When I arrived back home at our cabin, I was ready to talk to Ray on behalf of Quinten and his grandmother. It was obvious that she needed the help, and that the way she was living wasn’t good for her. I just hoped that Ray would understand that Quinten wasn’t just trying to get a free payday from him.
As luck would have it, Ray was alone in the living room when I returned home. He looked up as I took a seat across from him and I sighed. “Dad, I need to talk to you about something. Something that I don’t think Quinten would appreciate if he knew I was doing this for him.”
Ray frowned. “Is he in trouble? He should know that he only has to come to me, and I’ll help him in any way that I can.”
“Quinten’s very proud, Dad, you know that. He’d been planning on talking to you about this tonight after dinner, but after I told him how proud of him you were, he got cold feet. He didn’t want you to think that he was taking advantage of your newfound pride.”
“What’s wrong?”
I took a deep breath. “You know that Quinten’s grandmother isn’t well, right?”
He nodded once. “It’s a sad thing, to watch someone you love wither away like that. Your mother’s grandma was that way. By the end, she had to live in an assisted living facility.”
“Quinten has a nurse that comes in and helps him with her whenever he needs to go out, but he’s finding it difficult to take care of her the rest of the time. Her doctors have told Quinten that they think it best if he puts his grandmother in an assisted living facility, and he’s not happy about that. He’s angry because he thinks that they’re hinting that he can’t take care of her himself.”
“You’re right. Quinten’s a very proud man, and I know he wouldn’t like to accept help unless absolutely necessary.”
I nodded. “Yes, and now he needs your help. He admitted to me that he thinks it would be best if she goes, but he can’t afford it. I told him that if he talked to you, you might be able to help.”
Ray thought to himself for a minute, before nodding. “I understand. I’ll talk to him tomorrow and do what I can to help.”
I smiled in relief. “Thank you,” I said, taking his hand. “This means a lot to me, and I know it will mean a lot to him too.”
Ray smiled back. “I’m sure it will. I’m glad you said something to me. If you hadn’t…I can’t imagine how long he would have suffered without saying something to someone.”
“He’s a lot like you in that department. Too proud to ask for help unless absolutely necessary.”
Ray chuckled. “You might be right,” he looked at me. “You look tired, kiddo. You should turn in for the night.”
I hesitated. I wanted to tell Ray about the feeling I’d had, twice, of being watched. Would he think I was just being paranoid? Probably.
Finally, I decided against it, and I nodded. “Yeah, I’ve had a rough day.”
In the morning, I drove Ilene to school. We sat together in my car in stony silence, neither of us speaking or looking at the other. When I pulled up to the school, Ilene got out without so much as a single glance in my direction. She slammed the car door shut and stormed up to the front door of the school. It was obvious that’s she and I were not ok.
Will we ever be alright again?
Ilene and I had such different views on pretty much everything. How could one person change so much in such a short time? It seemed like just a few months ago she’d been a happy giggling girl that wouldn’t have harmed a fly.
But now that she’d shifted for the first time, she was an animal, even more so than me, or Ray. How long until her humanity was gone completely? Would there be a time when she’d cease to be my sister? Would Ray and I eventually be enemies in her eyes?
Shaking off bad thoughts about Ilene and the creature she was becoming, I swung by Quinten’s to pick him up. Ray wanted to talk to him man-to-man, so I’d have to give them some privacy once the talk started. After I explained everything to Quinten, he stopped talking.
He was as silent in the passenger seat as Ilene had been. He wasn’t happy with me for talking to Ray, but I knew that he’d eventually understand why I did it. I just hoped it wouldn’t take too long for that realization to hit.
I didn’t like it when Quinten was angry with me. We didn’t argue a lot, but when we did, we usually went days without speaking to each other. It had been a while since our last fight, and I’d almost forgotten how much I disliked being given the cold shoulder.
Quinten and Ray disappeared into Ray’s study for almost an hour. During that time, I sat alone on the couch, praying that Quinten wouldn’t hate me for speaking up. He had to understand that I did it for him and his grandmother. He just had to.
When they finally emerged, Quinten looked troubled. Ray clapped him on the back, took his car keys, and closed the door firmly behind him. What was that about? Surely Ray would have offered to help.
Quinten slowly took a seat on the couch beside me. Neither of us spoke for a moment and, just when I thought I might burst with impatience, he forced a smile. “Your dad agreed to help my grandma get into one of those facilities.”
“Then why do you look so upset?”
He sighed. “It’s nothing. Your dad just kind of mentioned something to me. It’s got nothing to do with money though,” he assured me.
“Ok.”
I was confused now. If it didn’t have anything to do with money, then what could it have possible been about? Me? I was pretty much the only other thing that they both had in common.
Quinten obviously wasn’t going to say anything else about the subject, and even though I wanted to press him for information, I didn’t. I considered myself lucky that he was even speaking to me right now, considering I’d sort of just broken his confidence to talk to Ray on his behalf.
Peeking at him out of the corner of my eyes, I noticed he was looking at his feet, and he was messing with his hands. It was something I recognized instantly as what he did whenever he was nervous.
The silence stretched between us, and I tried not to show how uncomfortable it was. Ours silences were usually not this awkward. When he reached over to take my hand, I was so happy I almost broke out into song. “Thank you,” he said quietly. “I shouldn’t have been angry with you for speaking to Ray.”
“You have every right to be mad. I just didn’t want to see you struggle to help your grandmother when I knew that Ray would be more than glad to offer his assistance in any way he could.”
He nodded. “I shouldn’t have doubted him, or you, but I just didn’t want him to think–”
“That you were trying to take advantage of him, I know. He understands why you were hesitant to talk to him. Don’t worry. Ray knows that you would never think of abusing his generosity.”
“I swore to Ray that I would try to find a way to repay him for what he’s done for me today.”
“You know Ray will never accept any kind of payment but your thanks. He’s happy to help. You’re like family.”
Quinten chuckled. “Yeah, I know, but I figured it was worth a shot.”
I smiled, glad that my best friend wasn’t angry with me anymore. He looked down, and I realized that something was still bothering him. “Quinten? Are you alright?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“You’re a poor liar.”
He shrugged. “Believe me or not, it doesn’t matter. Either way, I have to go home to check on my grandmother. Ray pulled some strings and she’s going to the facility tomorrow. I’m going to see if I can’t explain things to her. Hopefully that will make this easier.”
“Alright, you and I can talk on the way there.”
“That’s ok, Ray’s taking me home. He’s out there waiting in the car. He wanted to give me a chance to talk things over with you.”
If I hadn’t already guessed that something was wrong, I would have figured it out then. “Ok, what’s going on?”
“Nothing,” he lied, closing the door behind him.
There
was something that Quinten wasn’t telling me. Ray’s help didn’t come with strings, did it? Surely he wasn’t asking anything of Quinten. I didn’t think that Ray would ever do that. He was like family, and Ray respected him as a man.
So what was wrong?
*****
When Ray returned later that night, I asked him what was going on. He avoided answering my question, and he helped himself to a beer from the fridge. Ray wasn’t big on drinking and I wondered just what was going on. “Dad, did something happen with Quinten’s grandmother?”
He looked up from the bottle, a surprised look on his face. “No, his grandmother’s fine. She’s getting ready to move into her new home.”
“Then why are you and Quinten both acting so strange?”
He tried to smile and failed. Instead, it just looked like a painful grimace. “What makes you think something’s wrong?”
“Stop!” I said, slamming my hand down on the counter. “I’m not stupid, Dad. Something is obviously wrong and I want to know what it is. Stop jerking me around and just tell me!”
Ray sighed and rubbed his face tiredly. “Roger has asked the four of us to a fancy dinner party tomorrow night.”
“Wait a minute. Four?”
“He requests that both Ilene and Quinten be there as well. And turning down Roger Mason does not happen. Ever. So, go find something suitable to wear to a formal dinner party tomorrow night.”
“Define suitable,” I asked with a smile. “I don’t think I have anything that will qualify.”
Ray flinched, and I frowned.
“Dad, what’s wrong?” I asked, exasperated.
“I don’t think Roger particularly wants Quinten, Ilene, or I to be there. I think he’s only interested in inviting you.”
“Why would he–”
“I think he wants you to be his second mate.”
Chapter Five
In the morning, I called Quinten and asked him what he wanted to do for the day. I’d just dropped Ilene off at school, but she had a half-day, and would be getting out just after noon. I was going to wait around town, instead of driving home and then coming back later.
The four of us had to attend the dinner party later that night, but it didn’t start until almost seven. Until then, Quinten and I were free to do whatever we wanted.
And to be honest, I desperately needed someone to talk to. Someone that wasn’t my dad.
Ray was a caring, wonderful, understanding man, but he was still my father, and I couldn’t bring myself to talk to him about my thoughts. How did you tell your dad that you’d been considering searching for a mate to take? That would have been a horribly awkward conversation to have, for the both of us.
Would it be any easier talking to Quinten? He was my best friend, but he was also a guy. Plus, he was a human, and might not understand the whole soul mate discussion.
Quinten was ready to go when I arrived at his place, and he slid into the passenger seat without so much as a hello.
“Quinten?”
“My grandma’s gone.”
I’d almost forgotten that she was moving today. “Are you ok?”
“I miss her already.”
“Quinten–”
“I mean, I know that she wasn’t entirely there, but she was still someone that I could talk to, about anything.”
“You can talk to me about anything,” I reminded him. “In fact, I was kind of hoping that you might feel that way, because there’s something I want to discuss with you.”
He frowned. “Yeah? What is it?”
“Well, lately I’ve been considering something. Something that I’ve never really thought about before. Ray told me last night that he thinks Roger Mason is interested in having me as his second mate, and it got me thinking. I’m plenty old enough to have a mate of my own, and if I did, Roger wouldn’t have a claim to me.”
“So, you’re actually interested in having a mate?” He asked, his voice breaking.
I glanced over at him as I reached a red light. His tan cheeks were red; I’m sure mine were too. “Yeah, I mean, I don’t think it would be so bad. I’d like to be with someone, someday. I’m just not sure how to go about it. I mean, I don’t know a whole lot of people aside from Ray, Ilene, you, and my cousin Jax.”
He nodded. “Well, you can’t date Ray, Ilene, or Jax, so that limits it even more,” he said with a weak chuckle.
I frowned. They were family. He was my best friend, why didn’t he count himself out?
“Well, I just meant that, you know, they’re family and stuff,” he said, turning his face away from me.
“Right.”
We rode in silence for a little bit, but I finally had to speak again.
“Quinten?”
He sighed. “Yeah?”
“Why do you think Roger’s interested in me? He doesn’t even know me.”
“I’m not really sure,” he admitted. “But you’re funny, smart, beautiful, not to mention sarcastic, which I happen to adore. You’re a very loveable person, Alanna.”
“What makes you think I’m beautiful? I was like six years old the last time you saw me.”
“I just know,” he said in a matter-of-fact way.
“You’re joking, right?”
“No,” he said seriously. “I don’t know how I know that you’re beautiful, I just do. I feel it.”
He sounded embarrassed, so I didn’t press him. But, I was confused. How did you feel that someone was beautiful? It’s not like he had a sixth sense for appraising beauty, did he?
The silence between us stretched out. It was unusually uncomfortable.
“Anyways, Roger might know you.”
“Quinten, I think I would remember a man like him,” I said, shuddering. “I don’t know him. I’m sure of it.”
“Just because you don’t know him doesn’t mean that he doesn’t know you.”
His words sent shivers down my spine as I remembered the park.
“Quinten, I wanted to tell Ray, but I decided against it. When I stopped at the park after taking you home, I had the strangest feeling that someone was there, watching me. I had that feeling when Ray, Ilene, and I went on our run, too. Do you think that Roger might actually be watching me?”
He thought to himself for a minute. “I’m not sure. He could be, but why would he want to? What would make him start watching you? You’re really young, especially compared to him, and he doesn’t know your family, right?”
“No, I don’t think so. At least, Ray’s never mentioned anything about Roger to me.”
“You really think you were being watched?”
“Yes,” I said, nodding. “I know that someone was there. I could smell them, hiding in the shadows, watching me.”
Quinten’s hands clenched into fists in his lap. “You should tell Ray about this. If he is following you, he might be planning to hurt you, instead of ask you to be his mate. He could be seriously dangerous,” Quinten said tightly.
“I know, but it might be nothing. Maybe it was some homeless person trying to sleep in the park. I could have spooked him, and he could have been watching me to make sure that I wasn’t planning on hurting him.”
“Alanna, are you stupid?” Quinten asked. “You can’t seriously think it was a homeless person.”
I sighed. “Of course I don’t,” I said irritably. “I’m just trying to keep myself from freaking about. You’re right, he could be dangerous. The thought of him following me, and watching me, it seriously creeps me out.”
“I think you should seriously talk to Ray. He might be able to do something.”
“Alright,” I agreed. “If I have time tonight after this stupid dinner, I’ll talk to him about this. I hope I’m just overreacting.”
“Me, too.”
Quinten and I went to the library to kill some time. There wasn’t a whole lot to do in our small little town. There was a movie theater, a couple of gas stations, and some grocery stores and the schools. The library was about all that we
could do.
Quinten grabbed a book, which was written in Braille, and sat down in a purple comfortable chair by the fireplace. It was mid April, and as usual, it was raining out.
The fireplace had a fire going, and it cast a soft warm glow over the sitting area. Quinten and I claimed the chairs closest to the fire, and it quickly set to work drying us.
I flipped through a magazine, not really reading anything on the pages. Instead, I kept glancing up at Quinten. He was so focused, so concentrated, and so handsome.
Strangely, whenever I noticed his good looks, I’d just thought about them in passing. He was good looking, and that was that. I’d never thought anything more about it, until now.
What he’d said in the car was bugging me, and that annoying feeling wasn’t going away. I’d never actually seen Quinten with a girl, other than me, and suddenly I found myself wondering if he’d ever had a girlfriend.
Could I ask him?
Should I?
That was personal, and it was his business, not mine. Besides, it wouldn’t matter any if he did have a girlfriend. It wasn’t like I was interested in being his girlfriend.
Right?
The rest of our day in town was spent with me thinking about my future, and with Quinten staying in an awkward, uncomfortable silence. I kept thinking about the same thing, over and over again.
What would it be like to have a mate?
What if that mate was Quinten?
*****
The dinner party was going to be absolutely horrible. Right before I started getting ready, a package arrived for me, from Roger. When I opened it, I found a beautiful floor-length spaghetti strapped dress with crisscrossing back straps. It had a beaded bodice, front side slit, and a pleated train. It was a soft cream color and it looked expensive.
When I pulled it out of the box, Ray flinched. It was practically backless and the neckline was really, really, low. A little folded piece of paper was in the bottom of the box, and Ray picked it up with tense hands.
He unfolded it and his jaw clenched. His hands began to tremble. “Dad, what’s wrong?”
He sighed. “I saw this dress, and thought it might suit you. Please, wear this dress for tonight and think of me.”
Arena Wars Trilogy Page 5