down into the leather seat, for the first time realizing how alone in the world she was since her Nana’s passing. Her Nana was the first person who had loved her unconditionally and taught her how to be comfortable in her own skin. Zora had blossomed under her grandmother’s warmth. She’d feel that loss for a long time. “Forget I mentioned it. I highly doubt anyone would notice I’m missing.” She stared out the window, gazing at the landscape but not really seeing anything of interest.

“You don’t think your cousin would be concerned?”

“Probably not. I mean, we haven’t seen each other in years so she might not care that I didn’t show up.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, why are you going up there to stay with her? You two don’t sound particularly close.”

Zora sighed. “I was at a loose end and thought I’d reach out to her. As I’ve already said, we haven’t been in contact for a long time, not by choice or because we had an argument. We just drifted apart. I lost touch with my extended family when me and my parents stopped communicating.”

Gavin didn’t reply at first, but Zora sensed he wanted to know details. She appreciated that he didn’t push, which made it easier to share with him. “I don’t mind if you ask questions about it. It was a painful thing growing up, but now it’s like it happened to another person. I rarely think about them anymore. Isn’t that strange?”

“I don’t know. I guess it would all depend on the dynamic. What happened?”

“I always got the sense that my parents didn’t like me very much, even as a child. They weren’t affectionate. And they never talked to me, just at me. The thing is, there were times when I can clearly remember my mother being nice to me, but she’d shut down when my father was around. Those nice moments were really rare, though. I guess it wouldn’t have been so bad if I weren’t an only child. I’d always hoped they’d give me a sibling so I could have someone to play with or at least someone who’d like me. I didn’t realize how cold they actually were until I observed some of my schoolmates with their parents. It’s like my parents tried to keep me isolated from the rest of the world at times.”

“How do you mean?”

“They were really strict. We belonged to a division of the church that had an extremely rigid set of guidelines about raising a family and worshipping. I was always either at school, church or home. I wasn’t allowed to go to sleepovers or have friends over or talk on the phone. Even when my class would have field trips, my parents would refuse to sign the permission slips.”

“Sounds like you had a lonely childhood.”

“It was, but I didn’t really know any better since I wasn’t allowed to watch television outside of religious programming. So in a way, besides school, I was on my own little island.”

“Hmm, if they wanted to keep you away from other people, why didn’t one of them just homeschool you?”

Zora let out a humorless laugh. She’d always wondered the exact same thing or at least she used to. “I figured if I was homeschooled, it would mean they’d actually have to pay more attention to men than they were willing to provide. Like I said, they didn’t care much for me, nor did they deny it when I brought it up.”

“They flat out told you they didn’t like you?”

“My father’s exact words were ‘how can I love a sinful child.”

“And your mother?”

“You know, my mother has always been hard to read. She was never as cruel as my father but she went along with everything he said. She was standing there where he said it and she didn’t say a thing in my defense so I can only assume she agreed with him.” Zora snorted. “She didn’t even have the courage to look me in the eyes when it was being said.”

“Maybe she was ashamed.”

“She should have been,” Zora spoke with more bitterness than she intended.

Gavin took one hand off the wheel, placed it on her thigh and gave her a sympathetic squeeze. “I’m sorry to hear that, babe.”

---