Page 59 of Vegas Baby

“Yes, I will grudgingly admit I fell in love with this place.” The woods had become his playground, unrestricted by walls or boundaries. The land abutted a national park and he’d explored every nook and cranny within a ten-mile radius.

“Well, one night after all the kids had been put to bed, me and Esther were sitting at this same firepit when we hear a coyote howling, nothing unusual out here. Then the back door opens, Xavier comes out bare ass naked and starts to run the hill toward the sound.”

“No way?” Raina said, mouth agape.

“That’s not how it happened.”

“Yes, it is,” Grams and Pop said in unison.

“I was wearing underwear,” Howler said, shaking his head. “Pop is the master of the tall tale. Believe about two-thirds of what he says.”

Pop laughed good-naturedly. “Anyhow, it was a full moon like tonight and he goes running up the hill. I chase after him, thinking the boy has lost his mind.”

Howler had lost his mind. He’d woken up out of a deep sleep at the sound of the coyote and knew he had to join it. Pissed at the world, he’d wanted to find the animal, to be out in the wild without a single worry or care.

“When I finally caught up with him, he refused to come off the mountain, fighting me for all he was worth, and he was a scrappy kid. Hasn’t changed much.”

“No, I haven’t,” Howler agreed.

“I managed to get him a few hundred feet back toward the house when he started cussing up a storm, using every swear word in his vocabulary, my ears are burning even to this day.”

Howler chuckled at the gentle teasing.

“Through the swear words, he managed to articulate what he was trying to achieve.”

“Grams had given me this book on indigenous lore and I read this story about why the wolf howls at the moon, only we haven’t had wolves in these woods for years, so the next best thing was the coyote.”

“Why does the coyote howl at the moon?” Raina asked.

“To call the buffalo. I was nine, what did you expect?” Howler asked.

She laughed, the sound light on the night breeze. “Some big revelation I suppose.”

“It was a revelation,” Grams said, her smile falling.

He’d found his voice that night. Remaining silent hadn’t helped him one single bit. His hatred for David had been stewing inside and he needed to let the anger out. “So, Clark did what any sane man would do, he stripped down to his underwear and we howled at the moon together.”

Raina put a hand up to her mouth, her shoulders beginning to shake. She shook her head, but he couldn’t see her eyes in the dim light.

“Yes, male bonding at its best.” Grams sat forward and rested her elbows on her knees. “I couldn’t believe it when I found them next to the river howling like a bunch of wild dogs.”

“Hey, it was fun, and cathartic.” He leaned closer to Raina and whispered, “Tonight’s a full moon. I bet I can find a way to make you howl.”

“Promise?” she asked, eyes shining with excitement in the dim light.

The thought of her on her hands and knees on the bank of the river, howling at the moon while he lost himself in her tight body sent blood humming through his veins. It was time to make new memories and leave the ghosts of the past behind. With Raina. “I promise.”

“Raina. Are you all right?” Howler knocked, his voice muffled by the bathroom door.

“Fine,” she called out, cursing the slight hiccup, a dead giveaway that she lied. Hand on her roiling stomach, she adjusted her position on the hard tiled floor. The nausea she thought she’d beat at last returned with a vengeance as soon as she walked through the cabin door. She had the presence of mind to grab her toilet bag, and used the last of the mouthwash to rinse out the vile taste. So much for a hot night between the sheets, she’d be lucky to make it off the floor.

Flushing the toilet, she sprayed the deodorizer and nearly lost it again. The door opened and Howler came in. Raina tried to keep the tears at bay. She wanted a day. Just one day where she wasn’t sick.

“You don’t look fine to me.” He scanned her from the tip of her bare feet to the lipstick robe, the compassion in his eyes making her heart ache. “Are you still nauseated?”

“A bit. I think I’m done for the night. I don’t have anything else left in my stomach, other than the little imp in my uterus. She must take after you.”

“Do you think it’s a girl?” Howler bent down and scooped her into his arms.

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