Page 29 of Controlled Chaos

“So am I.” I gave him a reassuring smile. His concern was sweet and unnecessary. A few minutes apart wouldn’t hurt us. We needed to know how far we could push things. “Don’t worry. It won’t be but for a minute. But take your time walking over that way so I can gauge everybody else’s reaction to see if I can spot when they start to notice you.”

He shrugged and headed back to the line. Every couple of steps, he paused and glanced over his shoulder. I knew the minute his pheromone voodooness kicked in. He’d almost made it across the room to the line, and it was a big room. Every woman within the six tables around him turned to look at him. Their coy smiles told me plenty, and one reached out and touched his arm.

I slowly rose from my spot and only had to take two steps for the woman to drop her hand, blush, and apologize to him. The talking at the tables resumed.

I crossed the room and met him where he stood. “Now we know.”

“That’s not a very long distance,” he said, walking beside me to the line, where I grabbed two biscuits, one for him and one for me. We returned to our table.

Halfway through the meal, Wanda appeared at our side. She rested her hand on his shoulder. “Did you two sleep okay?”

“Yep, no other issues,” Porter answered.

“Good.” Wanda sighed and smiled. “We haven’t located your belongings yet, Clara, but I’m sure we will. Thaddeus doesn’t tolerate crime on the island, and when he finds the perpetrator, they’ll be kicked off. It’s sad really. If the thief was here on court order, they might be going to jail.”

Sad wasn’t the way I was looking at it, although I might have done some questionable things before, some might even say illegal things, not that the people on this island needed to know.

Wanda was quietly watching me when I noticed her lips twisted into a half-smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Things are easier for Porter with you around him.”

“She negates it, Mom. We just tested the waters to see how far across the room I can get without a woman trying to stop me,” Porter blurted out.

Wanda clapped her hands. “I’m glad Dakota was right. I’m so happy for you, dear. I know how hard it was for you to deal with that stuff growing up. It sure was for your father. God rest his soul.”

“I know Mom. It gives me a much-needed break.”

“I love him just the way he is even with his womanly woo-woo,” I answered, trying to ease his mother’s fears before taking a bite of my bacon. I grinned as a satisfying crunch filled the air. I held it up to Porter’s lips for him to try.

To any onlookers we looked as though sharing food might be something we did often.

“You know, if he loves you the way his father loved me, then, no matter how many women try to seduce him, he’ll always be faithful to you. You have to trust that.”

Was she trying to placate me so that I wouldn’t run off and leave? “Porter is a good man. I wouldn’t be marrying him if I thought for a second that he wasn’t strong enough to avoid the temptations.”

Wanda stared at me with concern in her eyes. It looked as though she had more, she wanted to say, but couldn’t find the right words. I could read the love in her eyes. She wanted the best for her son. She wanted me to understand that he was different, and I did. I understood that better than anyone.

Seconds ticked by as an unspoken understanding passed between us. The worry in her eyes softened.

A woman wearing an apron called Wanda’s name from across the room.

Wanda nodded. “If you’ll excuse me, it looks like they need me in the kitchen. I hope you enjoy your time on the island. Feel free to take in the scenery. It’s a beautiful, peaceful place.” She turned to leave but paused at the last second and glanced over her shoulder. “The only place off-limits is the area being cleared for the new building. It’s dangerous over there. Oh and stay away from the fence border. No one is allowed on that side of the island either.”

My first thought when she said that, was about where the future holes were going to be located. My final resting place. It should be the last place I wanted to go, but ironically, it was the first. Discovering what secrets were buried there might just keep me from falling victim to the location and whoever would be trying to silence me.

“We won’t,” Porter called to his mother.

I waited for her to walk out of earshot. “We totally are.”

I spotted the thief across the room. To the untrained eye, she looked a bit crazy. She was swatting at bees no one else could see. I’d drawn my first protection card while growing up when my annoying brothers would torment me by going through my things. It was a necessity with all my brothers who thought they had control of things going on in my life. They didn’t, and I taught them that lesson the hard way.

Where I’d drawn a card that had them breaking out in chickenpox, the bee card I usually only needed when staying in hotels. The imaginary bees wouldn’t last long. They’d eventually fall away even if I didn’t progress it further along with another card.

“Well, now that we know the boundaries, it’s good to know that our abilities still work across the compound if we aren’t within distance of each other.” I gestured to the girl swatting at her arms and over her head sitting farther away than the buffet table.

Her face was flushed.

I grabbed a napkin and borrowed a pen someone had left behind on another table, and quickly drew a symbol on the napkin. I folded the slip of paper in half. When we were finished, Porter was walking to the door but was stopped by another man who looked like an instructor or a teacher of some sort. I strode across the room to the table where the girl was sitting and slid into an empty chair across from her.

Bee girl’s food appeared to have just been shoved around on the plate. I leveled a serious gaze at her. “I’d appreciate it if you returned my things. At least my favorite jeans that hugged my butt perfectly. It took me years to find the right ones. You know what I mean.”

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