Page 4 of Fanged Temptation

Maxine took the receipt, holding it delicately between her fingers as if afraid it might crumble to dust. I rocked on the balls of my feet, the urge to flee growing stronger by the second. It was too much, standing here with the ghost of what we had looming over us. With the pressure of what I had to do.

"Anyway, I should get going,” I said eventually, my voice light, belying the turmoil inside. “But I'll… see you around?"

Maxine dragged her gaze from the receipt in her palm and nodded slowly. "Yeah," she managed, a little breathlessly, brown doe eyes fixated on mine. “See you around.”

Walking away from her proved difficult. Every step backward heightened my anxiety, every footfall timed with my pounding heart. An irrational, grasping part of me worried that if I were to turn away now, she’d disappear again. Vanish without a whisper like she had back then.

But I turned and kept walking, each step a battle between the need to look back and the urge to get the hell out of there. When I reached the corner of the street, my pace slowed and my resolve wavered.

I stopped and turned, my gaze drawn back to where I'd left her. Maxine was still there, her eyes on me, filled with an emotion I couldn’t read from that distance.

I let out my breath in a deep sigh and kept walking.

The chill harbor air was a welcome respite as I made my way back to Myrtle, my sanctuary on the water. The houseboat was nothing fancy, but it was home, and the gentle sway beneath myfeet was a soothing sensation, a physical reminder that here, at least, I could find balance. But as I stomped into the cabin, the comfort of the familiar space did little to ease the restlessness that had gripped me since my encounter with Maxine.

I tossed my keys onto the small pinewood counter in the kitchen and immediately pulled out my cell phone, worrying at my bottom lip with my teeth as I checked for any new calls or messages. Maybe Maxine had decided not to wait. Maybe –

But the screen only flickered with a missed call from my grandfather. Cold panic bloomed in my belly and I pressed the call button, pacing the narrow, creaking floor of Myrtle as I waited for him to pick up.

“Leah! There you are!” His voice crackled through the speakers and I breathed a sigh of relief, leaning my elbows on the counter as the air huffed out of my lungs.

“Hi, Grandpa.” I managed a cheerful chirp, flattening a hand over my heart to slow my heaving pulse. “Sorry I missed your call. Is everything all right?”

“I’d say everything is better than all right, I had quite the adventure today!” Over the line I heard the familiar thump and creak as he settled into his favorite chair, followed by a satisfied, wheezing sigh as he got comfortable. “Met a lady at the grocery store with the prettiest eyes you’ve ever seen.”

“Ooh, a lady, huh? Did your eyes meet over the last box of oatmeal?” I teased, easing into the wizened wicker chair to my right. Not as comfortable as the furniture back home but it would have to do.

“Not quite, though she did snatch the last apple pie. I told her it was a crime to deny an old man his pie,” he recounted, indignation coloring his voice.

“Well. I hope you gave her ‘the look,’” I tutted. I could recall with stark clarity that famous disapproving scowl of his that often set my lip wobbling as a kid.

“I did! But she just laughed at me – said it was every man for himself in the dessert aisle. Can you believe that?”

I chuckled and stretched out my legs, as much as I could in the compact space that was Myrtle’sinterior. “Sounds like you met your match.”

“Perhaps I did. But enough about me. How’s the big city treating you? Are you still making waves with that boat of yours?”

“Just trying not to capsize,” I quipped dryly. “But yeah, I’m… I’m doing all right.”

There was a slight pause, and I knew he was peering through the phone, wishing he could see past my words. “Just all right? You know you can always tell me if things are going south. I’ve got a few good years left in me and I’m happy to come visit.”

I pressed my fingers to my temple, swallowing around the sudden stone in my throat. “That’s a comforting thought, Grandpa. But I’ll spare you the trip for now.”

I would have loved nothing more than to have him here, chattering away about this and that, handing me peppermints from various pockets – a seemingly endless supply. But he wouldn’t be safe here.

He wasn’t safe anywhere.

I straightened up, chewing on my lower lip. "Hey, Grandpa, has everything been all right at home? You haven't seen anything... unusual, have you?"

There was a moment of silence on the line, and I could almost picture him, bushy white brow furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean unusual? I spotted an alley cat carrying a whole roast turkey yesterday, must have swiped it from the neighbor's kitchen. Does that count?"

"Uh, no. Never mind," I murmured, the words sticking in my throat. "Just… keep your eyes open, all right? Just in case."

We chatted for a while; about the weather, about what he’d had for dinner, and the latest innovations in shoeshine, before I eventually bid my grandfather goodnight.

With a promise to call again soon I hung up the phone, slumped forward, and let my head fall into my hands, spiraling quietly as the rippling waves rocked the boat beneath me, my mind heavy with memories I could not erase.

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