Page 24 of At A Dreamwalkers Mercy

one week later - Mercy

Sheshutthedoorand silently crept down the hall to the kitchen, taking a breath when she made it without waking Garrett up.

She’d had a headache the night before and had gone to bed early, and now it was early in the morning, and she was awake before anyone else. The sun wasn’t even up yet.

Shivering, she brushed at Garrett’s shirt that she was wearing and contemplated going back for something that was warmer. She loved wearing his shirts. One, because they were comfy, and two, because it was like she was wrapped up in him. The way his eyes flared any time he saw her in them was also a bonus.

But they weren’t the warmest, and it was October in Massachusetts.

It wasn’t worth the risk of waking Garrett up, though, and she really wanted to surprise him with breakfast, so she decided against it.

She had found out a few days prior that Eleanor and Sara both lived in the other duplex and although they had remodeled the whole house when they moved in, Eleanor’s kitchen was really small. So every morning she was over cooking for them as a family.

Honestly, she loved it. For the first time, she felt as if she was part of something.

However, Eleanor was at a friend’s house for the weekend, so she was looking forward to making Garrett some breakfast on her own. But as she rounded the corner into the kitchen, she saw Sara leaning against the counter, glaring at her.

Crap.

Why was it that she didn’t use her own kitchen?

In the last week, it had become very apparent that Sara did not like her. And she had no clue why. She and Garrett had talked about lots of things, including what he and his grandmother did to help others. But they hadn’t talked at all about Sara beyond very basic stuff.

She felt as if there was something there that everyone was avoiding, but she didn’t want to pry. Even if she felt more at home than ever before, she had only been here about a week.

That did not give her the right to go snooping.

“Good morning,” she said, hoping that if she was cheerful that she could ward off the glares and grumps. But based on Sara’s frown, she didn’t think that was going to be possible.

“You know this is shit, right?” Since it was one of the first times that Sara had ever really talked to her, she paused, staring at the woman.

“What?” she asked, confused.

“You know he’s only with you because our grandmother saw it. He doesn’t actually want you.” She wasn’t prepared for her words, and they cut deep. Deeper than she wanted to admit.

“What are you talking about?” Sara’s mouth twisted into a sneering smile.

“You’re just trash. He deserves so much more than a secondhand freak.” That one comment hurt more than anything, the word freak rolling over her skin and making her stomach turn.

How many times had she been called that?

“That’s fucking enough, Sara,” Garrett grunted from behind her, and she jumped, turning to move away. But he stopped her, stepping in her path with a looming stance.

“What, now I’m not allowed to speak my mind?” Sara snapped.

“You can. What you can’t do is be disrespectful of my woman.”

“Your woman? What, because grandmother says so?” Sara’s tone was bordering on yelling, and she tensed.

“Because I love her!” Garrett roared.

“You can’t love her. Look at her!” Sara screamed, and the tension in the room seemed to be suffocating her as she stood there watching them go at each other.

“Shut your fucking mouth!” Garrett snarled.

“Or what? What will you do!” Sara took a step forward, and her heart started pounding. Neither one of them were going to back down, and she was in the middle.

They were fighting because of her.

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