Page 36 of James

“Sure. We can catch up later,” Julie agreed. “Bye.”

As Laura went to change her clothes, she caught sight of herself in the mirror, surprised to see a wide smile on her face. When was the last time she'd done that? Just... smiled? All by herself in an empty house, grinning like a giddy girl, and now blushing too!

“People will say I’m in love,” she told her reflection, the same thing she’d told Suzie the day before, only now it felt less like a joke. And that felt good, too.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Laura decided it was a perfect day to take the kids for a hike. The weather remained fine, casting a gentle glow upon the surroundings, while the trees and bushes transformed into a breathtaking tapestry of copper hues, painted by the enchanting touch of autumn. On the bus, she took out her phone and quickly drew up a checklist for a natural treasures scavenger hunt for the children to search for. Curious Tim would probably want to keep his collection for further study, while creative Abby might want to add a little glitter and make some kind of decoration. Maybe she could give it to her grandfather to brighten up his place.

In a great mood and with a nice afternoon with the kids before her, she reached her sister’s house.

Suzie came rushing to the front door when she heard Laura’s arrival. “How was it? Did he like your outfit? Did you spend the night together?”

Laura laughed out loud and held up her hands. As she did, her sleeves slipped down and Suzie’s eyes grew wide at the sight of the marks on Laura’s wrists.

Suzie froze and her whole demeanor changed dramatically, “Laura, what did that monster do to you?”

“Monster?” Laura was taken aback by the powerful word and the hostile expression on Suzie’s face. “James isn’t a monster. He’s a kind man who wants to take care of me.”

“Take care of you? By abusing you?”

“What?” Laura looked at her wrists and saw the red marks left by her restraints. “Oh for – this isn’t what it looks like.”

“Oh, I’ve heard that before,” Suzie said darkly. “When you were making excuses for Jake! Now you’re thinking about a relationship with a man who hurt you the first night you spent together. I can’t believe this!”

“But Suz, he didn’t hurt me.” Laura threw her hands up in frustration, her voice laced with exasperation. “I liked what he did to me last night!”

Suzie grasped Laura by her arm, shoving up her sleeve. “Didn’t hurt you? So why are there bruises on your wrists?”

Laura grimaced and said in a consoling tone, “You’ve read some of the books I gave you, didn’t you?Masters of the Shadowlands?”

Suzie nodded and opened her mouth to speak again.

Laura held up a finger. “Please, sis, hear me out.”

With visible effort, Suzie closed her mouth, but her snapping eyes said the silence was very, very temporary.

“Everything James and I did last night –everything we will ever do– is safe, sane and consensual,” Laura began. “Ilikebondage. James didn’t tie me up, I let myself be tied because I like having the freedom to just feel the things he does to me! I’m sorry if that makes you uncomfortable. And I know, with my history, that you may not trust myopinion when it comes to men, but the things Jake did to me, that doesn’t make me incapable of recognizing abuse when it happens to me.”

“No, I know that,” Suzie said with a flush. “I just… He hurt you, sis. He hurt you for years and I was too preoccupied to even notice. I never want to stand by and let you get hurt again.”

“I’m not hurt,” Laura insisted with an exasperated smile. “We’ve discussed each other’s boundaries and limits and either of us can stop everything at any moment. As an added way of being careful, I called a friend last night to let her know I was with James and if she didn’t hear from me this morning, she needed to check on me. It’s called a safety call.”

Suzie’s lips pursed at the word ‘friend,’ but to her credit, she thought about it, even if a dubious shadow remained over her features. “I don’t know this guy, James,” she said at last. “I don’t trust him or this lifestyle, and I’m not going to lie and say that I do to spare your feelings.” Her voice softened. “But I trust you. I want you to be happy, I just want you to remember that this isn’t one of your books. Even with your ‘safety buddy,’ what you did feels dangerous to me.”

“How can I help you understand?” Laura asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t think I’m even ready to want to understand. Just… please be careful, Laura.”

Laura hugged her sister. “Oh sweetie, of course I will. I don’t want to fight with you. Give it some thought, please. For me?”

Suzie returned the embrace and answered. “I hate fighting with you, too. But I also hate to see you get hurt. If you promise me to be careful, I promise to think about what I’ve read and what you’ve told me.”

Laura beamed at her. “I’ll get the kids. I think they’ll love what I have planned for today.”

As they walked along the path, Laura thoroughly enjoyed herself. Abby wore her ‘safari outfit,’ consisting of jeans and her zoo-friends tee, her winter boots, a hot pink hat and scarf. The hat's fluffy white pompom at the top bounced up and down as the little girl skipped from one side of the path to the other, adding an extra touch of excitement to her demeanor. Tim had started out with a jacket, but gave it to Abby when she complained of being cold. Although he shivered occasionally, he never complained and as far as she could tell, he was having a good time.

Each child had a bag to fill with leaves, rocks, acorns, and anything else they found. It was fun to watch the difference between them. Abby ran from tree to tree, grabbing leaves by the handful. Tim, more fastidious, picked up a leaf, used his phone to identify it, then dug down through the mulch to find dried seed pods, the real treasure as far as he was concerned. Only a few items were in his bag at this point, but they were interesting – an old bird’s nest, several rocks, a shiny crow feather, an owl pellet, the spiny husk of a chestnut, several pinecones (but never two of the same kind) and, oddly, a bottlecap. But they still had time and plenty of daylight. Laura held her own bag and, as she followed the children, she selected her own treasures.

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