Page 45 of Reading Between the Lines
As suddenly as the noise started, it ended. In the immediate silence, my ears rang, and I needed another minute for my heart to stop racing and my muscles to uncoil. I landed on my ass in relief, naked as the day I was born. The wooden candlestick clutched in my fist was a mystery. I didn’t remember grabbing it, but it proved I was a fighter, not a flighter.
When I could think straight, I threw the candlestick aside and fumbled to my feet, snagging discarded jeans off the floor and putting them on. My jerky movements telegraphed my anger. My insides vibrated, and little old Ivory Lace herself was going to die. I was going to kill her. A hundred scenarios played in my mind of how I might make it happen.
“That’s it. I’m fucking done with this place. Get dressed. We’re checking out right fucking now.”
“But… why?” Tallus blinked with innocent perplexity.
“Why? Why? Because if I don’t get away from the dead flower scent, the pink ruffles and frills, and the mind-grating clocks that all rang simultaneously at seven in the fucking morning, you’ll either need to check me into a mental institution, or we’ll be having conjugal visits in a concrete room while being watched over by a pervert guard named Lenny because I’ll be in prison forthe rest of my fucking life, and god help me Tallus, if I’m going to prison for murder, I really thought it would be for killing my father, not a geriatric named fucking Ivory.”
“Guns, sweetie, you seem testy this morning.”
“Testy? Testy? I seem testy? I’m not testy. I’m about to go atomic is what I am.”
“Whoa.” Tallus approached, hands displayed long before he entered my bubble. “Okay. I hear you. At ease, soldier. Touch incoming. Prepare thyself.”
“Tallus. I can’t—”
“You can.” He cupped my face and drew me down for a soft kiss. Immediately, the tension in my shoulders released, and I closed my eyes. If I whimpered, no one had to know, and I was certain Tallus would respect my manliness and deny it ever happened.
Breaking free too soon, Tallus ran the pad of his thumb over my lower lip. “Guess what?”
“What?”
“You slept beside me all night. Do you realize that?”
My cheeks burned. “I… I did.”
“Did you actually sleep?”
“No… A little… Not well.”
“I’m going to go out on a limb and say you probably don’t want to partake in Ivory’s family-style breakfast gathering with the rest of the guests this morning.”
I growled, nostrils flaring, and Tallus chuckled. “Didn’t think so. Come on. Get dressed. Since Delaney is footing the bill, you can take me out for eggs and toast.”
Tallus talked me out of packing my bag and signing out, claiming we might need to stay in town longer. I objected, stating it would be a cold day in hell before I stayed another night at the house of horrors, but Tallus promised to chat with Ivory and fix the clock issue.
The winter storm from the previous night had left the town coated in a layer of thick ice. Bare tree branches and electrical wires running from pole to pole glistened in the sunlight, crystalized in the frozen landscape. Traffic was thin, tires crunching as vehicles slowly moved along the roads. The radio announced a long list of closures, including schools. Slick lanes and sidewalks made me thankful for the Jeep’s four-wheel drive.
We found a cheap local diner, open despite the weather. A few towns people had gathered for food and gossip. Every conversation revolved around the winter storm.
“Heard it’s supposed to melt by this afternoon. Gonna be a high of eight today.”
“I heard it was gonna snow more. We ain’t gonna see a thaw until spring.”
“The Farmers’ Almanac predicted this.”
“Worst winter since the 1970s.”
We chose a quiet booth and ordered. Tallus monopolized the conversation since I was still processing us having shared a bed and the aftereffects of our impertinent wake-up call at seven a.m. My system was rattled, and my head pounded from lack of sleep. The diner’s strong coffee wasn’t hitting the mark. I preferred getting caffeine from soft drinks, specifically Dr Pepper, but it wasn’t on the menu, so I suffered.
“Where do you think bored high school students with a snow day hang out in this town?” Tallus smeared jelly on a wedge of toast. “I mean, there’s only one high school, so chances are, if we can chase down a few teenagers, we can still get some answers, right?”
The school closure put a damper on our plans, but Tallus was determined to make the best of our time.
“Library, maybe?” I mumbled.
“Ah, Guns, you’re cute. I know Weston told his mother he was going to hang out at the library, but you know that was a lie,right? The library is akin to school, and I can tell you right now, no kid with a spontaneous day off is thinking, you know what I’d like to do today? Extra schoolwork. Off to the library I go.”
