Crystals

by Theresa L. Henry

  This time he joined her. His groan of fulfillment a deep sound that vibrated along her spine as he slumped against her back.

  Unable to hold their weight, her arms and knees gave out. The only echoes in the room were the pop and crackle of the fire and the harsh sounds of their breathing.

  Chapter 12

  “Where are you going?”

  “To my room.”

  “You’re joking right. I’m a bit worn out, but nothing a shower and a few hours shut eye won’t cure. Gonna take a shower with me?”

  Crystal thought she must be crazy to even contemplate his suggestion. But she wavered when she saw him all stretched out looking like a shaggy bear waking from hibernation. Recalling that she had given herself this one night, she relinquished all doubts and followed him to his room.

  Showered and lying beside him, Crystal grew a little worried. She was a sloppy sleeper. In the past, he hadn’t much cared that she frequently ended up on top of him. But things were different now. Feeling increasingly uncomfortable, she turned her back and hugged the end of his big bed.

  He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into the center of the bed. His touch was so familiar, she couldn’t help but smile.

  “This reminds me of the old days.”

  “Me too,” she agreed.

  “We need to talk, Crys. But not now. I’m too bloody tired.”

  Burrowed under the thick duvet, her senses picked up the sounds of the rain as it beat against the windows. Behind that she heard the howl of the wind. But most of all, she was aware of his hard body and the security of the arm wrapped around her. And Crystal fell asleep on that lingering thought.

  Her eyes popped open. Something had disturbed her slumber. She heard it again. She tracked the sound that drew ever nearer. Her heart began to pound in her chest. Crystal’s nails sank into the arm that rested across her body.

  Startled from his sleep, Shane hissed and pulled away in pain. “What the…”

  She transferred her grip to his leg.

  “Shit, Crys that’s my bad leg!”

  “It’s coming closer. Do something before it gets us,” Crystal demanded in a faint voice filled with terror.

  Shane sat up and turned on the bedside lamp. Crystal reached over and switched it off.

  “Are you crazy? Don’t turn on the lights. It’ll see us if you turn on the light!”

  “It?” Shane inquired without urgency.

  “Yes… the…” She only just managed to break off before her irrational thoughts caused her to say the words ghost and monster in the same sentence. “You need to go and sort this out.”

  “Okay,” Shane said with a small laugh that she missed in her apprehension.

  The sound was now directly outside the door. Crystal was terrified. What had she been thinking? “No! Don’t go. Stay here. We should hide. Yes, that’s it. Let’s hide!”

  By the time she finished speaking, Shane was out of the bed and heading towards the door. He pulled it open and Crystal emitted a blood-curdling scream. The sound exploded into the room just as two shadows darted past him heading directly towards her. Immobilized with terror, she could do nothing but clutch the covers and await her fate.

  “Heel!”

  Nails rasped against the wooden flooring as light bathed the room. Sitting beside the bed with their tongues hanging out were two of the largest Rottweilers she’d ever seen.

  “Crys, I’d like you to meet, Death and Kill,” Shane introduced the dogs as though he expected them all to shake hands.

  “Death and Kill!” Crystal squealed her eyes fixed on the large hounds.

  “What, I said, Darth and Keel.”

  “You did not, you liar. I know exactly what you said!”

  “I always thought people got hard of hearing when they were much older. Is it hereditary… the loss of hearing, I mean?”

  Standing between the dogs, Shane made no attempt to hide his laughter or his nakedness.

  “This isn’t funny, Shane.”

  “Yeah, it is. What did you think the sound was, a ghost?”

  “No! And for the record, I hate your bloody creepy house!”

  Walking around the bed he got back under the covers. The dogs had yet to move. They just sat there, staring at her, looking goofy with their tongues hanging out.

  “Nice doggies. You both look like you need something to eat and it’s not going to be me. That’s why your daddy is going to take you back to where you came from. Isn’t that right, daddy?”

  “You must be bloody joking!”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “There’s no way on earth I could produce such ugly kids.”

  Crystal felt her heart drop but did her best to ignore the feeling. “Shane, I’m not joking, get those dogs out of here.”

  With a loud sigh, he pushed back the covers and got up. He sounded so put-upon she had to cover her mouth to hold in her laughter. His reaction also brought back memories. That was the same sigh he had always used when he didn’t want to do something but knew it would make her happy.

  While he was gone, she made herself comfortable. A thought occurred to her—where did the dogs come from? They had been nowhere in sight earlier in the evening. Wanting to ask him the question, but secure in the knowledge the dogs wouldn’t disturb them again for the rest of the night, she was asleep before he returned.

  The next morning, Crystal awoke to the touch of something against her forehead. Opening her eyes, she was just in time to see Shane straighten from his position by the side of the bed.

  “I brought you breakfast. Eat up, it’s time for that talk I mentioned last night.” He nodded to a tray on the bedside table, turned and disappeared into the bathroom and closed the door.

  Crystal looked around and noticed that the curtains were open. It was still gray outside and raindrops continued to cling to the windows.

  Everything still seemed so surreal. Seeing him again after so long. Being in his house. Their love making and now waking up in his bed. But what worried her the most was that he had locked himself in the bathroom. Something didn’t feel right. Suddenly uncomfortable with her nakedness, Crystal found and pulled on one of his sweaters.

  Unable to eat, she helped herself to a cup of coffee and waited. The sound of the door opening caught her attention. When he emerged, his face was clean shaven. The closer he came the more confused she became.

  His face carried a long scar that his beard had concealed. Her first thought was that his driving accident had done more damage than had been reported. At the culmination of her thought, she remembered that all the time she had watched him race on the circuit, he had worn a beard.

  Crystal realized his shaving carried some significance, but she didn’t know what it could be.

  Shane sat beside her, took the cup from her hand and placed it on the tray. Only then did he give her his complete silent attention.

  Unable to help herself, Crystal ran her fingertips along the scar. It was long and pale and traveled from his left ear to his throat. “It’s different from the one on your leg. It almost looks as though someone tried to cut your thr–”

  “They did. It happened the night of your party.”

  “My party… I don’t understand,” Crystal moaned with genuine confusion and mounting distress. “How could someone do that to you?” She pushed onto her knees to be closer to him, an unrelenting stream of tears rolling down her cheeks at what he must have suffered.

  Unable to help herself, she took his face between her hands and kissed her way along the jagged edges of the scar that marred his handsomeness. A few moments passed before she realized that he remained motionless at her touch. Pulling back, her hands fell limply to her lap.

  “Like I said, we need to talk.”

  Crystal remembered something he had said the night before. It had troubled her at the time, but things had been moving so quickly, she hadn’t questioned him. He had said, he had nearly died—twice. She now realized he wasn’t only speaking
about his car crash.

  “What happened that night?”

  Shane gave her the abridged version and left out one important fact. That one of the men had warned him to stay away from her.

  “Do you think I had something to do with this?” She asked with a catch in her voice.

  “No. I never thought that. But I don’t feel the same way about Gwendolyn.”

  His conviction sounded so strong it shocked her. If he really believed what he was saying about her mother, she didn’t understand how he could even bear to be in the same room as her.

  “You’re wrong. My mother had nothing to do with this. That you think she did is disgusting to me!”

  “Well, it’s not disgusting to me! Your mother never liked me and she went out of her way to make sure I knew it. I bet she never told you that she summoned me to a meeting just before your birthday–”

  “A meeting, what are you talking about?” Neither Shane nor her mother had ever mentioned this to her. Crystal’s mind was so bombarded she was having difficulty focusing on what he was saying.

  “It was at some posh bar. She called me and asked… no demanded, I meet her. The meeting didn’t last long. Mostly, she warned me to stay away from you, and not to turn up at the party. I listened, did everything I could to get on her nerves, then I left.

  I wanted you to have a good time, and that’s the only reason I even thought about staying away. But I–”

  “That’s it, a meeting with my mother is your reason for thinking she’s responsible for your attack?”

  “Isn’t that enough? If this had happened to you, wouldn’t you be thinking the same thing?”

  “No, I wouldn’t because my family is nothing like yours!” Crystal knew he might interpret her words as a low blow, but they were the truth. “The life your father and brother led was one surrounded by violence. My mother can be a complete nightmare, but she would never do something so revolting. I may not have stuck up for her in the past, and with good reason. But when I needed her she was there for me. So, I don’t care what you think, I know, she’s not involved in this!”

  “Thanks for that, Crys. That’s just what I needed, your support or should I say—lack of it!”

  Crystal heard the hurt in his voice and for that she was sorry. But there was no way she would allow him to think Gwendolyn capable of physically hurting him.

  “I’m sorry you feel that way. Honestly, I am. But I can’t have you saying or thinking that way about my mother.”

  “What changed?”

  Such a simple question, yet it caught her completely by surprise. It was also the opening she had been waiting for, but the words wouldn’t come. It was too soon and she just wasn’t ready. Nor was he. Crystal could feel a fresh onslaught of tears and blinked rapidly to stop them from falling.

  “What happened, Crys?”

  Yes, it was the perfect opportunity. But before she went down that path, she needed time to think—to formulate her thoughts. Unaware of what she was doing, she folded her arms across her body and rocked backward and forwards in distress.

  Crystal’s awareness returned when Shane took her face between his hands. There was no way he could know the reason for her sadness, but he was reacting to it all the same.

  “Are you sick, Crys?”

  “No, I’m not sick.”

  “Then what is it because you’re scaring the shit out of me.”

  The voice inside her pushed and prodded her. Do it now, Crystal. Tell him now.

  ~~~

  He had been behaving like a total dick since he had first discovered her standing in his house. He knew it but he couldn’t seem to stop. Shane wanted to punish her. But hurting her with anything other than a few pointed comments didn’t sit well with him.

  He had convinced himself that he had worked through her desertion and how it had made him feel years ago. That belief had remained until he saw her in the restaurant with yet another man.

  Seeing her as she was now made him uncomfortable. He didn’t understand what was going on. All he knew was that there was a wall between them that went far deeper and higher than their separation.

  As he held her face between his shaking hands, he could see she was scared. In fact, he’d never seen anyone in so much pain that they exhibited their anguish through this rocking motion.

  “You need to tell me what’s going on, Crys?”

  His question only made matters worse. Her silent tears suddenly burst out with so much force they dislodged her face from between his hands. Climbing onto the bed, Shane wrapped his arms and legs around her body and held on tight. She tried to push him away, but he wouldn’t—couldn’t let her go.

  Had he caused this hurt with his leaving? As soon as the thought entered his head, he berated himself for being a conceited egotist.

  “Tell me, love,” he begged, “I can’t stand seeing you like this.”

  The more he tried to sooth her the more she cried. Her sobs went on for so long Shane became desperate. Unsure of what to do, he thought about calling Emmie, maybe she would know how to help.

  By the time she had been crying nonstop for five minutes, he made up his mind. He was going to make the call. Attempting to pull away, she clutched onto him and refused to let go.

  “Crystal! Stop crying right now or I’m leaving!” He didn’t mean it, but he had to get her under control before she made herself ill.

  The sounds of her crying ceased so abruptly it was as though a faucet had been switched off. But she didn’t pull away as she hiccupped and shook in an attempt to get herself under control.

  “What is it, Crys? I know it’s bad. If you don’t tell me what’s going on, I’m going to keep on imagining all kinds of strange things.”

  “Like what?” She mumbled against his throat the sound of tears still in her voice.

  “Like your mother got abducted by aliens but she got on their nerves so they sent her back.”

  Crystal punched him in the arm by way of a response. Knowing his nonsense talk was finally doing the trick, he continued. “Then when she got back, she finally realized she was a bit of an old cow and decided to support her daughter instead of controlling her.”

  When his words trailed off, Crystal pulled back and looked at him. He could still detect her sadness even as it battled with her laughter. He had just insulted her mother, and his concocted story of aliens aside, something catastrophic must have taken place for the emergence of this new and improved Gwendolyn.

  “Stop digging out my mother!” Crystal demanded without steam.

  “Done. Now talk.”

  “Did you know that I tried to contact you?”

  “No… when?”

  “When I first learned you were in Spain. Dizzy told me where you were. Did you know that he and Fern are married and have two children?”

  Shane saw she was on the brink of crying again. He just didn’t know whether it was the mention of Dizzy and Fern’s marriage, or her trying to contact him that made her so sad.

  “No, I didn’t know they were married.”

  “Well, they are.”

  She was stalling. The real issue had nothing to do with Dizzy and Fern. He didn’t want to rush her, but he wasn’t prepared to allow her to distract him with irrelevance.

  “I’m happy for them. I know you want to tell me something important. I think you want to tell me about it really badly.”

  “I…”

  When she faltered, he got up, pulled back the covers and motioned her to get under them. She hesitated, so he shrugged out of his robe and got into the bed and waited for her to join him. As soon as she climbed in, he turned her around so her back rested against his chest. Then he folded an arm around her. “You tried to contact me,” he prompted when she didn’t immediately begin to speak.

  “I tried for a while before I got lucky. Someone called Emily was supposed to get back to me. I’ve connected the dots, so I now know Emily is your Emmie.”

  Shane allowed the emphasis she placed on
the word your to pass without comment. But he was secretly pleased with her display of jealousy. Maybe she too now felt a small measure of what he had gone through for the past five years.

  “Go on,” he said without inflection.

  “When I got that message, I thought everything was going to be okay. But I never even got the chance to talk to her. At the last moment, I received an email from someone called, Isabella that said you didn’t want to speak to me.”

  “When was this?”

  “About five months after you left.”

  Shane was so furious every muscle in his body tightened. Emmie had known how he felt about the way he and Crystal had parted. So, he couldn’t understand why she had kept this from him. But he would find out, and God help her if she didn’t have a sound explanation.

  “What’s wrong, you just tensed up?”

  “Nothing, Go on.”

  In his heart, he hoped she would say that she had wanted to find him because she couldn’t live without him. That she loved and missed him so much, she had been prepared to follow him to Spain.

  He knew he was reaching because he was sure her current state had nothing to do with their separation. Her distress was still too close to the surface for this to be about him. Giving her a little squeeze as a prompt, Shane again waited for her to resume talking.

  “He’s gone, Shane.”

  “Who Crys, who’s gone?”

  “Our baby. I lost our baby boy!”

  Chapter 13

  “What do you mean you lost him?” Of course he knew what she meant, but he still blurted out the question. Of all the things he had expected to hear, this wasn’t one of them. Shane had felt heartbreak before, but this feeling was something new to him. A baby. Their baby.

  “I did everything right. I swear I didn’t do anything wrong. As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I did everything the doctor told me to do. I read books, I searched the internet. I did everything they said an expectant mother should do. Honestly, I did. But it wasn’t enough. I’m sorry, Shane… I’m so sorry!”