Silk

by Heidi McLaughlin

  “Are you hungry?” he asked suddenly, switching the subject.

  “What?”

  “Come on.”

  His hands wrapped around mine and my skin sizzled at the contact. He pulled me up so fast my stomach flipped and I laughed breathlessly.

  He pulled me down the little pathway and toward the house.

  “Wait.” I tugged on my hand, but he didn’t let it go. “What about the stuff?” I pointed to where Careless and I sat earlier.

  “Leave it. I’ll get it later.”

  He towed me toward the house again and then we stopped. I was at his side and I looked up toward him, wondering why we’d stopped.

  “What’s wrong?”

  He pulled me in front of him and leaned over, whispering in my ear. “Lead the way. Lift your foot and you’ll find the stairs.”

  I shook my head. “I can’t. I mean I don’t usually do things on my own.” It was my knee-jerk response.

  “Yeah, I noticed. Why?”

  “Because I can’t.” I didn’t like being put on the spot. “I don’t know how to do anything.”

  “Says who?” He taunted.

  “Everyone,” I whispered. “You saw what happened when I tried to go to the bathroom by myself.”

  “Well, good thing everyone isn’t here, and I say you can. Come on… I dare you.” He taunted me.

  Looking at him over my shoulder, I gave him a weak glare. “You know that’s not going to work every time, right?”

  “No worries, hummingbird, I have other ways of getting what I want. Now lift your foot and find the stairs. There are fifteen and then it’s a straight line to the doors.”

  “You know how many stairs there are?” I asked, distracting myself as I took the stairs, counting each one as I went.

  “I’ve lived in this house all my life. I know there are over a hundred windows throughout this entire house, over a hundred and fifty if you count the grounds property, and I know there are sixty-two fire detectors.” I turned my head to give him a sideways glance and felt his shrug. “We played a lot of hide and seek when we were kids.”

  “Sixty-two fire detectors and I didn’t hear a single one go off during your distraction.”

  His chuckle shifted through my hair. “This isn’t our first fire, hummingbird. Sebastian disconnected it before.”

  “So footballs and fires? You don’t have the best track record for pick-ups do you?”

  “Looks like I have some making up to do.” He chuckled. “Besides, you’re the first girl we’ve ever set a fire for.” He purred in my ear and it caused me to slip on my next step.

  His fingers curled into my hips, pressing lightly and holding me steady. My hands covered his out of reflex and his fingers were firm and warm undermine.

  “Careful,” he said, squeezing my hips.

  I swallowed hard and nodded my head.

  “Well, it’s the most unique way a guy has ever tried to get me alone,” I told him, picking up where we’d left off.

  What I didn’t say was it was the only way a guy has ever tried to get me alone. I didn’t think it needed to be pointed out how inexperienced I really was.

  “That should earn me some points, right?”

  “Fourteen.” I counted out the last two steps and ignored his question. “Fifteen.”

  I took the last step slowly and smiled proudly. It was sad that I felt accomplished at going up stairs by myself, but it was the first time anyone had pushed me to do anything alone.

  “See, I knew you could do it. The house is probably…” His voice trailed as he tried to guesstimate. “…Nine or ten steps in front of you.”

  I counted my first step, walking slowly. I held my hands out only a few inches away from my body until the toe of my shoe hit the doorframe.

  “Ten steps exactly!” I said, turning to smile at him.

  “After you, milady,” he said in a deep velvety voice and pushed open the door.

  I stepped through and he followed in close behind me, putting his hand on my back. Every time he touched me, he sent sparks of light swirling through my dark world.

  “This room is going to be tricky.”

  He talked me through the maze of furniture and I only managed to catch two of the seven end tables’ corners.

  “The lady of the house should be on Hoarders,” Ryland mumbled as we cleared the room.

  “Hoarders?”

  “It’s a really disturbing TV show. Believe me, you’re not missing anything.”

  I just nodded and we found ourselves in the kitchen.

  “Take a seat,” Ryland said, leaving me in the entryway.

  He busied himself looking for things around the kitchen. I found the barstool and sat down as he slammed cupboards.

  “Do you have any idea what you’re doing?” I asked, feeling skeptical that he knew his way around the kitchen.

  “Uhh… kind of.”

  “You’re not going to start another fire, are you?”

  “I’m not even close to the stove. Or fire.”

  “Do you know how to cook?”

  “Why does it sound like you’re daring me to impress you?” he teased.

  “You don’t have to impress me.”

  “I know, but I’ve never wanted to impress a person more in my life, hummingbird.”

  He was directly across from me and my heart raced at his words. He had this way of making everything he said feel like a caress.

  “You know, I don’t know very much about you and you seem to know almost everything about me.” I asked needing to feed my curiosity.

  “Almost? What’s left to know? What’s your favorite color?”

  I smirked. “You’re asking the blind girl what her favorite color is?”

  “Ouch. Douche bag move?”

  “Kind of, yeah,” I teased.

  “Before I ask you another douche bag question, I should let you ask me some questions.”

  “What’s your favorite color?”

  He laughed. “That’s easy. Green.”

  He said it so softly, but it was his meaning behind it that made my stomach flip, and I cleared my throat.

  “You know you don’t have to wear those around me. I know why you wear them, but around me, you don’t have to”

  I knew he was referring to my sunglasses.

  “If only you could see what I see… then you’d understand why—” He stopped.

  “Why what?” I whispered.

  He sighed. “Why I wouldn’t change a thing about you and you shouldn’t want to either. You’re original and that’s my favorite thing about you.”

  It was hard not to want to give in to him when he said things like that. I pulled the sunglasses from my face, folding them and putting them on the counter.

  “I can help you,” I offered, hoping not to make it awkward. “I can make a really good sandwich.”

  “Why didn’t you say anything sooner? Get your butt over here.”

  I laughed and got up from my chair and followed the counter around until I bumped into Ryland.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered and my cheeks were spilled with a pink hue.

  “I’m not,” he said, his voice dark and low.

  I cleared my throat. “Where’s your fridge?”

  “Tell me what you need and I’ll get it.”

  I listed off the things I would need. When he was done, he dropped the armful of supplies on the counter and I went through, feeling for everything and setting it up as I would need it.

  “You have a whole system working here for ya.”

  “Sandwiches are my specialty. It’s all they eat in the Davis house. Well, that and chili. Do you have any special skills?”

  “I guess that depends on your definition of special. I can burp the alphabet.”

  I made a face. “That’s not special. That’s just gross.”

  He laughed. “I can play the piano. It’s not really special, but it’s the only thing I’ve ever cared enough about to learn.”


  “Will you play for me sometime?”

  “Name the time and place, hummingbird. I’d be more than happy to give you a private concert,” he whispered in my ear.

  I shivered. “Anything else?”

  “You mean you’re not impressed by piano playing skills? Okay then, what else would you like to know?”

  “I don’t know. Anything.”

  While I waited for him to answer, I busied myself with the food.

  “I was captain of the swim team. I got good grades, I guess. I was third in my class and I graduated with a full scholarship,” he announced proudly. “I was also captain of the debate team in high school.”

  “That makes a lot of sense actually.”

  He laughed. “What do you mean?”

  “Captain of the debate team? That explains why you have to have your way all the time.”

  “You don’t know the half of it.”

  I turned toward him. His shadow was so close. “Quick, tell me something embarrassing. Reassure me that you’re as flawed as the rest of us.”

  The dark space that filled his shape drifted closer to me. “Is that what you think? That I’m not flawed?”

  “I don’t know what to think.”

  The edges of his shadow shifted and his sigh was muffled like he was running his hands across his face.

  “Gah, I can’t believe I’m about to tell you this. I’ve never told anyone what I’m about to tell you.”

  I leaned in toward him. He had my curiosity piqued. “I won’t tell anyone. I promise,” I whispered.

  “Fine, but I’m holding you to that promise. It was the first year of junior high, which meant new students, new teachers, and more importantly, new school. First day was like a death trap as I got used to where everything was. It was the end of the day and I had to go to the bathroom since the middle of last period. And I mean like go, go. I couldn’t wait for the last bell, so the teacher lets me leave and I’m flying through the entire school looking for a bathroom. I finally spot one and go in to do… my business. Well, the final bell rings and I could hear everyone in the halls outside, and I’m trying to hurry. Suddenly, the door opens and in walks—”

  “Oh my God!” I exclaim as I realize what he’s about to say.

  “Yes, exactly! In walks a group of girls. In my haste to get to the bathroom, I didn’t realize I’d run into the girl’s bathroom. It took them twenty tortuous minutes to finally leave, and the whole time I’m in there praying to God my body doesn’t do anything to embarrass me.”

  “Did you get out without anyone seeing you?”

  “Barely! To this day I double-check the signs. So that is my embarrassing story. Does that help?”

  I contained my laughter for as long as I could before it erupted. “Yes, yes, it does. Thank you.”

  We laughed some more and I resisted the urge to tease him. We lapsed into a comfortable silence after that, but it wasn’t long before he finally asked, “You’re aunt, she seems nice enough?”

  “You’re asking, so I’m assuming you’re not one hundred percent convinced.”

  “The other day you said it was crowded there, but I got the feeling it was something more than that.”

  I didn’t answer right away. My fingers moved smoothly as I pulled things from the line and stacked them on top of each other.

  “Knife, please.” I held out my hand and waited.

  He set one in my hand gently without saying a word, just waiting for me to respond.

  I sighed. “Nina acts like she’s always fighting a war with everyone and for some reason she thinks I’m leading it. I honestly couldn’t tell you why she doesn’t like me. I know you couldn’t tell that from the way she acts when she’s here, but I know she does.”

  “Maybe now she’s trying to make up for it?”

  I had thought maybe she was trying to like me. She seemed so different lately, nicer. It confused me and made me want to hope all at the same time. Occasionally, she would slip and her patience would run thin with me like it always did, but she tried harder to hold it back.

  “I’m trying not to get my hopes up, but she is my family and she did take me after the accident, so that’s got to mean something, right?”

  “I’d say it means a lot.”

  “I just don’t like feeling like a burden to her and Carl.”

  “You seem like you’re more than capable of taking care of yourself when you need to.”

  I smiled sadly. “Don’t let the fact that I can make sandwiches and climb a flight of stairs on my own, once, fool you. In the last four years, I’ve been pretty helpless.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning I don’t know how to do things seeing people can do, and I don’t know how to do things blind people can do.”

  “Blind people do? Give me a for instance.”

  “Well, for instance…” I took a deep breath. I hated admitting this. “I can’t read braille.”

  “You can’t read braille?”

  I shook my head. “I didn’t have anyone to teach me.”

  “What about school?”

  “I didn’t finish.”

  “What? How is that possible? Isn’t it required by law?”

  “I’m sure it is, but after Nina moved me here with her, who was going to keep checking up on her or me?”

  “Moved you?”

  “I lived in Hartford before this. Nina moved me to South Carolina after the accident. Here you go.”

  When I finished making the sandwiches, I handed him his plate, but it took him a minute before he took it. He pulled it from my hands slowly and I started to clean up, but his hands covered mine.

  “Leave it. I’ll clean it up.”

  He took my plate and we moved around the counter and sat down. I could tell he had so many more questions. When people found out I was blind, they always did. We ate in silence for a while before he finally let his curiosity slip.

  “Do you miss Connecticut?”

  “I used to, after we moved here, but I hardly remember what it was like to live there. I miss my mom more.”

  “Do you remember the accident?” he finally asked.

  I took a deep breath. “It’s a memory I can’t quite remember and somehow can’t quite forget. It’s the last thing I relive every night before I go to bed, and it’s the first thing I remember every morning. It traps me and I find myself surviving my nightmare every day. The only thing I remember clearly is what I was doing an hour before the accident.”

  “What was that?”

  “Dancing.”

  Ryland

  Thirteen

  “You dance?”

  She definitely had the body of a dancer, I thought as I watched her sitting next to me.

  “No, I used to dance.”

  Okay, I would give her that for now.

  “Were you any good at it?”

  “Yes.” She answered confidently. “I mean I wasn’t any Darcey Bussel, but I could have been if I hadn’t…” She trailed off, slipping out of her chair.

  “I have no clue who that is.”

  She laughed. “I wouldn’t expect you to. Thank you for lunch.” She said changing the subject and I let her.

  She found the sink easily and turned on the water, rinsing her empty plate. I was out of my chair and behind her, doing the same.

  “I should be thanking you. You did all the work.”

  She looked up at me and smiled. “I did, didn’t I?”

  “Thank you.”

  She was leaning with her back against the sink, drying her hands off, when I finished putting up the dishes. I stood in front of her and took the towel from her nervous hands and she dropped them, looking up at me so innocently.

  Resting my palms on the edge of the sink, I leaned into her. Her skin looked so soft and pale against the tousled mass of red curls that framed her face. It was like watching strands of fire kiss her cheeks and I wanted to run my fingers through the flames. I was torn between wanting to touch her every chance I
got and pushing her to do things on her own.

  “How can you be so wildly sexy and unbelievably innocent all at the same time?”

  She swallowed hard when I pushed away the curls around her face, and my finger trailed around the curve of her cheek. I knew she wasn’t going to answer.

  “Can I ask you another question?”

  “I’m afraid to say yes.”

  I laughed. “Why?”

  “Because you ask me questions that I don’t know how to answer sometimes,” she confessed.

  “I promise to take it easy on you this time.”

  She took a deep breath. “Okay then.”

  I took a minute to figure out how to ask her. I touched the corner of her eyes, tracing the scars.

  “How did it happen?”

  “An infection. It took almost an hour for them to find us and by the time I got to the hospital, the doctors couldn’t control it.”

  “How much can you see?”

  “Not a lot. I can see light and blurry shadows, but nothing is clear.”

  “So you can’t see my features, but you can see my shape?”

  “Kind of.” She lifted her hand and rested it against my cheek. My eyes closed and I lost myself in her touch.

  “I wish I could see you,” she admitted softly. “But I know everything I need to know.”

  In that instant I realized then how dangerously easy it would be to fall for this girl if I let myself get too close. It would never be about looks or money for Araya. When she fell in love, any guy would know where her heart really was. He would know with everything he had that she was in love with him.

  “And what am I interrupting here?” Sebastian’s question boomed behind me.

  A low growled snuck up my throat and Araya dropped her head.

  “What do you want, Sebastian?”

  “Hey, don’t snap at the messenger, little brother.”

  “That depends on what kind of message you’re delivering?”

  “Nina’s here.” Araya sighed.

  “She’s good,” Sebastian said. “Hey, Red, you want to ditch your aunt and come help me win a porker game? Who’s not going to trust the blind girl?”