Page 82 of Sweet Silver Bells
"Love?" He got tongue-tied on the word.
"When our bodies, when our souls connected," she replied as if it were the easiest thing in the world.
“Why did the tree fall into the house, Olivia?” Hunter asked.
The sirens were growing louder. Ethel and Madge had started gossiping again, though they were no longer yelling.
“You took me away from my body in a way that I can never let go of,” she said. “The tree grew, its flowers bloomed, as I did.”
“Right,” said Hunter, turning Olivia around so that she faced him. “We should walk out front. I expect this is quite a scene.”
Scenes seemed to follow Olivia around. It was just another part of his role as Olivia’s new lover, as her devoted, to cover and shield her from the mundaneness of their world’s laws and ordinances.
Love.
Everything seemed new, all rugs pulled up from underneath him, a stumbling fawn too easily entrapped in the thick vines of the wood, vulnerable and unprotected.
But who did he need protection from? The very person he was trying to protect?
The two stepped out of the opening in the wall and walked into the living room, out the front door. The sky had begun to lighten, the promise of daylight welcoming the firetruck that took up the entire street as it blasted its sirens and lights, another circus for their town to gossip about.
Hunter was in a daze. His vision was blurred enough for him to realize that he had stayed up the entire night, that his body was exhausted, and that his nervous system was slightly in shock. He gripped Olivia’s hand, his new comfort item, as a firefighter walked up to them, standing outside the front door.
Hunter saw the man’s lips move, but he heard no sound, as if the world had been put on mute. He was aware enough to know that Olivia spoke to the firefighter, that her face lit up with a smile, and that she pointed toward the tree.
What was she saying to him?
“Sir, sir?” The firefighter snapped his fingers a few times in front of his face, getting Hunter's attention. Then, as the world became unbearably loud, the firefighter turned the volume back up.
“You’re bleeding, sir. The back of your head got scraped up pretty bad. Let me take a look at it.”
Hunter was stunned. He didn’t remember getting hit by anything.
“He jumped over me to shield me,” Olivia said, staring up at him, her protector.
“That’s admirable,” the fireman said. “Honestly, this entire situation is crazy. The dirt around the roots is so soft, as if they somehow wanted to come up on their own.”
“It’s almost like the tree wanted to come inside.” Olivia gave a sweet smile as the fireman took Hunter’s arm and sat him down on the ground. More of his colleagues swarmed, testing his vision with lights, checking for a concussion, and bandaging his head.
“I think I just need some sleep,” Hunter said, trying to shoo away the help.
The sound of a car driving up and slamming its brakes caught Hunter’s attention. The violent, panicked slam of a car door was followed by gasps.
“Hi, Mom.” Hunter sighed.
23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE.
Hunter’s mom was always a force to be reckoned with, but watching her in a state of emergency was an entirely new matter.
“Why would a tree just fall over, that seems like incredibly poor city planning to allow such large trees to be planted within such a small lot,” she said throwing her hands into the air as she marched back and forth in Hunter’s living room while he stared at her from the couch, Olivia leaning heavily into his side.
The paramedics had come and gone after they got a piece of her mind, and the firefighters had reluctantly taken off as well. After lots of yelling, the parade of neighbors who stood in their driveways pretending to be good, concerned citizens, also departed.
“I’m an adult,” Hunter reminded Minerva. “You didn’t need to interfere.”
“Nonsense, Hunter. You have a supportive family. I urge you to be more grateful for that. Where can I find your collection of tote bags?”
